Category: News
Why does U.S. health care costs so much? How do insurance companies decide to refuse you coverage? How do Medicare scams work? ProPublica rounds up the best articles looking for answers to these and other questions.
Washington State Department of Health takes disciplinary actions against health care providers, including suspensions and revocations of licenses, certifications, or registrations of providers in the state — March 29th Update
Medicare’s largest effort to pay hospitals based on how they perform did not lead to fewer deaths, casting doubt on a central premise of the new health law’s effort to rework the financial incentives for hospitals with the aim of saving money while improving patient care.
Group Health scored a perfect 100% on measures gauging how equitably large, private-sector businesses in the United States treat their lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees, consumers, and investors.
Chronically homeless men and women with severe alcohol problems who were allowed stay in a housing project–even if they kept drinking–reduced their alcohol intake significantly over a two-year period.
Washington State Department of Health takes disciplinary actions against health care providers, including suspensions and revocations of licenses, certifications, or registrations of providers in the state — March 2nd Update
“We have four members of the court going one way and four members going the other way. Those who have been saying this is going to be an 8-to-1, or a 7-to-2 decision have clearly been refuted.”
Even without the health-care reform law, the federal government is changing how it pays doctors and hospitals, from a system that rewards volume to one that rewards quality. . . . “I think if the health care law were repealed tomorrow, it would not change the direction of what is happening in the marketplace.”
Insurers have tried to cajole us into using less-expensive health providers by promising lower co-pays and other cost-sharing breaks. Now, they’re trying an even more direct approach: cash rewards.
‘After 240 years of constitutional freedom, will Americans, at last, lose the right to be left alone by their government? We’ll know the answer when the Supreme Court hands down its ruling this summer.’ — Paul Guppy, Washington Policy Center
Davis will oversee PATH’s annual budget of $305 million, a staff of nearly 1,200, and a portfolio of projects based in PATH offices in 22 countries. He succeeds Dr. Christopher J. Elias, who left PATH to become president of the Global Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
What are the major arguments concerning the individual mandate? Medicaid expansion? That Anti-injunction Act? What is the Anti-injunction Act? And what’s severability? Stuart Taylor, Jr. answers these and other questions about this weeks Supreme Court arguments.
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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Seattle Times Health News
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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