The United States could cut billions of dollars from its healthcare bill and improve the quality of medical care by cutting the unnecessary use of these and other procedures, a high-powered national coalition said. The group of 28 national organizations, which ranges from the AFL-CIO to Consumer Reports and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, said the country doesn’t need to wait for Congress or the Obama administration to enact reform. Health insurers, they said, can cut unnecessary care by changing what they will reimburse. Hospitals can reduce serious errors, and medical groups can start educating patients on what’s appropriate care, the group said.
Giving in to pressure from advocates and Democratic legislators, Republican Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell said that her struggling Charter Oak plan for the uninsured can succeed even when medical enrollment is separated from the popular HUSKY health program for children. Rell will no longer require HMOs that want to participate in the HUSKY plan to join her signature program for uninsured people. The demand for a package deal had inspired few doctors and hospitals to participate in Charter Oak, and the program has clearly displayed growing pains as it tries to become established, advocates and legislators say.
Truckloads of riot police were deployed outside a hospital to prevent scores of doctors and nurses from marching in protest at the state of Zimbabwe's collapsing health system. Zimbabwe's health system has collapsed under the weight of the world's highest inflation rate, with many hospitals unable to provide even basic medicines. The protesters were also demanding that the government review their salaries which have failed to keep pace with the inflation.
By 2016, the average premiums paid by employers and their workers for family coverage could top $24,000. If current trends continue, that amount would put the cost for family health insurance at 45% of median household income, says a report from the New America Foundation.
Even as employers push a greater share of rising medical costs on to workers, a growing number of companies also are providing services like free check-ups, screening exams, and prescription drugs that potentially can save employees hundreds of dollars a year. The trend is gathering steam as more companies expect to reduce their overall healthcare spending by focusing more attention on preventing illness.
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel will consider three proposed antibiotics designed to treat serious skin infections, including some caused by MRSA. The bacterium has sparked concern as the super bug has moved into community settings like schools and locker rooms in recent years after once being largely confined to hospital settings. But it's not clear if any of the three drugs will reach the bar for FDA approval because of safety concerns or questions about how well the drugs work compared with other available medications.