Health Reform Hub Issues

Issues :: Consumerism

HSAs Continue Strong Growth, Despite Challenges
Roy Ramthun


CDHC Solutions, 07/02/11

The big news in the world of consumer-driven health was the long-awaited release of the 2011 enrollment figures for health plans that make people eligible to open health savings accounts (HSA) on June 14. A heartfelt thank you to America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) for continuing to conduct this research each year.  It is the "gold standard" for HSA enrollment data which those of us who follow the industry eagerly await each year.
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Characteristics of the CDHP Population, 2005-2010
Paul Fronstin

Employee Benefit Research Institute, 05/11

This article examines the population with a CDHP and how it differs from the population with traditional health coverage. Data from the 2005?2007 EBRI/Commonwealth Fund Consumerism in Health Care Survey and the 2008?2010 EBRI/MGA Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey are used for the analysis. Differences between the population with traditional coverage and high-deductible health plan (HDHP) enrollees are also examined. Differences discussed in the remainder of this article are statistically significant. Read more...

Patient Safety and ‘Off-Label’ Drug Use
Merrill Matthews

Forbes: Right Directions, 4/20/11


Off-label drug use is facing some headwinds.  Case in point: two new reports looking at off-label use of the hemophilia drug NovoSeven and two soon-to-be-released studies comparing the off-label use of Avastin vs. Lucentis for macular degeneration. While doctors use most prescription drugs as directed and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), they occasionally prescribe drugs to be used in ways not FDA approved, referred to as “off-label” use.  The FDA gives doctors that discretion as long as the off-label use seems reasonable. Read more...

The New Health Law: Bad for Doctors, Awful for Patients
Jason Fodeman

Townhall, 4/17/11


While much has been said about the recently passed health care overhaul law and a multitude of cogent arguments have been made as to why the legislation must be repealed, lengthy debates have failed to adequately address how the 2,800 pages will prevent patients from receiving the medical care that they need and want. In fact, in some ways the federal government already hinders the ability of doctors to provide their patients with good care. These trends will no doubt worsen under PPACA. In addition, new regulations and mandates will place unaccountable regulators in between physicians and their patients. Read more...

New Efficiencies in Health Care? Not Likely
Theodore Dalrymple

The Wall Street Journal, 4/16/11


All attempts to reduce bureaucracy increase it, and the same goes for cost. Such, at any rate, has been my experience of the British health care system—its famed, or infamous, National Health Service. Thus, I could not but smile a little wanly when President Barack Obama said this week that he hoped an increase in the use of generic drugs, together with an expert commission to examine the cost-effectiveness of medical treatments, would make a significant impact on the vast budget deficit of the United States. We in Britain have been there and we have done that, and our health-care costs doubled, perhaps not as a result, but certainly at the same time. The best that might be said for these measures is that the increase in health-care costs was lower than it might otherwise have been. That is certainly not enough to save a country from a financial apocalypse, or even enough to be a major contribution to its salvation. Read more...

Recent Experience In Health Promotion At Johnson & Johnson: Lower Health Spending, Strong Return On Investment
Rachel M. Henke, Ron Z. Goetzel, Janice McHugh, and Fik Isaac

Health Affairs, 3/11


Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies introduced its worksite health promotion program in 1979. The program evolved and is still in place after more than thirty years. We evaluated the program’s effect on employees’ health risks and health care costs for the period 2002–08. Measured against similar large companies, Johnson & Johnson experienced average annual growth in total medical spending that was 3.7 percentage points lower. Company employees benefited from meaningful reductions in rates of obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, tobacco use, physical inactivity, and poor nutrition. Average annual per employee savings were $565 in 2009 dollars, producing a return on investment equal to a range of $1.88—$3.92 saved for every dollar spent on the program. Because the vast majority of US adults participate in the workforce, positive effects from similar programs could lead to better health and to savings for the nation as a whole. Read more...

Some Medical Practices Move To Monthly Membership Fees For Patients
Michelle Andrews

Kaiser Health News, 3/9/11


Just about everyone agrees that the way we pay for primary care needs fixing. Under the current insurance model, doctors get paid for procedures and tests rather than for time spent with patients, which makes doctors and patients alike unhappy and increases costs. Now some medical practices are sidelining health insurers entirely, instead charging patients a moderate membership fee each month. The approach gets a nod in the health overhaul law. But not everyone agrees it's the right way to go. Read more...

The Future of Consumer-Directed Health Care
John Goodman

National Center for Policy Analysis: Health Policy Blog, 3/7/11


Over the next decade I believe we are going to see a major transformation of American medicine. It won’t be the kind of transformation that is normally discussed at health care conferences and at inside-the-Beltway briefings. Nor will it be the kind of change anticipated by the people who gave us the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). Instead, what I envision is a large migration of patients and doctors, and facilities and services out of the third-party payer system. Read more...

Canadians Buy U.S. Health Care as Weak Economy Pushes Down Prices
Lisa Priest

The Globe and Mail, 3/4/11


A flailing U.S. economy has helped push down prices for medical procedures, allowing middle class Canadians who previously couldn’t afford it to head south for heart operations, hip replacements and other procedures. Open-heart surgery once cost upwards of $100,000 in the United States, but a triple bypass can now be had for as little as $16,000 U.S. And there are bargains on hip and knee replacements too: the going rate of $53,000 can be negotiated to less than $19,000. Read more...

New Healthcare Law: Tilting the Playing Field against Consumers
Christopher Conover, PhD

Health Reform Report, 3/1/11


Which do you think would charge higher prices: a gas station with no competition within 10 miles or one with another gas station right across the street? That probably seems like a silly question. Most people understand that competition benefits consumers by offering lower prices (and often higher quality to boot). That essential truth is no different for hospitals than it is for gasoline, groceries or other necessities in life. In fact, economists have determined that competition among hospitals is welfare-enhancing up to four facilities. What that means in English is that compared to a situation in which only one hospital serves a local market, adding second or third hospital benefits consumers because it results in lower prices. In contrast, the benefits to consumers of adding a fourth hospital are negligible. Read more...