MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'cost containment'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:45:17 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4190150&cid=t_245079_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-rationing-of-healthcare%2F2010.11.22 Do you recall the severe rationing of food and water the Chilean miners had to endure to survive? The rationing was done to stretch their limited resources. I would argue the state of Arizona’s new policy to not cover organ transplants for patients on Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) or their version of Medicaid is a similar form of rationing. AHCCCS, as many Medicaid programs, is underfunded. They are trying to operate on a limited budget. Something has to give. Sadly in this case, many (NPR reports 98) had already been granted approval for organ transplants which they may not receive. Francisco Felix, 32, who due to hepatitis-C needs a liver transplant, is reported to have made it to the operating room, prepped and ready for his life-saving liver transplant when d... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4190150 Mon, 22 Nov 2010 21:00:00 +0100 4190150 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4186881&cid=t_245079_83_f&fid=34856&url=http%3A%2F%2Finsidesurgery.com%2F2010%2F11%2Farizona-begins-rationing-care-medicaid-patients-denying-coverage-transplants%2F Arizona’s Medicaid program has begun denying coverage for patients who need some types of heart and bone marrow transplants, lung transplants, pancreatic transplants, and liver transplants for patients with hepatitis C. Heart transplant waiting list patient Randy Shepherd tells his story when the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System told him he was being placed on the inactive list until he could raise the funds to pay for his own transplant. (Source: Inside Surgery) Inside Surgery blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4186881 Sat, 20 Nov 2010 01:33:48 +0100 4186881 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3812974&cid=t_245079_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fa-doctors-guilt-about-healthcare-costs%2F2010.08.02 Times are tight and we’re all looking to save money, be it our own or someone else’s. Many will say that when it comes to the skyrocketing costs of healthcare, doctors are responsible for part of the problem. Doctors order too many tests, either to cover ourselves in the event of a malpractice suit, or because patients pressure us, or because we genuinely believe that the tests are necessary for patient care, but in many circumstances, a cheaper option is available. We order medications that are expensive when cheaper medications are available. And psychiatrists offer care — like psychotherapy — that could be done by clinicians who are cheaper to educate and willing to work for less money. (more…) *This blog post was originally published at Shrink Rap*... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3812974 Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:00:00 +0100 3812974 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3780342&cid=t_245079_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FVQjbjeleWX8%2F By Michael F. CannonThat didn’t take long at all.  Left-wing congresscritters have (re-)introduced legislation to create a “public option” in ObamaCare’s health insurance exchanges. The Congressional Budget Office scores the bill as reducing federal deficits by $53 billion by 2019.  How?  Paying doctors and hospitals less!  Put that on a bumper sticker! The public option would use Medicare’s price and exchange controls to pay doctors and other health care providers 5 percent more than Medicare does.  Except for prescription drugs: the public option would, ahem, “negotiate” those prices, meaning it would use a separate price-control scheme and pay less than Medicare does.  (Which means PhRMA probably won’t be bankrolling the public-optio... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3780342 Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:47:04 +0100 3780342 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2876024&cid=t_245079_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fz3uyza6fyC4%2F The CBO report that said the health care bill won’t raise deficits makes it clear that the Baucus bill’s reduction in future budget deficits comes not from controlling government spending or reducing health care costs, but because of a rapid escalation in tax revenues. The bill imposes a 40 percent excise tax on health-insurance plans that offer benefits in excess of $8,000 for an individual plan and $21,000 for a family plan. Insurers would almost certainly pass this tax on to consumers via higher premiums. As inflation pushes insurance premiums higher in coming years, more and more middle-class families would find themselves caught up in the tax. In fact, overall, the tax increases in the bill are more than double the amount of deficit reduction. This isn’t a health care effici... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2876024 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:55:32 +0100 2876024 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2464098&cid=t_245079_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FHmV7-vt55Qc%2F From a patient’s point of view, the ideal health insurance policy would offer unlimited access to medical services at no charge. Unfortunately, it is not feasible to offer this to everyone. The key to sustainable health care reform is restraining the use of services that have high costs and low benefits, says Cato adjunct scholar Arnold Kling.  In the video below, Kling examines the challenges facing health reformers and the feasibility of alternative proposals. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2464098 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:11:28 +0100 2464098 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2389722&cid=t_245079_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F05%2Fdaschles-dishonesty-by-omission-in.html Almost Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Daschle has a piece in Newsweek promoting national health care. Some of what he writes is accurate, but the column is utterly disingenuous in not mentioning the rationing issue.Daschle begins by noting that Medicare and Medicaid are popular programs, and not purely socialized. That is because market economics were put in to the program after their inception, but let us not get into that here. He then claims chirpily, that studies show having a public plan to compete with private ones will reduce premiums for everybody, which is part of cost containment, which we all want! Maybe, but pardon my cynicism.Daschle then turns to the strongest argument for the creation of a national public plan. From the column:[A] public plan will guarantee improved... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2389722 Tue, 05 May 2009 14:22:00 +0100 2389722 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2097786&cid=t_245079_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F01%2Fcrisis-in-health-care-funding-better-to.html Articles that worry about the rising costs of health care and hand wring about what we are to do about it are a dime a dozen. Still, Washington Post Science and Medical Reporter David Brown has written a lengthy article that presents a good summary of the problem. From the story: This difficult truth, which has emerged over the past half-century, is leading the United States and the rest of the industrialized world into a new era of humankind. We are on a collision course between our wish to live longer, healthier lives and our capacity to pay for that wish. Whether we can somehow avoid the collision is perhaps the most important domestic issue of this century. From now on, health care costs will be up there with globalization, terrorism and climate change as a force shaping our world.So t... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2097786 Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:01:00 +0100 2097786