Hospitals that treat Michigan's 1.2 million uninsured people will get a $6.5-million boost from the federal stimulus plan in 2009, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced. But the announcement came with a warning: The financial boost depends on states exhausting the 2009 money the department gives them to cover the increased costs associated with treating uninsured people, such as having to use emergency rooms for nonemergency conditions.
Hoping to pass major healthcare reform this year, lawmakers face five difficult pieces to achieve that goal, including the public insurance option, taxing health benefits, and individual mandates. Each hurdle has a potential solution and drawbacks.
The Journal of the American Medical Association says it is instituting a new policy for how it handles complaints about study authors who fail to disclose they have received payments from drug companies or others that pose a conflict: It will instruct anyone filing a complaint to remain silent about the allegation until the journal investigates the charge. The order drew criticism from editors at other journals and fuels a debate about the role of medical journals in policing financial conflicts of researchers.
Free and community clinics have long been considered the safety net of the healthcare system, providing primary and preventive care to the poor and uninsured. But in California and elsewhere, that safety net is in danger as clinics—already reeling from a decline in donations—are struggling to meet overwhelming demand from new patients who have lost jobs and health insurance.
At least 85,000 Americans choose to travel abroad for medical procedures each year, according to a recent report by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company. In addition, the cost of surgery performed overseas can be as little as 20% of the price of the same procedure in the United States, according to a recent report by the American Medical Association. Medical tourism is expected to expand quickly in the coming years because of rising healthcare costs in the United States, increasing availability of international facilities with United States accreditation, and the fact that insurers and employers are beginning to embrace the practice.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is offering commissions of up to 20% to insurance agents who enroll consumers "with no major ongoing health conditions" in a new line of individual insurance plans. Agents who sell policies to "high-risk" consumers earn a commission of only 1 to 2%. The insurer's aim is to bring in younger and healthier members to balance the costs of covering sicker customers and to compensate insurance agents similar to other private insurers, according to the company.