Health Savings Accounts dominated the news this week. Several reports: Two witnesses stood out during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday by telling their own HSA success stories: Utah businessman Joseph Knight said his small manufacturing company was facing a 49% premium increase for its health plan in 2005. Dropping insurance wasn't an option because one employee had a wife with … [Read more...] about Success Stories
Archives for September 2006
Galen Response to Citizens' Health Care Working Group Recommendations
The Citizens' Health Care Working Group has offered a utopian wish list that fails to provide guidance for the hard policy and political decisions that must be addressed to make progress toward a more sensible, sound health care system. For example, the task force calls for a core benefits package and for guaranteed financial protection against very high health care costs, suggesting a … [Read more...] about Galen Response to Citizens' Health Care Working Group Recommendations
Galen Response to Citizens’ Health Care Working Group Recommendations
The Citizens' Health Care Working Group has offered a utopian wish list that fails to provide guidance for the hard policy and political decisions that must be addressed to make progress toward a more sensible, sound health care system. For example, the task force calls for a core benefits package and for guaranteed financial protection against very high health care costs, suggesting a … [Read more...] about Galen Response to Citizens’ Health Care Working Group Recommendations
A Lively Week
Good grief, the health beat is busy this week! Some short reports: Wal-Mart announced yesterday that it will soon offer a 30-day supply of nearly 300 generic medicines for just $4 each. Target quickly followed, and surely Walgreens and others will be close behind. Who says that competition doesn't work? Wal-Mart's program is starting in Tampa Bay and will include the entire state of Florida by … [Read more...] about A Lively Week
Answering Two Studies on Consumer-Directed Health Care
General Accountability Office: "Early enrollee experiences with health savings accounts and eligible health plans." 1 The GAO found that: o HSA-eligible plans and traditional plans covered similar health care services, including preventive, diagnostic, maternity, surgical, and emergency room services and also used similar provider networks. o HSA-eligible plans had … [Read more...] about Answering Two Studies on Consumer-Directed Health Care
Answering Two Studies on Consumer-Directed Health Care
General Accountability Office: "Early enrollee experiences with health savings accounts and eligible health plans." 1 The GAO found that: o HSA-eligible plans and traditional plans covered similar health care services, including preventive, diagnostic, maternity, surgical, and emergency room services and also used similar provider networks. o HSA-eligible plans had … [Read more...] about Answering Two Studies on Consumer-Directed Health Care
Apples and Oranges
The Commonwealth Fund once again is making headlines with a new study that says people with individual health insurance policies pay more, get less, have higher deductibles, and are less happy with their coverage than those with job-based plans. This certainly would seem to undermine confidence in private health insurance. But America's Health Insurance Plans immediately countered that the … [Read more...] about Apples and Oranges
Debunking Medicare Myths
It seems that every opinion leader in the country has weighed in on the new Medicare prescription drug benefit. With November?s elections just around the corner, pundits and politicians are filling the airwaves with compelling sound bites on its successes and failures. With all these competing assertions, it?s time to distinguish myth from reality: MYTH NO. 1: The drug benefit is too … [Read more...] about Debunking Medicare Myths