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Robert

Shifting Healthcare Costs and Online Pricing Tools

Know your healthcare costs and save money

Great article from Jane Sorenson-Kahn pointing out that employers see “cost-sharing among employees as a top #1 cost-control strategy.” and that employers are “less satisfied [with] online comparison tools.” That’s a bad mix. No information on price AND you’re going to have to pay for it. Sounds like going to the auto-repair mechanic who [...]

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The 55 Buy In Option

Under the new Medicare plan, consumers ages 55 to 64 would for the first time be allowed to buy into the federal program for the elderly, starting as soon as 2011. Congressional aides estimate that two million to three million people would participate.
The Medicare plan could be good news for some in the 55-64 bracket [...]

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It’s About the Data (Liquidity)

A wonderful article from Jane Sarasohn-Kahn (at Health Populi) on how making strides in healthcare is all about data liquidity. So many folks who are interested in healthcare reform have “talked” about this very thing, but it’s only now that it is actually becoming a realistic goal.
As we head off for Health 2.0 in SF [...]

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Use Twitter to Act on Healthcare Reform, Not Just Talk About It

Just got finished trying out the White House twitter site that allows tweeple to pop off a pre-formatted mantra in favor of healthcare reform. It’s a neat bit of technology – cool in many ways. But it’s an agenda pusher.
It’s all talk and NO action.
Now compare that with the recently-launched Twitter app from change:healthcare. It [...]

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Take Small Bites and Chew Well

“Have you heard of tiny Melinda Mae,
Who ate a monstrous whale?
She thought she could,
She said she would,
So she started in right at the tail…”
- Excerpt from Melinda Mae by Shel Silverstein
Healthcare reform is a “monstrous whale.” The federal government could learn a little something from the childrens’ tale about Melinda Mae. Instead of trying to [...]

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How Can You and I Pay for Healthcare Reform?

Photo by Kevin Dietsch for Time
Details on the health care reform plan being pushed by the gang of six and headed up by Senator Baucus are coming out.
The BIG Question: Will it Add to the Deficit?
The stock answer is NO, it will not add to the federal deficit. Note the qualifier – the FEDERAL deficit…FEDERAL. [...]

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If You Knew the Price…

Image Courtesy of SqueakyMarmot on Flickr
“If you knew what the price of items were at Wal-Mart before you went into the store to buy them, it would put Wal-Mart out of business.”
That has to be one of the single most insane statements ever written.Yet that’s exactly what many doctors and hospitals would have you believe [...]

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Planning & Implementation for Healthcare Reform is Like Herding Cats

Image from Mike Moreu
As long as we’re herding cats on healthcare reform, let’s ask a critical question…What is the timing for the changes being made for healthcare reform? Not “when will it get passed” but rather “when will the changes, whatever they end up being, go into effect”?
Logistically, it’s a nightmare.
Healthcare Reform Will NOT be [...]

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Changes in Healthcare Reform – Employers MUST Get Involved!

Senator Jim Cooper (D) of Tennessee has been one of the most prominent politicians traversing the country on the idea of healthcare reform. In his early presentations on the subject, the approach was a hard line push to get universal coverage (covering the uninsured) with NO FOCUS ON CUTTING wasted expense that could have paid [...]

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Legislating the U.S. into Consumer Directed Healthcare

Lots of interesting bits and pieces in the Presidential Speech last night. Lots of things people wanted to hear like no more pre-existing conditions and no getting dropped from insurance plans if you have a serious medical condition.
I LIKE these statements.
But what do they mean?
Follow the logic…
No more pre-existing conditions and no getting dropped = [...]

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