Regina LaVarry, of Shreveport, uses mustard and vinegar as home remedies to help manage her high blood pressure. She also takes half of the prescribed dosage of her diabetic medicine to stretch it. Sometimes, she won't take the medication for several days to make it last. Her reason for doing this is the $500 health insurance deductible — which she can't readily afford on an hourly wage of approximately $11 an hour. Add to that co-pays for medication and other out-of-pocket expenses she must pay for health care, LaVarry finds herself choosing between whether to buy medication or pay other bills.
Few health care leaders would disagree that the U.S. health care industry needs to drastically change. But do we have leaders in place who have the courage to raise their hand and lead the charge? In the classical theory of disruption, reform from within is almost impossible. It is hungry, fast-moving new entrants that upend slumbering incumbents. But at athenahealth, we're seeing early signs of another possibility; more than any time in recent memory, provider groups themselves are preparing to do the disrupting. Over the past two years, we've convened health care leaders at roundtables and other events to discuss the challenges and opportunities they face, both inside their organization and from the external market.
It shouldn't happen — someone goes into the hospital to get better and instead comes out with a potentially deadly "superbug" infection. The latest big case involves the UCLA health system, which is warning 160 or more patients that they may have been given a procedure using equipment contaminated with bacteria called carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae or CRE. Seven patients were infected and two of them, already seriously ill, died. Here are some questions and answers about CRE. CRE refers to a family of drug-resistant bacteria. They've evolved so that most antibiotics cannot kill them, making them into what are known as superbugs.
The massive computer breach against Anthem, the nation's second-largest health insurer, exposes a growing cyberthreat facing health-care companies that experts say are often unprepared for large attacks. Hackers gained access to the private data of 80 million former and current members and employees of Anthem in one of the largest medical-related cyber-intrusions in history. Authorities said the breach, which was discovered late last month and disclosed this week, did not involve private health records or credit card numbers but did expose Social Security numbers, income data, birthdays, and street and e-mail addresses.
Imagine you're a Medicare patient, and you go to your doctor for an ultrasound of your heart one month. Medicare pays your doctor's office $189, and you pay about 20 percent of that bill as a co-payment. Then, the next month, your doctor's practice has been bought by the local hospital. You go to the same building and get the same test from the same doctor, but suddenly the price has shot up to $453, as has your share of the bill. Patients around the country are getting that unpleasant surprise, as more and more doctors' offices are being bought by hospitals.
Medicare is moving to cover lung cancer screenings for older people who have a history of smoking at least one pack of cigarettes per day. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) had previously announced its decision to provide the CT scan coverage in November. The agency issued its final national coverage determination on Thursday, prompting praise from advocates who said thousands of lives would be saved. Medicare beneficiaries will have to meet specific criteria in order to qualify for screenings, which will cost nothing to recipients: they must be between ages 55 and 77, receive a written order from a physician, and have a history of smoking at least one pack a day for 30 years.