Health Reform Hub Issues

Issues :: Consumerism

More Empowered Patients Question Doctors' Orders
Mary Brophy Marcus

USA Today, 9/01/10

In the past, most patients placed their entire trust in the hands of their physician. Your doc said you needed a certain medical test, you got it. Not so much anymore. Many physicians say an increasing number of patients are getting involved in decisions about their medical care, including medication choices, whether they need a specialist, and especially whether they need expensive diagnostic tests, which some health economists say are driving up the cost of health care.Read more...

Americans Losing Confidence in ObamaCare’s Promise of Lower Costs and Medicare Guarantee 
Fred Lucas

CNS News, 8/24/10

Americans are less confident they will be able to afford their health care now than they were before President Barack Obama signed the $1 trillion health care overhaul package, according to a poll released on the five-month anniversary of the president’s signature. A Thomson-Reuters consumer confidence poll released Monday said “Americans’ confidence in their ability to pay for and access health care has fallen by 5 percent since December 2009.” The survey encompassed 3,000 people.  Read more...

CDH Lowers Premiums $14.6 Billion This Year
William R. Boyles

The Consumer-Driven Health Care Institute

A surprise slowdown in health plan firm medical cost trends in the first half of 2010 will be followed by more of the same in 2011, Consumer Driven Market Report is predicting. The reason: at least part of the slowdown is due to the same factors which have made HSA and HRA premiums come in several points below PPOs. This includes fewer office visits, more use of generic drugs, fewer ER visits, and the incentive to avoid out-of-pocket costs. New estimates we just completed show that CDH plans saved employers $9.5 billion in premiums in 2009 and $14.6 billion this year, with HSA enrollees saving $941 and HRAs saving $622 per member. The Consumer Driven Market Report study, the first of its kind on CDH savings across the entire U.S. population, uses published data from AHIP and Kaiser Family Foundation. Read more...

Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans: HSA-Qualified
Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans, administered by the Government Employees Health Association (GEHA), are HSA-qualified.  Read more...

Physician-Owned Hospitals Prepare for Bleak Futures
Emily Ramshaw

The Texas Tribune, 8/13/10

The biggest losers in federal health care reform — the country’s physician-owned specialty hospitals — are on pins and needles. With a ban on new facilities, expansion plans quashed and doctor ownership curtailed, 70 such hospitals in Texas are plotting their next move. Some plan to sell out to big hospital systems. Others are scouring the legislation for legal loopholes and technicalities. At least one of the state’s physician-owned hospitals has sued the federal government, challenging the constitutionality of health care reform.  Read more...

Policy Brief: ObamaCare and HSAs - Issues of Concern
House Republican Conference

Enacted in 2003, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) combine a tax-free account to pay for routine medical care with a low-cost insurance policy with a higher deductible.  Since most American families live on fixed incomes, HSAs/high deductible health plans allow American families to send less of their money to insurance companies and put more money into a tax-free HSA to pay for routine care now or save for future health care needs. Read more...

Surge in MinuteClinic Visits Could Signal Shift in Consumer Preferences
Sandra Yin

Fierce Healthcare, 8/1/10

With MinuteClinic visits up 36 percent in the second quarter, according to Drugstore News, consumers seem to be shifting their demand away from expensive physician offices with limited hours to affordable, convenient retail clinics. Americans may be cutting back on doctors appointments and hospital visits, but that doesn’t mean they're necessarily consuming less healthcare as the Wall Street Journal suggests, notes Mark Perry in his blog on Daily Markets. 
Read more...

What Do We Really Know About Consumer-Driven Health Plans?
Employee Benefit Research Institute, 8/10

Employers began offering consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) in 2001 when a handful started offering health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). They then started offering health savings account (HSA)-eligible plans after the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 included a provision to allow individuals with certain high-deductible health plans to contribute to an HSA. This report summarizes what is known about CDHPs, which include both HRAs and HSAs. Read more...

Peter Orszag versus Paul Ryan: Part Deux
Jon Ward

Daily Caller, 07/29/10

White House budget director Peter Orszag has gone after Rep. Paul Ryan’s “Road Map” plan before, critiquing the Wisconsin Republican’s vision for solving America’s entitlement and debt crisis earlier this year, when releasing President Obama’s budget. http://dailycaller.com/2010/07/29/peter-orszag-versus-paul-ryan-part-deux/#ixzz0vBWIUVi9" target="blank">Read more...

Democrats Under Fire Over Health-Law Reporting Mandate 
Martin Vaughan

Wall Street Journal, 07/29/10

Congressional Democrats may water down or repeal new tax-reporting rules that are supposed to raise $16 billion for health-care legislation, facing a chorus of criticism about the rules. House Democrats were forced to postpone a vote late Thursday on a GOP motion calling for repeal of the reporting requirement. That, in turn, delayed action on an $11 billion bill that expands federally-subsidized bonds for infrastructure projects. House lawmakers may add language to the infrastructure bill to weaken or repeal the IRS reporting regime, Democratic aides said. Read more...