For the third consecutive year, the growth rate of health care spending among privately insured people under age 65 remained low at 4.0 percent, says the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI). Health care spending averaged $4,701 per person with employer-sponsored coverage in 2012, up $181 from the year before. In addition, out-of-pocket spending rose more… Keep reading →
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Health Care Spending Growth Slowed in 2012, But Consumers Continued To Spend More Out-of-Pocket, Says New HCCI Report
By businesswireThe Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today sent letters to members of the United States Congress, urging members in both chambers to oppose H.R. 1250, the Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2013, introduced by Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and the Senate version of the bill, S. 1012, introduced by… Keep reading →
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is trying to do for the public what the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) did for veterans by building on the VA’s popular “Blue Button” application, allowing patients to get their medical records electronically on their mobile devices.
The “Blue Button” mashup challenge will be designed to bring “health information to the masses,” said Farzad Mostashari, MD, the national health information technology coordinator. It will allow anyone whose doctor keeps computerized records to get those records on mobile devices like phones, tablets and laptops. Keep reading →
A program begun on a shoe string a year ago to help federal agencies tap a broader universe of creative ideas to solve some of the government’s toughest challenges has spawned a surprising, if not revolutionary, wave of innovation in government – and at a fraction of the cost most agencies would traditionally spend to achieve similar results. Keep reading →