February 2008

More Transparency For Network Negotiated Prices

by Louise February 28, 2008

When Jay had an MRI on his knee last month, we were charged $1200. The EOB tells us that the Vail Valley Medical Center in Vail, Colorado, charges $1600 for the procedure. Our Humana health insurance has a negotiated rate of $1200, which is what we paid (we hadn’t met the deductible yet, so we [...]

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They Should Have Just Paid For The Chemo

by Louise February 27, 2008

HealthNet in CA has been ordered to pay $9 million to an insured who had her policy canceled midway through treatment for breast cancer. The bulk of the award – $8.4 million – was punitive damages, which should leave health insurance companies all over the country feeling a little nervous. Patsy Bates got her HealthNet [...]

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Grand Rounds and the Cav are Hot Off the Press

by Jay February 27, 2008

The latest issue of Grand Rounds is up at Science Roll.  A post I found interesting was from Bob Coffield at the Health Care Law Blog about the pilot project between Google and the Cleveland Clinic. Also, check out the latest Cavalcade of Risk put up by the wise wench.  That is where I noticed [...]

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Physical Therapy Expenses

by Louise February 22, 2008

We’ve started getting EOBs for Jay’s knee surgery, and I’m finding it very interesting to see first-hand what all these medical procedures cost. The anesthesia was billed at $1155, (our Humana network price was $748) and the initial physical therapy that was done on the first day after the surgery was billed at $637 (reduced [...]

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Without A Paddle

by Louise February 21, 2008

As health insurance brokers, we talk with people every day who have various pre-existing medical conditions. We go over options with them, although it’s usually a case of picking the lesser of two evils. I just read Kyla’s story about her family’s struggle to get health insurance for their little girl. She wrote more details [...]

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Ever Seen GoozNews?

by Jay February 21, 2008

GoozNews has the latest edition of the Health Wonk Review. There are lots of very interesting articles. And if you’ve never been to this blog before, browse around a bit and maybe even subscribe for a while. He writes some very good stuff. In one of the interesting (and timely) articles, Joe Paduda shows us [...]

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If You Break It, You Buy It

by Louise February 20, 2008

I read somewhere recently that compliance with hand washing standards in American hospitals is less than 50%. That alone is enough to make me thankful that Jay and I have chosen a home birth for our baby this spring, but it also raises lots of questions about medical care in general. If something as simple [...]

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Medicaid Recipients More Likely To Be Diagnosed With Advanced Cancer

by Louise February 19, 2008

The American Cancer Society has released data indicating that uninsured Americans are 2.1 times as likely as those with private health insurance to have cancer initially diagnosed at an advanced stage. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, since people without health insurance tend to put off going to the doctor out of concern [...]

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Higher Medicare Drug Premiums For Wealthy Seniors

by Louise February 18, 2008

President Bush wants to charge wealthy American seniors more for their prescription drug coverage.  In a plan that will be presented to congress for approval, the administration is proposing a premium increase for Medicare beneficiaries who earn more than $82,000/year as a single person or $164,000 for a married couple.  The amount of the premium [...]

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