The nation appears to be shifting away from the traditional model of health care, in which doctors have most of the decisionmaking authority. According to a newly released study, 9 out of 10 people want to have a say in important decisions regarding their health care. One-third would like to make a shared decision with… Keep reading →
Healthcare Reform
Study: Consumers Active in Their Own Health Care but Face Financial Pressures and Are Unprepared for Health Care Costs in Retirement
By businesswireCongressional Budget Office Warns Congress of $2 Billion Impact of Extending RAC Program Moratorium
By businesswireThe American Coalition for Healthcare Claims Integrity (ACHCI) today issued the following statement regarding the decision by House lawmakers to refrain from extending the moratorium on the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program, which the Congressional Budget Office estimated would cost over $2 billion. Based on the CBO’s feedback, lawmakers removed a proposal from the Sustainable… Keep reading →
Health care prices in October 2013 rose 0.9% above October 2012, the lowest reading in the fifty-plus years for which we have data. Prices for physician services rose by a mere 0.2% while prescription drug prices rose by 0.5%. Hospital prices rose by 1.2%, the lowest rate since November 1998, held down by very low… Keep reading →
Results of Business Roundtable’s (BRT) fourth quarter 2013 CEO Economic Outlook Survey show a modest uptick in CEO expectations for the economy over the next six months, with expectations for sales, capital expenditures and hiring increasing from the third quarter of 2013. The Business Roundtable CEO Economic Outlook Index increased to 84.5 from 79.1 in… Keep reading →
BIO Praises Senate for Passing Single, Uniform and National Traceability System to Safeguard U.S. Pharmaceutical Supply Chain
By businesswireToday, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) applauds the Senate for approving H.R. 3204, the Drug Quality and Security Act, which will create a single, uniform and national solution to safeguard the nation’s pharmaceutical supply chain against criminal counterfeiting. The bill, which passed the House of Representatives on September 28th, now will be sent to President… Keep reading →
A net 15,000 health care jobs were created in October 2013, significantly below the two-year average of 21,000 jobs per month. For the first 10 months of 2013 we saw an average of 17,000 new health care jobs, compared with 26,000 over the same period in 2012. Due to moderately strong total employment growth of… Keep reading →
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) will release its analysis of the latest quality results in its State of Health Care Quality Report 2013. Findings include: Overuse of antibiotics still a problem In findings that echo and corroborate recent CDC warnings about overuse of antibiotics leading to antibiotic resistance, we see no progress on… Keep reading →
Today is the first day of Medicare’s annual Open Enrollment season, which runs until Dec. 7. The National Council on Aging (NCOA) encourages all people with Medicare to review their plan options and make an informed decision about their 2014 coverage. This year’s Open Enrollment coincides with two other events that may be confusing to… Keep reading →
The American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) today announced the plenary session speakers and program agenda for the 23nd Annual Executive Leadership Conference (ELC), the premier event in the government information technology (IT) community. This year’s theme of “Driving Results in a 21st Century Government” will focus on the transformational changes that… Keep reading →
Historically Low Health Care Price Inflation Holds Health Spending Growth to 3.8% in August
By businesswireNational health care prices in August 2013 were 1.0% higher than in August 2012, down one-tenth from the July 2013 level and equal to the May 2013 rate, which was the all-time low in our series that extends back to January 1990. The 12-month moving average, at 1.5%, is a new low for our data…. Keep reading →