Consumer-driven health plans (CDHP)

WellPoint, by some measures the nation's largest health plan, has decided to take some aggressive steps to promote its new member health index (MHI). WellPoint has begun tying the index, a comprehensive measure of health improvement in its 34 million enrollees, directly to the compensation of every WellPoint employee. While it's increasingly common to compensate physicians for member health improvements, tying all employee bonuses to such a measure may be a first. The MHI includes 20 …

> Republican concerns seem to have stalled a new genetic discrimination bill working its way through the House. Article

> Florida nurses and hospitals are battling over proposed state legislation which would make hospitals install patient lifting equipment. Article

> While big changes are …

A new survey by banking firm PNC Financial Services has found that claims and billing administration consumes nearly one-third of the funds patients pay into the healthcare system. (And given the obstacles providers face in getting paid, this statistic won't surprise anyone reading FierceHealthcare.) In the study, hospital executives reported that one in five claims is delayed and that 96 percent of all claims must be submitted more than once. One-third of hospital and health …

Despite some pushback from critics, acceptance of consumer-directed health plans is growing in corporate circles. According to a new study by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the National Business Group on Health, which surveyed 573 large U.S. companies, employer roll-outs of CDHPs climbed 5 percent last year, from 33 percent to 38 percent. Interestingly, only some of these employers (26 percent) offer or plan to offer a health savings account, a cornerstone of the model behind the CDHP. This …

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has officially come out against high-deductible health plans. In their policy statement, published this week in the journal Pediatrics, the group contended high-deductible consumer-driven health plans are often bad for children. Given the financial burden filling the health savings account, low- and moderate-income families and families whose children have special medical needs may very well delay or even avoid seeking needed care, the AAP …

After an extremely stimulating (and overwhelming) few days, it's time to ring the curtain down on HIMSS '07. Though I did my best to take it all in, I feel a bit like someone who was trying to drink the ocean with a straw. …

So, HIMSS is already beginning to slow down, even though the show doesn't officially end until tomorrow. (It could be that people are exhausted after walking the exhibit hall floor--we're talking a brightly colored, …

While a tiny 1 percent of U.S. workers are enrolled in CDHPs, lots of people are suggesting that they have an extremely rosy future, notably the health insurance industry, the employers who see big cost savings, and the banks slavering over the profits from the be made a billion-dollar inflow of health savings account funding. Still, those without financial skin in the game, such as The …

In recent weeks, various studies citing stats on CDHPs have hit the press, some favorable and others criticizing the plans' impact on patients. But few have had the impact of the CDHP study just released by the Employee Benefits Research Institute and the Commonwealth Fund. The EBRI/CF study, which seems to have touched a nerve, found that many of the consumers insured by CDHPs …

Press Release: Setting the Record Straight on Consumer Directed Health Plans