Chris Anderson
First the bad news: a new U.S. Census report showed that the uninsured population grew to 49.9 million in 2010, an increase of 900,000 from 2009. The good news? Given the sluggish post-recession economy and a stubbornly high unemployment rate, the increase could have been much bigger.
A recently released report form the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found more than 170,000 instances of so-called 'doctor shopping' of 14 commonly abused prescription medications by Medicare Part D beneficiaries.
Consumers' confidence in their ability to access and pay for healthcare services inched up in September, hitting a score of 98 on the Thomson Reuters Consumer Healthcare Sentiment Index, up one point from August.
Emergency physicians in Washington state have filed a lawsuit against a state plan to limit payment for Medicaid visits to three "non-emergency" visits to emergency departments each year. The plan would also classify more than 700 diagnoses as "non-emergent," including chest pain, abdominal pain, miscarriage and breathing problems.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Wednesday launched a new initiative whereby Medicare will work with commercial and state health insurance plans to offer additional support to primary care doctors aimed at improving care coordination for patients.
Pediatric hospitalists saw a 7.2 percent increase in median compensation rising from $160,038 in 2009 to $171,617 in 2010, though their compensation still significantly trailed adult medicine hospitalists whose median compensation was $220,619.
Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums for family coverage rose an average of 9 percent in 2010 and the average price for a family policy now exceeds $15,000 per year according to a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
A new report from human resources consulting firm Aon Hewitt and healthcare consulting firm Polakoff Boland says employer interest in accountable care organizations is ramping up as they seek new ways to continue offering healthcare benefits to employees.
CAQH and Emdeon announced that they have reached an agreement for Emdeon to transfer ownership and management of the U.S. Healthcare Efficiency Index (USHEI) to CAQH.
Humana Inc. announced today an agreement to acquire Southern California's MD Care, a Medicare Advantage HMO with approximately 15,000 members.