health care costs

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Stimulus Devotes $1B to Weighing Medical Treatments

Comparing effectiveness will 'save money and lives'

(Newser) - The stimulus bill sinks $1.1 billion into the first major government comparison of different medical treatments, the New York Times reports. The provision is a reaction to concerns that treatments are being prescribed without solid evidence to back their usefulness and cost-effectiveness. But some say such studies would mean...

College Students Pay Twice for Health Insurance

Parents complain of hidden costs for students who already have insurance

(Newser) - Many parents of college students across America are paying double for their children's health insurance, an NPR investigation finds. Students are usually required to show proof of health insurance for admission, but then often find they can't use that insurance at college clinics. Parents complain that colleges automatically charge for...

Seeking Surgery at 80? You're Not Alone

Operations on elderly patients raise questions about aggressive treatments

(Newser) - Folks over 80 are increasingly going under the knife despite critics who say it's unethical or financially perilous, the Sacramento Bee reports. New medical technology has persuaded doctors to violate tradition and perform operations like cancer and open-heart surgery on octogenarians. But one doctor has sparked controversy by saying patients...

US on 'Collision Course' With Health Care Costs
US on 'Collision Course'
With Health Care Costs
OPINION
Jan 10, 2009 5:20 PM CST

US on 'Collision Course' With Health Care Costs

(Newser) - No matter the outcome of America's upcoming health care debates, costs are going to keep rising—and that’s a sign of success, David Brown writes in the Washington Post. Medical treatments are improving for dozens of ailments, and so far Americans are willing to pay. But "we are...

Recession-Battered States Slash Medicaid

Governments lower payments, cut add-ons to health program

(Newser) - As states across the country struggle to cope with staggering budget shortfalls, 19 of them have cut back on Medicaid, reports the Washington Post. The states, along with DC, are lowering payments to hospitals and nursing homes, ending coverage for less common treatments, and booting some citizens out of the...

Laid-Off Workers Stuck With Mega-Medical Bills

Abrupt loss of coverage leaves massive bills behind

(Newser) - As firms collapse and abruptly cut off insurance, some laid-off workers face staggering medical bills without any clear way to pay for them, the Wall Street Journal reports. In many cases, workers rush to take care of medical needs upon hearing their employers are going under, only to find those...

Money or Your Life? Brits Weigh Drug Cost Vs. Benefit

With its restrictions forcing companies to lower prices, some see 'workable paradigm' for US

(Newser) - A British government institute that approves drugs based on cost-benefit analysis is coming under fire at home even as other countries are seeing it as a model for bringing down costs, the New York Times reports. Though the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence often balks at expensive life-prolonging...

US Health Care Bleeds $1T, But Can Be Saved

Preventative model could save taxpayers billions

(Newser) - What America needs is another preemptive strike, executives say—in the world of health care. As Barack Obama gears up to reform the industry, several health care leaders say that up to half of the nation's $2.3 trillion health budget is wasted. In a broad consensus, they call for...

Chronically Ill Worse Off in US Than Elsewhere: Study

Health costs, medical errors scare more than in other rich nations

(Newser) - Chronically ill Americans are more likely to forgo medical care because of high costs or bad experiences than counterparts in a number of other rich nations, a study finds. Researchers interviewed 7,500 adults with conditions like cancer, arthritis, depression, and diabetes, and the Americans led the complaints. Dutch patients...

Kennedy: Fix Health Care Now
 Kennedy: Fix Health Care Now 
OPINION
Nov 9, 2008 9:16 AM CST

Kennedy: Fix Health Care Now

Don't let economic crisis blind us to broken system

(Newser) - The economy may be gasping, but that doesn’t give us a prescription to neglect health care, Ted Kennedy writes. “We must forge ahead with this urgent priority. The system is broken,” he writes in a Washington Post op-ed. The liberal lion points to recent signs that reform...

Docs Stop Taking Insurance, Offer 'Boutique' Care

More doctors offer "boutique" care to make ends meet, provide better service

(Newser) - Increasing numbers of doctors are bagging the insurance model to offer much better service to fewer patients, at a much higher cost, the Baltimore Sun reports. Many doctors are struggling to pay their own bills, and the quality of service they offer patients is suffering. But such “boutique” care...

Health Care Should Be More Like Baseball
Health Care Should Be More Like Baseball
OPINION
Oct 24, 2008 2:05 PM CDT

Health Care Should Be More Like Baseball

We need better statistics to make sound judgments

(Newser) - If the US health care industry were a baseball team, it’d be “a hidebound, tradition-based ball club that chases after aging sluggers,” write Billy Beane, John Kerry, and Newt Gingrich in the New York Times. The US spends egregiously on health care but gets little in return,...

C-Sections, Wary Docs Push Birth Costs Up

Report is critical of high-tech methods, urges natural ones

(Newser) - Spending on childbirth—the country's No. 1 reason for hospitalization—is on the rise, and much of it is due to unnecessary tests and procedures, USA Today reports. A new study critical of the system found that $2.5 billion is spent annually on needless high-tech C-sections, which cost more...

Teen Abortion Rate Drops; Not So With Adults

Economic factors put 20-somethings at risk, study finds

(Newser) - US teenagers are having fewer abortions than ever before, but their adult counterparts can’t say the same, Newsweek reports. According to a new, nonpartisan study, teen abortions have fallen almost 30% over the past 30 years, as millions of dollars were pumped into sex-education programs. But women aged 20-29...

US Health Costs to Rise 5.7% in '09

Insurance costs go up for 4th straight year

(Newser) - Get ready for another increase in co-pays and deductibles. A survey being released today found that 59% of employers intend to keep down rising health care costs by sharing them with workers. Costs will go up by an average 5.7% for both parties next year, rising faster than inflation...

Patients Paying $1B in Medical Bills They Don't Owe

Health-care providers engage in illegal practice to get funds

(Newser) - Millions of patients throughout the country are footing the bill for medical payments they don’t owe, BusinessWeek reports. In a practice known as balance billing, health-care providers stick weary patients with the cost of their treatment not covered by insurers. The practice is often illegal, but, according to estimates,...

Man Steals Identity to Fund Heart Surgery

Mentally-disabled friend billed for buddy's $350,000 operation

(Newser) - A Chicago man allegedly nicked the identity of a mentally disabled friend to fund a $350,000 heart bypass operation, say police. John Parsons, 57, was sure he would die without the surgery, said a relative; the alleged scam was uncovered after a caregiver began receiving copies of expenses billed...

The Win-Win Economics of Medical Tourism
The Win-Win Economics of Medical Tourism
OPINION
Aug 15, 2008 2:28 PM CDT

The Win-Win Economics of Medical Tourism

Growing trend of traveling for health care doesn't have to hurt anyone

(Newser) - The spread of “medical tourism”—uninsured and underinsured patients seeking cheap health care in Southeast Asia or Latin America—has fueled fears that developing nations will divert resources from state health systems caring for their own citizens. But, the Economist argues, “if governments make the best of...

Many Hospitals Deport Injured, Ill Immigrants

Guatemalan man at center of benchmark case

(Newser) - The case of an illegal immigrant from Guatemala has called attention to a little-known, but common, practice at US hospitals: the deportation of immigrants without insurance. Injured in a car accident, the immigrant spent years at a Florida hospital before being repatriated by court order, the New York Times reports....

US Health Care Stinks: Study
 US Health Care
 Stinks: Study 
Jul 17, 2008 10:33 AM CDT

US Health Care Stinks: Study

Huge inefficiencies put American system last among 19 developed nations

(Newser) - The US health care system gets dismal grades in a ranking of 19 industrialized countries, Reuters reports. A private foundation looked at key indicators like efficiency and access, and found the US did very poorly despite spending the most money—putting it last on the list. Health-care dollars were squandered...

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