News From Around the Web:
> Aetna is partnering with Swiss Life Holding AG, which will allow the insurer to offer its international and domestic benefits to Swiss Life's multinational customers, Reuters reported. Article
> Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana is predicting about 1 million of its customers, or roughly 21,280 households, will see premium increases of 15 percent. But some of its members' premiums could surge by more than 70 percent as a result of the reform law, reported the Times-Picayune. Article
> Michigan's health insurance exchange will have health plans from 14 different insurers. The state also plans to launch an advertising campaign to educate its uninsured about the online marketplace, the Detroit News reported. Article
Health Provider News:
> Oregon's innovative program to keep "frequent flyer" patients out of hospital emergency rooms, including providing frequent ER visitors access to preventive services and ancillary services, is seeing early signs of success. Article
> A new study shows higher health expenditures doesn't necessarily equate to better health outcomes, since the United States has some of the highest healthcare costs but mediocre population health. Article
Health IT News:
> Telehealth follow-up to ambulatory surgery can be as effective as an in-person visit in some cases, according to a study in JAMA Surgery. Article
> Although more than two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, many providers fail to record body mass indexes in their electronic health records, according to a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine. Article
And Finally... If you're a slow walker, you must like this kind of music. Article