Patient Access to Medical Services Varies by Individual Physician ’ s Will to Fight Insurance Companies
American healthcare reform debates are focused on strategies to provide “access” to medical services for all. Lack of insurance (or under-insurance) seems to be the primary focus, as it is falsely assumed that coverage provides access. Unfortunately, the situation is far more complicated.
Once a person has health insurance, there is no guarantee that they will receive the medical services that they need. Not because their plan is insufficiently robust, but because the roadblocks for approval of services (provided in the plans) are so onerous that those providing the service often give up before they receive i...
Source: Better Health - July 3, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Dr. Val Jones Tags: Health Policy Opinion Administrative Burden Coverage Is Not Care Health Insurance Roadblocks Pre-Authorization Underinsured Source Type: blogs
Trump ’ s Brain: What ’ s Going On?
BY STEVEN FINDLAY
In late May the science and health news site STAT ran a provocative article titled: “Trump wasn’t always so linguistically challenged. What could explain the change?”
Not surprisingly, the piece went viral. After all, aren’t most of us wondering whether something is up with the President’s—how shall I say it—state of mind, psychological status, character, personality, and yes, mental health?
For over a year, there’s been speculation about this. Most of the talk is loose and politically inflected. But substantive reflections by mental health professionals and serious commentators are o...
Source: The Health Care Blog - June 19, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Goldwater Rule Steve Findlay Trump Source Type: blogs
Dr Ferrari
Kevin Williamson wrote a piece last month in the National Review bemoaning the hand wringing he sees occurring across America surrounding the threat of millions of Americans losing their health coverage with the intended repeal of the ACA and its replacement with TrumpCare. He calls this piece: The "Right" to Health Care, with the scare quotes performing the task expected. (What? Did you think you had a "right" to health care when you get sick, silly boy?) appended with the self-answering subtitleThere isn't oneboldly patched in the space before the opening lede.He then goes on to construct a thought experim...
Source: Buckeye Surgeon - June 6, 2017 Category: Surgery Authors: Jeffrey Parks MD FACS Source Type: blogs
Building Additional Serious Illness Measures Into Medicare Programs
The Need For Better Measures
The US health care system is not delivering the care that patients with serious illness need and want. For example, although most people say they would like to die at home, nearly 70 percent die in nursing homes, intensive care units, or other medical settings. Given that approximately 70 percent of people who die in the United States each year are Medicare beneficiaries, the new administration has an opportunity to implement changes to significantly improve the quality of end-of-life care.
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) highlighted this opportunity during the confirmation hearing of then-Rep. Tom Pri...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - May 25, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Janet Corrigan, Josh Rising and Tom Valuck Tags: End of Life & Serious Illness Medicare Quality National Quality Forum Vital Signs Source Type: blogs
Reform & Improve
By JON KINGSDALE
With the failure of the Republican’s American Health Care Act (AHCA), what’s next? Congressional Republicans face the ugly choice of admitting defeat and funding the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including the cost-sharing reductions (CSRs) that they have tied up in federal court, de-funding the ACA and likely being blamed for its demise, or compromising with Democrats to improve it. In all likelihood, the next set of moves will focus on avoiding/shifting blame for the imminent crisis of health plan withdrawals that failure to fund CSRs would precipitate.
But the long-term problems with the ACA should be ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - April 20, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jonathan Halvorson Tags: Uncategorized ACA Jon Kingsdale Source Type: blogs
Making Sense Of ‘Invisible Risk Sharing’
Before Congress recessed last week, the House of Representatives wanted to show some progress in reforming health care, so they left an early Easter surprise: an amendment to the pending American Health Care Act (AHCA) proposing an “Invisible Risk-Sharing Program,” funded with $15 billion over nine years. According to all-knowing Google, this phrase first surfaced just a few weeks ago when Representative Palmer (R-AL) introduced an earlier (and more specific) version of the amendment, based on ideas developed here.
Prospective Versus Retrospective
Despite its novel title, the program embodies an idea that has circulate...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - April 12, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Mark Hall and Nicholas Bagley Tags: Featured Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage AHCA high-risk pools invisible high risk pools Maine reinsurance Source Type: blogs
A Response To A Critique Of The Urban Institute Model Of Financing Long-Term Services And Supports
In a recent Health Affairs Blog post, Mark Warshawsky raises a number of objections to our simulations of financing options for long-term services and supports (LTSS), described in our recent Health Affairs article. As is true for any complex model, our projections can be improved, and we welcome constructive feedback.
However, we take issue with most aspects of Warshawsky’s critique, which is based largely on misleading comparisons and a selective reading of the literature. We stand behind our original analysis and remain convinced that DYNASIM, the model used to generate our simulations, is a valuable tool for projecti...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - March 17, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Melissa Favreault, Howard Gleckman and Richard Johnson Tags: Long-term Services and Supports Aging aging population DYNASIM Source Type: blogs
Why Surgical Volumes Should Be Public
By PETER PRONOVOST, MD
Her voice cracked with strain. I could imagine the woman at the other end of the line shaking, overcome with remorse about the hospital where her husband had had esophageal surgery. Might he still be alive, she asked me, if they had chosen a different hospital?
The couple had initially planned to have the procedure done at a well-known medical center, but when she went online to do her homework, she discovered that the hospital’s patient safety scores were poor. Another hospital in her community had stronger patient safety ratings, so they decided to have the procedure there.
It made sense. Why...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 6, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
7 Simple Smoothies to Boost Your Mood
I have mentioned in some of my posts that drinking a green smoothie is one of my more effective sanity tools. For fear of sounding like an infomercial, I must say that I realize there is no simple cure for depression. But I do think chugging down two or three of these leafy-green concoctions a day has significantly impacted my health and begun the healing process for some of my conditions.
The Benefits of Green Smoothies
Why green smoothies?
“Greens are the primary found group that matches human nutritional needs most completely,” explains Victoria Boutenko in her book Green for Life. They are nutrition powerhouses, pa...
Source: World of Psychology - January 10, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Therese J. Borchard Tags: Alternative and Nutritional Supplements Health-related Mental Health and Wellness Diet Digestion green smoothie juicing Source Type: blogs
A Review of CMS' Hospital Compare Website
As we reported, in July CMS released its first-ever hospital quality star ratings on its Hospital Compare website. The overall star ratings are based on 64 quality measures grouped under three process categories—effectiveness of care, efficient use of medical imaging, and timeliness of care—and four outcomes categories: mortality, patient experience, readmissions, and safety of care. Many of the hospitals widely considered to be the nation’s best were unable to achieve a five-star rating.
Unfairly punishes hospitals
According to a recent analysis, this star rating system rewards hospitals that serve mostly affluent...
Source: Policy and Medicine - January 5, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Games to Support Reasoning and Language Skills
Parents of elementary and middle school children always ask me what they can do at home to carry over skills they learned in treatment. Many of my students learn well through experiences—educational activities include sightseeing, concerts or plays, museum visits, or watching documentaries. Sometimes though, enjoying family-bonding time gets tricky with loud music and screaming fans all around you or while navigating crowds to see an exhibit. And cold winter days are fast approaching. A quiet game night can present an ideal option for a relaxing evening without sensory overload.
I find the following language-building ga...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - December 13, 2016 Category: Speech Therapy Authors: Emily Jupiter Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Language Disorders Schools Source Type: blogs
Are cosmetics poisoning our water supply? Episode 154
Should your cosmetics be biodegradable?
Fabi asks about biodegradable products… I have an outdoor shower and it drains into the ground and everyone tells me I have to have biodegradable shampoo, conditioner, and body wash for the ground. Can you explain biodegradable products? It’s really hard to find them. What they’re all about and why would it be important to use them? What are some pros and cons of these products?
This is a great question that we’ll try to answer but everyone should recognize that this is not our usual area of expertise. We’re not environmental chemists or water treatment specialists but we...
Source: thebeautybrains.com - October 11, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Randy Schueller Tags: Podcast Source Type: blogs
FDA Poised to Issue Rule that Will Be Devastating for Public Health, and Possibly Unconstitutional
It appears that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is preparing to issue a rule that would prohibit e-cigarette companies from suggesting that their products may be useful for smoking cessation. The proposed rule, asreported byThe Hill, would classify as a drug/device any e-cigarette or vaping product that makes any claims related to quitting smoking.According to the article: " The White House is reviewing a final rule from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on tobacco products. The rule aims to clarify when the FDA can regulate a product like nicotine gum as a drug or device versus a tobacco product like elec...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - October 10, 2016 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs
Unity Farm Journal - First Week of October 2016
What a year at Unity Farm: a plague of winter moth, a spring gypsy caterpillar infestation, deep drought, and maybe Hurricane Matthew, which is heading up the coast, might affect our foliage color and branch-falling. Life on a farm is never boring.Every October we press cider using the apples that were most successful that season. This year our mixture is 40% McIntosh, 40% Cortland, and 20% Macoun. Last weekend we hand pressed 250 pounds and created a cider with a ph of 3.3 and a specific gravity of 1.054 which will yield a finished alcohol by volume of 6-7%. Although the drought created gr...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - October 6, 2016 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
