Source: The Washington Post A few months back, after returning from a family vacation that involved lots of pool time, my 9-year-old son complained that his ear hurt. A Sunday morning trip to urgent care brought a diagnosis of swimmer’s ear — an infection of the outer ear canal — and a prescription for ear […]
Read moreSource: California Healthline Everyone knows that real estate is no bargain in Northern California. It turns out that giving birth ain’t cheap either. New research on the cost of childbirth in the nation’s 30 largest metropolitan areas ranks Sacramento and San Francisco as the two most expensive for both vaginal delivery and Cesarean sections. Sacramento […]
Read moreSource: Associated Press About 1.6 million people who signed up for coverage this year under President Barack Obama’s health care law dropped out by the end of March, according to administration figures released late Thursday. The report from the Health and Human Services department said some 11.1 million people were still signed up. But that’s […]
Read moreSource: Reuters Doctors and hospitals in the United States received $7.52 billion in payments and ownership and investment interests from the makers of drugs and medical devices in 2015, according to data released by a government health agency. The data includes payments for items and services such as food and beverage, travel, education, honoraria as […]
Read moreSource: Bloomberg BNA Continued increases in prescription drug costs are “the number one driving factor” for increasing health insurance premiums, according to testimony from Wyoming Insurance Commissioner Tom Glause, who was appointed by Gov. Matt Mead (R), at a subcommittee hearing on small business health care costs held by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, […]
Read moreSource: The Huffington Post “Right now, I have a medicine sitting at Wal-Mart pharmacy that I can’t purchase till payday,” Jacqueline, a 55-year-old San Diegan told me during a telephone interview in mid-April. She asked that her last name not be used for this story. “I’ll go without, eight or nine days till payday. It’s […]
Read moreSource: The New York Times Need a dermatologist? Today, online tools can show you which doctors are in your plan’s network as well as rank them by the likely cost of a visit. Still not sure which one to pick? The tools also show whether you have already met your plan’s deductible and offer Yelp-like […]
Read moreSource: California Healthline The $122.5 billion state budget approved last week by California lawmakers will fund a variety of health-related efforts, including training of primary care physicians, dental care for school children and medical interpreters for Medi-Cal, the government-funded insurance program for people with low incomes. But big-ticket health items such as higher payments to […]
Read moreSource: The Huffington Post Part B drug payment policy. Boring. Obscure. But an ongoing battle over these policies will affect you — especially what you pay for drugs. Everyone is outraged over exorbitant — and ever-rising — prescription drug prices. Over the last two years drug prices have gone up double digits even when general […]
Read moreSource: CNBC A trillion here, a trillion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money. The United States is on track to spend $2.6 trillion less on health care over a five-year period than was originally projected after the passage of Obamacare, a new Urban Institute study released Monday said. The report also said […]
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