The Health Information Trust Alliance (HITRUST), the leading organization supporting the healthcare industry in advancing the state of information protection, announced today that it continues to fully support S.754, the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) of 2015, because it formalizes the process for information sharing, encouraging private entities to share amongst themselves and with… Keep reading →
Health spending in July 2014 grew 4.3% over July 2013, bringing the year-to-date increase to 4.4%. This is well above the 3.6% growth rate estimated for 2013 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and, with further acceleration expected in the final two quarters, puts 2014 on track to be the first year since… Keep reading →
American Legion National Commander Daniel M. Dellinger was at Fort Belvoir, Va., today where President Obama signed a $16.3 billion emergency spending measure that provides greater veteran access to non-VA health-care providers, among other reforms in the system. “Today, another step is taken in the journey to restore trust in VA among our nation’s veterans,”… Keep reading →
National health spending (NHS) in March 2014 grew 7.1% over March 2013, the highest 12-month rate since February 2005, well before the recession, which began in December 2007. The health spending share of GDP reached an all-time high of 17.9% in March, just above its February value of 17.8%. Health care prices in March 2014… Keep reading →
National Health Expenditures (NHE) in February 2014 grew 6.7% over February 2013, the highest rate since March 2007, just prior to the recession, which officially began in December 2007. While governmental data attribute a portion of the growth in January and February 2014 to newly insured individuals under the Affordable Care Act, much of the… Keep reading →
For the sixth consecutive year, global well-being improvement leader Healthways (NASDAQ: HWAY) and world-leading management consulting firm Gallup have released their analysis of the state of well-being for communities, states and congressional districts in the United States. Provo-Orem, Utah, and Huntington-Ashland, West Virginia-Kentucky-Ohio, bookended the communities list, with top and bottom rankings, respectively. The analysis… Keep reading →
The growth in health care jobs remained low in February 2014, with a gain of only 9,500 jobs, the third straight month of meager growth, resulting in the lowest three-month gain (17,700) on record. Hospitals, the largest health sector employer, shed 10,000 jobs over this three-month period. Meanwhile, health spending growth has been trending upward,… 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 →
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 →
National 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 →