deductible plans

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is considering some aggressive steps to push all citizens into health insurance plans. Under this proposal--one of several being considered by the administration--the state would track down people who refuse to buy health insurance, force-enrolled in a plan and fined until they pay the premiums. Schwarzenegger has also proposed attaching the wages of people who don't buy into a health plan, or boosting their state income tax debt. To find the …

New research suggests that women with high-deductible plans may face significantly higher expenses than men, due primarily to routine screenings and services such as mammograms, cervical cancer vaccines, Pap tests, birth control and pregnancy care. According to the research, which was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, men under 45 years old paid less than $500 per year, but women spent more than $1,200 based on 2006 dollars. Harvard Medical School researchers …

So, a new study released this week concluded that a third of what patients pay in goes straight back into …

A group of new bills currently progressing in the Pennsylvania state legislature could change the way the state's consumers shop for healthcare. The bills, which are part of an overall health reform push by Gov. Ed Rendell (D), include a measure requiring the state's pharmacies to submit their retail prices on the 150 most popular drugs to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. This measure would also call for the state to launch a hospital payment registry, which would …

An consumer health advocacy group has concluded that despite having insurance, many Americans face medical costs they cannot afford. A new report by The Access Project suggests that deductibles and co-payments, as well as premiums, are a major source of medical debt for many consumers. Other contributors to medical debt included annual or lifetime benefit caps, out-of-network charges and patient confusion over what they owe. The report's overall conclusions square with another recent …

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 …

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

Boosting hospital margins through co-pays
Does your facility collect co-pays and deductibles before patients receive elective services? If not, then you're missing a golden opportunity to lower your rates of bad debt, according to two consultants specializing in revenue issues. To put such a policy in place, you'll need to get your board, physicians and staff prepared for the change in advance and provide customer service training and scripts for registration clerks. …

> Mass. Governor Mitt Romney's administration releases a report that concludes that the state's new mandatory insurance plan could cost low-income residents as much as $140 a month. Article 

> A new study finds that healthcare and national security top the list of concerns for potential voters in the upcoming elections. …

> A new UN report finds that the global AIDS epidemic is showing signs of slowing. Article

> The number of Americans participating in high deductible plans has doubled since January 2005, a new government report finds. Article

> University of Rochester Medical School …