Massachusetts' top insurance official said Monday that the state won't allow consumers to keep health insurance policies that fall below the minimum requirements of the federal health care law. State Insurance Commissioner Joseph Murphy said in a letter sent Monday to the Obama administration that substandard insurance policies are "virtually non-existent" in Massachusetts because of its first-in-the-nation health care law that took effect in 2007. In a reversal of policy, Obama announced last week that millions of Americans would be allowed to renew individual coverage plans that otherwise would be cancelled under the federal law in 2014.
Why should patients care about how physicians are paid? Because the way we as a country, and Medicare as the largest payer, compensate physicians directly affects the care patients receive. Changes to the way physicians are paid are on the horizon, as our current system is not sustainable for physicians, patients, or taxpayers. Patients must have a voice in debates about Medicare payment and the way health care is reimbursed. We must stand up for reforms that will improve the quality of care patients receive, including incentives for actively involving patients in decision-making and improving coordination of care.
Wayne Schneider's heart stopped beating late last year while the Minneapolis paramedic was out on an emergency call. Another medic performed CPR for a few minutes, and then used a medical device that delivered cardiac compressions mechanically for 64 minutes, until Mr. Schneider's heart started beating normally on its own. "I'm not sure people would have been able to sustain manual CPR for so long," said Mr. Schneider, 57. "I'm a lucky guy." He may have been luckier than he knows. Though widely available, the machine used to keep him alive, called an external cardiac compressor, was never subjected to the rigorous premarket approval process that the Food and Drug Administration routinely requires for new drugs.
The doctor isn't in, but he can still see you now. Remote presence robots are allowing physicians to "beam" themselves into hospitals to diagnose patients and offer medical advice during emergencies. A growing number of hospitals in California and other states are using telepresence robots to expand access to medical specialists, especially in rural areas where there's a shortage of doctors. These mobile video-conferencing machines move on wheels and typically stand about 5 feet, with a large screen that projects a doctor's face. They feature cameras, microphones and speakers that allow physicians and patients to see and talk to each other.
Southern Inyo Hospital is a 37-bed facility in Lone Pine, Calif. -- a frontier location as rural as rural gets, with a population of just more than 2,000. Built in 1949, the hospital had 10 computers just a year and a half ago but now has 50. The hospital's culture and, more importantly, its budget aren't primed for electronic health record adoption. Most of Southern Inyo's budget goes to building and equipment upkeep. Yet the deadline for Meaningful Use Stage 2 looms in 2014, raising expectations for online data exchange and patient engagement in addition to routine use of EHRs.
In our states — Washington, Kentucky and Connecticut — the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare," is working. Tens of thousands of our residents have enrolled in affordable health-care coverage. Many of them could not get insurance before the law was enacted. People keep asking us why our states have been successful. Here's a hint: It's not about our Web sites. Sure, having functioning Web sites for our health-care exchanges makes the job of meeting the enormous demand for affordable coverage much easier, but each of our state Web sites has had its share of technical glitches.