You might think a health care reporter wouldn’t have much interest in covering the Olympics. Think again! (Personally, I can’t wait for the opening ceremonies tonight.)
This afternoon, I joined RIPR’s All Things Considered host Dave Fallon to talk about what’s happening with hospital prices and something called “payment reform.” You can listen to a recording of that discussion here.
For those of you who want to dig in to the issue, here are links to a few reports, studies, and articles I found helpful. Please feel free to let me know about others.
The ongoing public dispute between Landmark Hospital in Woonsocket and private insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island continues to heat up. Today, the hospital and its allies released the results of a survey it commissioned to gauge public opinion on its battle to win higher reimbursement rates from Blue Cross. Not surprisingly, it saw, in the results, a citizenry ready to blame Blue Cross if the hospital goes under. Blue Cross shot back in a statement to me via email today that it has “negotiated in good faith” with Landmark and that, as far as the survey is concerned:
The Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation have just released new estimates of what President Obama’s Affordable Care Act will cost, and the numbers are less than previously thought. From the CBO Director’s Blog:
We’re seeing a few more cases of pertussis (whooping cough) in Rhode Island than usual right now (the total is eight as of Friday, July 20). But in the state of Washington, it’s reached official epidemic status. The Centers for Disease Control reports today in its weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report that, although the pertussis incidence rate is higher in Washington, there’s a national trend emerging in terms of what age groups are getting sick:
The RI Department of Environmental Management says in a statement today that a weekly sampling of mosquitoes collected from a swamp in Westerly tested positive for West Nile virus. That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to hermetically seal yourself, your kids, and your pets inside until the first frost. But the presence of West Nile and other diseases transmitted by so-called “vectors” like mosquitoes and ticks in our area should mean you take a few precautions before venturing into the great outdoors.
Under the health care reform act, many preventive services like diabetes screenings, bone mass measurement, and so-called “Wellness” visits are now available for free (no co-payment) to Medicare recipients. (Medicare is health coverage for people over age 65.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently (end of June, 2012) issued revised guidelines for treating obesity. They recommend that doctors (1) screen all patients for obesity (defined as a body mass index of 30 or higher) and (2) refer obese patients for comprehensive behavioral “interventions” to help them lose the weight.That means some insurers could be asked to cover multiple group or individual behavioral counseling or weight management sessions for overweight patients. But could it mean your insurance rates go up?
Hello Rhode Island! Allow me to introduce myself: I’m Kristin Gourlay, the new health care reporter at Rhode Island Public Radio. I’m really excited to be here, to listen and learn, and to find and tell the stories that matter most to you.
