News tagged with private insurance companies


Private insurers' Medicare Advantage plans cost Medicare an extra $34.1 billion in 2012

A study published online today finds that the private insurance companies that participate in Medicare under the Medicare Advantage program and its predecessors have cost the publicly funded program for the elderly and disabled ...

Health created May 10, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

Insurance redesign beneficial in ensuring that children receive obesity services

The rise in childhood obesity and associated health conditions have become a significant concern in the United States. An initiative by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, which fights childhood obesity, ...

Health created May 03, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

One million hours of psychiatrist time wasted yearly on phone approval for hospitalization

A study published today in Annals of Emergency Medicine reports lengthy waits for severely ill psychiatric patients in need of immediate hospitalization in the Boston area, due in part to time-consuming prior authorizations requir ...

Health created Apr 23, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Discounts on purchases of healthy foods can improve diets, study finds

Lowering the costs of healthy foods in supermarkets increases the amount of fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods that people eat, while also appearing to reduce consumption of nutritionally less-desirable foods, according ...

Health created Mar 19, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Setting the record straight on Medicare's overhead costs

The traditional Medicare program allocates only 1 percent of total spending to overhead compared with 6 percent when the privatized portion of Medicare, known as Medicare Advantage, is included, according to a study in the ...

Health created Feb 20, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

U.S. gives states more time to set up health insurance exchanges

(HealthDay)—The Obama administration is giving states additional time to set up so-called health insurance exchanges, a key element of the 2010 health reform law designed to bring coverage to an estimated ...

Health created Jan 15, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Study examines if out-of-network doctors are worth the cost

A Yale team of researchers has looked at the cost of seeking out-of-network medical care, and whether private insurance companies are transparent about the cost.

Health created Nov 14, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The cost of prescription drugs—a comparison of two countries

In the United States, the cost paid for statins (drugs to lower cholesterol) in people under the age of 65 who have private insurance continues to exceed comparable costs paid by the government in the United Kingdom (U.K.) ...

Medications created Nov 01, 2012 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 1

People surprised by costs of out-of-network care, more patient educated needed

Forty percent of people who received health care outside of their insurance network did so out of necessity, finds a new study in Health Services Research. About half of those patients did not know how mu ...

Health created Oct 26, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Hospitals' stroke-care rankings change markedly when stroke severity is considered

As part of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals and medical centers are required to report their quality-of-care and risk-standardized outcomes for stroke and other common medical conditions. But reporting models for mortality ...

Health created Jul 17, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Lung cancer screening might pay off, analysis shows

(HealthDay) -- Screening people at high risk for lung cancer could be at least as cost-effective as screening for breast, colorectal and cervical cancers, a new study suggests.

Cancer created Apr 09, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Insurers speed health care overhaul preparations

(AP) -- The nation's big insurers are spending millions to carry out President Barack Obama's health care overhaul even though there's a chance the wide-reaching law won't survive Supreme Court scrutiny.

Health created Mar 23, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Young adults allowed to stay on parents' health insurance have improved access to care

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that laws permitting children to stay on their parents' health insurance through age 26 result in improved access to health care compared to states without those ...

Health created Feb 13, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Study finds statin costs 400 percent higher in US compared to UK

In the United States, the cost paid for statins (drugs to lower cholesterol) in people under the age of 65 who have private insurance is approximately 400 percent higher than comparable costs paid by the government in the ...

Medications created Jan 05, 2012 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 12