Category: Health Insurance
Medicare’s open enrollment season begins – and ends – earlier than ever this year. Seniors who want to switch to a different drug or Medicare Advantage plan need to act by December 7th.
Open enrollment is a confusing time for many consumers. Here are some tips to help you choose the employer-sponsored health plan that’s right for your family.
In black and Latino communities, more than one in four people rely on Medicaid, compared with fewer than one in eight whites.
Enrollment period expanded to seven weeks to give seniors and people with disabilities will have more time to compare plans.
Health insurers are in a race for a decisive competitive advantage: winning the highest mark on Medicare’s quality exam, a one-to-five star rating system.
When researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center examined bankruptcy rates in Washington state and compared them with a registry of 232,000 cancer patients, they found that five years after diagnosis cancer patients were four times more likely to declare bankruptcy than the general population.
Pharmacies usually charge between $25 and $32, while a shot at the doctor’s office usually costs at least $48.
Komen for the Cure and possible link between breast cancer and BPA. Steering ER regulars to primary care. And health reform will bring a surge in Medicaid patients–which states ready?
Vermont is building a “Canadian-style” single-payer health system that replace traditional insurance plans and pay providers a set fee to care for patients.
Employers’ spending on health coverage for workers spiked this year, with the average cost of a family plan rising by 9 percent, triple the growth seen in 2010.
Many of the largest and richest children’s hospitals spend relatively little on charity care — one of the main justifications for their tax breaks.
Childrens’ hospitals across the country are adding towers and beds. The multibillion dollar building boom offers a case study of the expansive ambitions of hospital leaders and the faltering efforts of government to control spiraling costs.
LocalHealthGuide is a health news and information web service for Seattle and the Puget Sound Region. We are independent and unaffiliated with any hospital, medical association or insurer. If you have questions or if your group has an upcoming event that you would like us to cover, please let us know by going to our "Contact Us" page and dropping us a note. -- Michael McCarthy, Editor
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Lost in translation: Lack of trained interpreters can lead to medical errors
Interpreter services at hospitals and other medical settings are often inadequate, forcing family members, including children, to step in, or the task falls to medical staff members who may not speak the language well.
Some insurers deny ER coverage to people who have been drinking
Laws in more than half the states permit insurers to deny payment for medical services related to alcohol or drug use. Faced with the prospect of not getting paid for care, some ER personnel sidestep the problem by simply not testing patients’ blood or urine for alcohol.
Travel insurance can protect your wallet — and your health on vacation
Think your regular health insurance policy will cover you if you get into medical trouble overseas?
Don’t bet on it.
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