Healthcare Shopper News

For the informed consumer of health care

Health Care Policy

Florida Health Reform Legislation Passed

The state of Florida has passed health insurance legislation that will allow insurance carriers to offer bare-bones coverage for as little as $150 per month. Aimed at Florida’s 3.8 million uninsured residents, the plans would be exempt from existing state-mandated coverage requirements. For instance the plans would not be required to offer coverage for long-term hospitalizations or treatment from specialists, but would cover preventive care and office visits.... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on May 8, 2008 1:45 PM
| Comments (0)


Proposed California Health Plan Dies

Sadly, the California Senate Health Committee defeated a ground-breaking proposal to reform the state's health insurance system and extend coverage to millions of uninsured residents. In the end, it was the economic downturn that killed the well-intentioned plan. The state already has a $14.5 billion deficit, so the pprobability that the ambitious proposal would not be self-sustaining was just too risky to bear at this time. The nation was watching California on this one and the proposal's failure doesn't bode... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on January 31, 2008 11:31 AM
| Comments (0)


Small Business Supports Individual Health Insurance Mandate

Group health insurance is too expensive for many small businesses and it’s not surprising that almost 70% of the working uninsured are employed by businesses with fewer than 100 employees. A majority of small business owners (57%) say they will support an individual health insurance mandate - where individuals are required to insure themselves. It stands to reason that small businesses would jump at the chance to get their employees covered by individual plans especially if they wouldn’t be required... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on January 4, 2008 12:16 PM
| Comments (0)


Ineffective Medical Tests Add 30% to the Cost of Health Care in the US

Using comparative effectiveness research, we could reduce health care costs in the US by 30%. There is a significant opportunity to remove costs from the system without harming health outcomes by eliminating medical treatments and tests that are of questionable value. Using comparative effectiveness research is the key. The aging population is not to blame for the rise in health care costs. Congress and health care policymakers need to promote cost effectiveness and evidence-based medicine.... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on November 15, 2007 2:20 PM
| Comments (0)


True But Misleading Statements about American Health Care

American health care is often compared unfavorably to health care in Canada, France, Great Britain, and others, based on shorter life expectancy and higher infant motrality rates in the US. Critics also point to 47 million uninsured Americans and the relatively high cost of health care in the US. Professor N. Gregory Mankiw, an economist at Harvard University, currently an adviser to Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, spoke out recently about "true but misleading statements about US health care that politicians... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on November 6, 2007 3:24 PM
| Comments (0)


California Ranks Heart Surgeons

If you need a heart bypass operation in California, you can now check your doctor's report card before going under the knife. The Office of Statewide Health Planning and Developmen published a report (available at the office's website) that rates 302 surgeons who performed coronary bypass surgeries at 121 hospitals during 2003 and 2004. The average death rate was 3.08% of more than 40 thousand bypass surgeries (1 in 30) over the 2 year period. The surgeons' ratings factored in... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on July 13, 2007 2:08 PM
| Comments (0)


Moore's Sicko is Stupid

Moore's attack of American health care, the documentary film - Sicko, is unfair to say the least. Early in the film, Moore tells health care horror stories - a man who died because a bone-marrow transplant that might have extended his life was refused as "experimental” . A baby with a high fever died when her mother took her to the nearest emergency room where she was refused treatment, rather than taking her to a Kaiser Permanente hospital where she... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on July 10, 2007 1:56 PM
| Comments (0)


Will Sicko Change US Health Care?

Discribed as "exaggerated, biting, unfair", Michael Moore's new documentary "Sicko" about US health care industry, is unlikely to change US health policy. While Moore taps into widespread dissatisfaction with the current system in America, most voters have been listening to similar complaints for a long time and are still not ready to deconstruct the health care system. The film details accounts of insurance companies denying people coverage and, while this makes people angry, I doubt whether the film will have... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on May 25, 2007 1:56 PM
| Comments (0)


A Coalition of Big US Companies Endorses Schwartzenegger Style Health Care Reform

A coalition of 36 big US companies including Pacific Gas and Electric, General Mills, PepsiCo, Safeway, Bumble Bee Foods, and health industry giants Aetna, Cigna, Eli Lilly and Blue Shield of California, have joined together to lobby congress for market-based universal health care. The coalition has laid out some core principles that health care reform should follow: Health insurance will be mandatory Low income citizens are to be subsidized Health insurance will cover pre-existing medical conditions Plans will include coverage... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on May 15, 2007 2:49 PM
| Comments (0)


Small Business Need Not Fear Mandatory Health Insurance

Among the states considering universal health insurance - Massachusetts, Vermont, California, Pennsylvania and Illinois - the impact of mandatory health insurance on small businesses is a big concern. All of these proposals require employers to provide health insurance or to contribute state pools. Opponents of change, say that the proposed plans will hurt small businesses. But when you look closer at these proposals, you see that they can actually help small business by providing an option, the state pool, to... read more

Posted by Phil Daigle on April 17, 2007 3:22 PM
| Comments (0)