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 'insurance insurance'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:46:04 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5158999&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fare-patients-considering-the-idea-of-medical-tourism-to-receive-health-care%2F2011.08.24 I must confess that I have a weakness for medical tourism. Patients have always been ready to go on a pilgrimage to find the world’s leading expert (we call it ‘key opinon leader’ now) hoping to find a cure. As long as traditional leaders in the field of Medicine have been the Germans, the French and the English -with some occasional Austrian and Spanish name in the mix- traffic of wealthy patients across Europe is nothing new. Since we entered the antibiotics era, these leaders started to be located mainly in the United States, the cradle of modern, technology-driven Medicine. Thus hi-tech centers got ready to welcome foreign patients, building strong International Customer Support departments. A random example -by no means the only one- would be the Mayo Clinic. On their website y... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5158999 Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:00:07 +0100 5158999 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5096209&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Feven-with-insurance-childbirth-is-an-expensive-undertaking%2F2011.08.03 Childbirth hospital costs these days aren’t cheap. Some studies suggest the cost of raising a child exceeds $200,000, not including education expenses.   Most insurance companies charge women of childbearing age more for their insurance because the actuarial tables say so.  Mrs  Happy and I now have a 3 month old Zachary in our wings.  He is a cute little peanut.  His two brothers, Marty and Cooper adore him. Forty-two days after his April 21st, 2011 delivery, we still had not received our explanation of benefits from Blue Cross Blue Shield for the midwife charge.  I had previously received a statement from them saying the charge was under review.  Perhaps they believed that delivering Zachary was not medically necessary.  I can’t explain it. When I called to ask them w... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5096209 Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:00:00 +0100 5096209 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3718364&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fgovernment-healthcare-site-launches%2F Today a new government site launched, Healthcare.gov, aiming to inform the public about what their best (and cheapest) options for insurance are, and what changes will take place under the new healthcare bill. Sounds like a good idea to us. It might piss off insurance companies, but it seems like a step in the right direction for the American public. Not only does it make information more accessible, but you can even follow the site on Twitter @HealthCareGov for up-to-date information about insurance and health care. We doubt their tweets will make you LOL as much as some Twitter buds, but they’ll probably help save you money and get better health care. Post from: BlissTree Government Healthcare Site Launches (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3718364 Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:36:22 +0100 3718364 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3665957&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fzn19fS0fa1o%2F By Mark A. CalabriaWhile I never had much hope that this Congress would actually fix the real causes of the financial crisis – loose monetary policy, Fannie/Freddie – I had hoped that they wouldn’t do a lot to make an already bad situation worse.  Boy, was that hope naive. Take the area of federally provided deposit insurance.  There is a massive amount of scholarly work, much of it empirical, that demonstrates that expanding the level and scope of deposit insurance results in more frequent and severe financial crises.  So what is Congress considering?  Yes, you guessed it:  expanded deposit insurance. Recall during the financial crisis Congress raised the coverage limit to $250,000 – forget that there were never any premiums charged ahead of time for this cov... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3665957 Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:32:59 +0100 3665957 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3453957&cid=t_405917_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F04%2F08%2Fthe-doctor-will-see-you-in-3-or-4-months%2F One of the problems neither the new health care bill nor the mental health parity law that kicks into full effect in another month or so will address is a growing problem in America’s mental health system — the lack of professionals who can see you now. The problem is most seriously felt within psychiatry, where the number of medical students who choose psychiatry over a different medical specialty continues to shrink. A friend of mine who currently sees a psychiatric nurse for her medications wanted to switch to a psychiatrist so that she can try to get off of Effexor, a commonly prescribed antidepressant than can be extremely challenging to get off. She lives north of a major metropolitan area in the U.S. and has decent health insurance. So she started the thankless process e... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3453957 Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:19:32 +0100 3453957 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3331274&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FcU7G-VGMFX8%2F By Roger PilonThis afternoon Politico Arena asks: Will the president’s health care remarks today sway enough votes to pass ObamaCare through “reconciliation”? My response: Who knows? What they show beyond all doubt, however, is the mind-set of the president and the bill’s proponents. Consider just a few of his opening words: “Everything there is to say about health care has been said and just about everyone has said it. So now is the time to make a decision about how to finally reform health care so that it works, not just for the insurance companies, but for America’s families and businesses.” Notice first the insinuation that health care works today for the insurance companies, but not for the rest of us. Obama has to have his foil, this man with no ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3331274 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:16:14 +0100 3331274 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3294568&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBjnkC52U_wk%2F By Michael F. CannonThe Cato Institute had already scheduled a policy forum for noon today where the Urban Institute’s Gene Steuerle and I will discuss the implicit tax rates in the House and Senate health care bills. We’ve already been able to calculate the implicit tax rates that President Obama’s new proposal would impose on low- and middle-income workers. We have also been able to calculate the incentives to drop coverage under the president’s proposal. Upshot: The president’s proposal would result in higher implicit tax rates on low-wage workers than the House and Senate bills. The president’s proposal would result in greater incentives for higher-income workers to drop coverage than under the House and Senate bills. That would cause insurance markets to unravel even fast... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3294568 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:58:30 +0100 3294568 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3096828&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FvG1MFG7RDvc%2F By Michael D. TannerPresident Obama gave what seems like his thousandth exclusive health care interview last night, this one to ABC News’s Charles Gibson.  In trying to sell his health care plan, the president warned that if Congress does not pass legislation controlling health care costs, the federal government “will go bankrupt.”  He also warned that unless health care is reformed, “your premiums will go up.”  The president is absolutely correct about that.  The only problem is that, according to the president’s own chief health care actuary, the bills that Congress is now considering do nothing to restrain either federal health care spending or total health care costs.  In fact, Rick Foster, chief actuary at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) says that... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3096828 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:48:43 +0100 3096828 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3096831&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FWMabqY81hfM%2F By Michael D. TannerIf — and it is still a big “if — Democrats pass a health bill, that bill will owe as much to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney as to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. In fact, with the so-called “public option” out of the Senate health bill, the final product increasingly looks like the failed Massachusetts experiment.  Consider that the final bill will likely include: An individual mandate A weak employer-mandate An Exchange (Connector) Middle-class subsidies Insurance regulation (already in place in Massachusetts before Romney’s reforms) As to why this will be a disaster for American taxpayers, workers, and patients, I’ve written about it here, and my colleague Michael Cannon has covered it here and here. Gee, thanks, Mitt. (Source: Cat... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3096831 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:57:32 +0100 3096831 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3096837&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsKnypt1sG80%2F By Michael F. CannonHere’s my answer to today’s “Big Question” on The Hill’s Congress Blog: Now that the “public option” is dead, both the Left and the Right should be able to agree: the Senate bill is nothing but a $450 billion bailout of the private insurance companies. In fact, the bailout may be several multiples of that figure. That $450 billion just represents checks that the Treasury would write to private insurance companies. The Reid bill would also force nearly every U.S. citizen to fork over cash to the private insurance companies — no matter how lousy a deal they offer. A recent CBO memo reveals that Reid has been meticulously working behind closed doors to conceal the full cost of his private-insurer bailout. The Left and the Right should in... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3096837 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:26:10 +0100 3096837 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3039784&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2FQNfh6N-gAw4%2F In the face of acute primary care physician shortages and steady reductions in the number of physicians who are willing to accept Medicaid and Medicare, it is unclear whether our existing primary care system will be able to meet the needs of a universally-insured nation, as President Obama has expressed as a priority for his Administration. Health care delivery is strained under tremendous pressure from the demands of chronic health issues, downward trends in third party payments, and while insurance coverage will address some of these issues, many of these problems may persist even if universal insurance coverage is achieved in the United States. So what else needs to happen to make healthcare reform a success? In recent years, a series of “disruptive innovations” in the health care s... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3039784 Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:35:11 +0100 3039784 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2946887&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FivyFodXJyRI%2F “Government should not subsidize health insurance — for the uninsured, the poor, the elderly or anyone else — or regulate health insurance markets.” Here’s why. This is what happens to health care when you are not the customer. An update on the EU Lisbon Treaty. Why Fannie and Freddie mustn’t be left out of reform efforts. Skepticism over nuclear diplomacy with Iran. (PDF) Subscribe to the Nuclear Proliferation Update here. Podcast: “Obama: Kinder Bud to Federalism?” featuring Aaron Houston of the Marijuana Policy Project. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2946887 Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:29:08 +0100 2946887 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2886415&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FhFjLimHBpTU%2F The problem that Democrats have faced from Day One is finally coming to a head. The Left and the health care industry both want universal health insurance coverage.  The industry, because universal coverage means massive new government subsidies. The Left, because that’s their religion. But universal coverage is so expensive that Congress can’t get there without taxing Democrats. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is the biggest opponent of Sen. Max Baucus’ (D-MT) tax on expensive health plans because that tax would hit West Virginia coal miners. Unions vigorously oppose that tax because it would hit their members. Moderate Democrats in the House oppose Rep. Charlie Rangel’s (D-NY) supposed “millionaires surtax” because they know it would hit small businesses in their di... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2886415 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:45:50 +0100 2886415 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2823964&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGP_FEocr8sE%2F “My critics say that I’m taking over every sector of the economy,” President Obama sighed to George Stephanopoulos during his Sunday media blitz. Not every sector. Just health care energy local schools banks insurance companies automobile companies compensation at financial firms newspapers the internet This president and his Ivy League advisers believe that they know how an economy should develop better than hundreds of millions of market participants spending their own money every day. That is what F. A. Hayek called the “fatal conceit,” the idea that smart people can design a real economy on the basis of their abstract ideas. This is not quite socialism. In most of these cases, President Obama doesn’t propose to actually nationalize the means of product... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2823964 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:10:35 +0100 2823964 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2803887&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FUJEALC3pR_E%2F In their attempt to defeat Obamacare, Republicans have focused their criticism on the public option, painting it as the most objectionable feature of existing proposals. Senator Max Baucus, (D-Mont.), has now proposed a plan without the public option. This leaves the Republicans in an awkward position, especially since Baucus’s plan is projected to cost less than earlier proposals. If Republicans oppose the Baucus plan, they surely risk the ire of voters who will be told during the mid-term elections, “The Republicans blocked a plan that would have covered the uninsured and reduced the deficit.” The problem is, the public option was never the crucial issue; instead, it was the mandate to purchase insurance. Once government mandates insurance coverage, it gets to define wh... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2803887 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:26:45 +0100 2803887 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2757749&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=38368&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FDisruptiveWomenInHealthCare%2F%7E3%2F80YWoP3WjxU%2F As an insurance broker in the metro Washington DC area, I have been in the trenches of selling, and advocating for our customers for their small group health insurance, disability programs and life insurance plans for over 17 years. Needless to say, it has been maddening in the last five years to watch rates rise and our customers get increasingly frustrated with the system. I spend my days arguing with insurance companies about what they will cover and what they won’t — and I’m consistently amazed that these large firms often don’t have a handle on the benefits they provide in their policies. To say the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing is a dramatic understatement. I am one of the first to admit that something needs to be done. Last fall I hosted the DC Health Summ... Disruptive Women in Health Care blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2757749 Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:21:24 +0100 2757749 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2727082&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSVwSGcZOauc%2F The Boston Globe reports that Massachusetts now has the highest insurance premiums in the nation.   The average family premium for plans offered by employers in Massachusetts was $13,788 in 2008, 40 percent higher than in 2003. Over the same period, premiums nationwide rose an average of 33 percent.  And, according to the Commonwealth Fund, an annual family premium in Massachusetts is expected to hit $26,730 by 2020.   Meanwhile CNN hails Romneycare as the model for the nation… (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2727082 Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:27:46 +0100 2727082 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2570391&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FUHtSFjjmVtY%2F As Washington debates a big increase in federal health care spending, I came across these two articles on what a splendid job the government is doing managing its current health programs. Harvard professor Malcolm Sparrow recently testified that roughly $100 billion or more of Medicare and Medicaid dollars go down the drain each year due to fraud. It’s easy to rip these programs off because of their vast size and electronic claims processing. Medicare processes more than 1 billion of claims each year.  This Washington Post article last year described one particular example of the fraud. A high-school drop-out managed to bilk Medicare out of $105 million by submitting a 140,000 false claims from her laptop computer. So we’ve got $100 billion or so of taxpayer’s�... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2570391 Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:38:34 +0100 2570391 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2477542&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fcy8wOcJPGRw%2F Columnist Robert J. Samuelson, writing in this morning’s Washington Post: It’s hard to know whether President Obama’s health-care “reform” is naive, hypocritical or simply dishonest. Probably all three. The president keeps saying it’s imperative to control runaway health spending. He’s right. The trouble is that what’s being promoted as health-care “reform” almost certainly won’t suppress spending and, quite probably, will do the opposite… The president summoned the heads of major health-care groups representing doctors, hospitals, drug companies and medical device firms to the White House. All pledged to bend the curve. This is mostly public relations. Does anyone believe the American Medical Association can control t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2477542 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:02:54 +0100 2477542 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2469441&cid=t_405917_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FVrm607VEGto%2F Well, sometimes maybe.  Reports the National Post: An investigation has been launched after a woman admitted to Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital for an induced birth was forced into a do-it-yourself delivery last month, with only her common-law partner to assist. “We’re taking it very seriously,” Dr. Matt Kalina, assistant director for professional services at the McGill University Health Centre, said. “We’re reviewing the specific events thoroughly with the family…. We’re using the lessons to improve our systems.” At about 5 a. m. on May 13, medical help failed to appear even after Karine Lachapelle’s water broke. Despite attempts to summon help by partner Mark Schouls, who was pushing the nurse-alert button with increasing fr... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2469441 Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:12:20 +0100 2469441 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2194864&cid=t_405917_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F02%2F18%2Fits-possible-to-nurture-yourself-and-mother-nature%2F Midweek Mental Greening Last week, I told you about a Boston Globe article that discussed the negative mental health effects global warming is having on some people, and promised you some tips on how to deal with those kinds of effects – whether the issue is global warming, poverty, animal rights or any other matter that has you upset. Check them out below. Take action and get involved. As I mentioned last week, sitting around and twiddling my thumbs has never been my thing. One of the best ways you can ensure something is being done is to do something. Whether it’s as easy as making sure your signature is on the petitions for causes you believe in or as involved as organizing a local chapter of your favorite nonprofit. You’ll feel better about yourself and the problem or issue ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2194864 Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:19:44 +0100 2194864