[…] just providing health insurance to the uninsured would still leave us with a pretty big mess. We don’t have enough primary care docs, our drugs are too expensive, our hospitals are too focused on turning a profit, we spent more than any other country on our healthcare, and yet our results are mediocre at best. […]
Providers
Hospital Bling A Bad Idea
[…] while some hospitals are adding beautiful atriums, Denver Health is struggling to stay afloat. Adding non-essential services in hospitals that cater to well-to-do clients may make the hospital experience more enjoyable for those who can afford it. But the unintended consequence is that as time goes on, fewer people will be able to afford health care at all.
Cost Of Treating The Uninsured At Denver Health
Here in Colorado, Denver Health Medical Center treats a large number of patients without health insurance, and the cost is staggering. Last year, it cost the hospital $275 million to treat uninsured patients. That number rose to $300 million this year, and is projected to increase to […]
Preventive Medicine And Primary Care Docs
[…] When we remove those factors, health insurance companies should compensate physicians based on experience, hours worked, and outcomes, rather than the number of specialized procedures performed. Maybe then preventive medicine wouldn’t have to be such a budget-buster for the health care system.
Supporting Volunteer Doctors
The Volunteer Health Care Program Act (S3354) would provide funds that states could use to assume liability when doctors volunteer their services for patients without health insurance or a means to pay for care. If it passes, I would love to see Colorado get on board in order to provide more access to health care for residents without health insurance.
Freedom Of Choice In Health Care
[…] We like to think that we have a free market health care system and can make our own choices about our care and our health insurance. But for a Colorado resident without an employer-sponsored health insurance policy, and with pre-existing conditions that put private health insurance out of reach, Cover Colorado is the only real option for health insurance.
Attracting More Docs To Primary Care
[…] private health insurance carriers and Medicare. It’s much more profitable to see a patient for 12 minutes and write a prescription (and repeat this process all day long) than it is to spend 45 minutes with the patient, putting together all the pieces of his health puzzle. A Colorado Springs Business Journal article describes the challenges faced by doctors who choose to spend time with their patients rather than squeezing as many patients as possible into a day.
Individual Health Insurance Vs Government Intervention
[…] regulations would also be eliminated. For example, state laws that mandate coverage for mammograms or hospital stays after childbirth could be ignored at will.” I’m not sure what they’re referring to here, as there are plenty of mandates on individual policies in Colorado, and I haven’t heard anything about individual health insurance carriers being able to ignore them.
Electronic Prescription Transmittal
We used to have our Colorado health insurance clients fill out paper health insurance applications. Then we would check the application to make sure nothing was missed, and send it to the health insurance carrier. From there, the underwriters would enter the information into a computer, calling us along the way if they were unable to read an applicant’s handwriting, or […]
A Health Insurance Report Card
Included in the ratings are Aetna, Anthem BCBS, Cigna, Coventry, Health Net, Humana, United Healthcare, and Medicare. In the individual health insurance market in Colorado, we deal extensively with Aetna, Anthem, Humana, and United Healthcare, so I was especially curious […]
Google Health Launches
If their doctors could log onto the site and update it, allowing the other providers across Colorado and the world to keep abreast of what is being done for the patient, it could streamline the treatment process and allow doctors to work in unison instead of having to wait for records to be faxed or mailed from one office to another. I can see lots of potential for Google Health […]
Health Wonk Review
Jason has done a great job with the Health Wonk Review over at the Healthcare Economist. The Colorado Health Insurance Insider article about possible Medicare reform is featured in the HWR this week […]
Disclosure Of Gifts Made To Doctors
At the Colorado Health Insurance Insider, we’ve made our position on the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and health care providers very clear. When pharmaceutical companies provide tangible benefits to doctors, hospitals, and universities, the lines between objectivity and bias become very blurred. And for patients without health insurance […]
Kaiser Permanente Provider Change for Boulder/Longmont Area
Effective June 1, 2008, Boulder Valley Individual Practice Association (BVIPA) and the Longmont Clinic will no longer participate in the Kaiser Permanente Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS) provider network. PHCS is the provider network available to Kaiser Permanente Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) and Point of Service (POS) members in Colorado. Kaiser says […]
Colorado HB1389 Needs Some Work
Health insurance premiums in Colorado have been rising far more than wages for years. Jay and I pay more than twice as much now for our high deductible health insurance policy compared with what we were paying five years ago. We talk with clients all the time who are considering going without health insurance because the premiums […]
More Care Does Not Mean Better Care
None of the hospitals in the Dartmouth study are in Colorado, but I’m curious now to see how the major Colorado hospitals pay their doctors. Given a choice, I would be more inclined to use a hospital that pays physicians a salary, rather than using a per-procedure compensation structure.
Surprise Medical Bill from Out-of-Network DME Provider
We got a bill last week for $397 from the company that provided Jay’s crutches, knee brace, and ice machine when he had knee surgery in January. The surgery was done at the Vail Valley Medical Center in Vail, Colorado, by Dr. Steadman; both the hospital and the doctor are on our Humana PPO network…. Read more about Surprise Medical Bill from Out-of-Network DME Provider
It Pays To Be A Non-Profit Hospital
At least two of the blogs we read have posted articles relating to a Wall Street Journal feature about how non-profit hospitals in America are doing pretty darn well on the money front. Schwitzer Health News Blog and GoozNews have both written about this eye-opening story, and I had to go read it for myself…. Read more about It Pays To Be A Non-Profit Hospital
Why Is There A Balance To Bill In The First Place?
In CA, regulators are working to impose a ban on “balance billing” – the practice of billing patients for amounts over what their health insurance companies will pay for a given procedure. While most health insurance networks prohibit balance billing, there are only eight states that regulate the practice, and a good number of patients… Read more about Why Is There A Balance To Bill In The First Place?
What The Doctor Ordered
At the Colorado Health Insurance Insider, we’re big fans of a single-payer national health care system. We know that it would have quite an impact on our careers, but we believe it would be the best way to provide health care for everyone who needs it, without bankrupting people in the process. Turns out that… Read more about What The Doctor Ordered
Credit Checks On Uninsured Patients
At Colorado Health Insurance Insider we have written before about predatory collection practices at hospitals around the country. And now hospitals can be added to the long list of organizations that will access your credit report at some point during your transaction. Hospitals say that they pull credit reports on patients who do not have… Read more about Credit Checks On Uninsured Patients
Sunscreen, A Swimsuit, and Your Health Insurance Card
According to a Business Week article, most of the major US health insurance carriers are moving towards including overseas hospitals in their provider networks, in an effort to encourage policy holders to utilize the much less expensive services that can be found in many of Asia’s top-notch private hospitals. Most of the hospitals are accredited… Read more about Sunscreen, A Swimsuit, and Your Health Insurance Card
More Transparency For Network Negotiated Prices
When Jay had an MRI on his knee last month, we were charged $1200. The EOB tells us that the Vail Valley Medical Center in Vail, Colorado, charges $1600 for the procedure. Our Humana health insurance has a negotiated rate of $1200, which is what we paid (we hadn’t met the deductible yet, so we… Read more about More Transparency For Network Negotiated Prices
Physical Therapy Expenses
We’ve started getting EOBs for Jay’s knee surgery, and I’m finding it very interesting to see first-hand what all these medical procedures cost. The anesthesia was billed at $1155, (our Humana network price was $748) and the initial physical therapy that was done on the first day after the surgery was billed at $637 (reduced… Read more about Physical Therapy Expenses
Kaiser Permanente Hospital Change for PPO and POS Members
Effective immediately, Longmont United Hospital will no longer be participating in Kaiser Permanente’s Colorado provider network for Preferred Provider Organization(PPO) and Point of Service (POS) benefit plans in the Private Healthcare Systems (PHCS) health insurance network. [Longmont United Hospital still works with the PHCS network – just not through Kaiser] Kaiser is very disappointed by… Read more about Kaiser Permanente Hospital Change for PPO and POS Members