Health Economist: “If we ignore rising hospital prices, it is at our peril.”
In a very important piece on health care costs and spending, Zack Cooper, a health economist at the London School of Economics argues “If we’re serious about reducing U.S. health care spending, then we need to focus on reigning in hospital prices for the same reason that Willie Sutton robbed banks.”
Cooper…
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APCD Final Rule Hearing
The Colorado All Payer Claims Database continues to move ahead towards implementation. Next week, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing will hold its final hearing about the draft data submission rules. These rules describe how data will be submitted to the APCD and how the data may be used, as described in…
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Center for Improving Value in Health Care
The Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC) is a public-private entity created to identify and advance initiatives across Colorado that enhance consumers’ health care experiences, contain costs and improve the health of Coloradans by creating an efficient, high quality and transparent health care system.
CIVHC is the only organization in the state…
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MedPAC Releases March 2011 Report to Congress
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is an independent congressional agency established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105–33) to advise the U.S. Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program. Two reports—issued in March and June each year—are the primary outlets for Commission recommendations. In addition to annual reports and occasional reports on…
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Medical expenses have ‘very steep rate of growth’
Spending on health care consumed an estimated 17 cents of every dollar spent last year in the United States, representing the largest one-year increase since the federal government started tracking the number in 1960.
Health Care’s ‘Radical Improver’
Jonathan Bush, chairman and CEO of Athenahealth, a major player in information technology services for physicians, spoke to the Wall Street Journal about electronic medical records, the health plan and “Project Mayhem.”
Baucus’ Plan To Lower Health Care Costs
The following is a press release sent Sept. 16 from the Senate Finance Committee.
Washington, D.C. – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) today introduced the America’s Health Future Act, landmark health care reform legislation to lower costs and provide quality, affordable health care coverage. The Chairman’s Mark will make it easier for…
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Senate Finance Committee Passage of Health Reform Proposal
The Senate Finance Committee has approved the America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009 October 13, 2009, by a vote of 14 to 9, with Sen. Snowe (R-ME) joining Committee Democrats in supporting passage of the measure.
Sen. Snowe emphasized her vote in Committee was designed to move the process forward despite her continued concerns…
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ASC career “recession-proof”
Based on information from the US Department of Labor and the US Census Bureau, author Lawrence Shatkin says in his recently published “150 Best Recession-Proof Jobs” that careers in Ambulatory Health Care Services are in the third position in the top 10, right behind Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation” and Hospitals, and ahead of Insurance…
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AARP: 20-33% Medicare beneficiaries readmitted to hospitals
“Another serious problem we’ve been hearing about lately is that of hospitals discharging older patients without any follow-up, or ‘transitional,’ services. One of every five Medicare beneficiaries is readmitted within 30 days of discharge; and one of every three, within 90 days – often because of poor communication between patients, caregivers and healthcare providers.” –…
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