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The Spencer’s Consumer-Driven Health Report is a summary of the week's news items posted in the WHAT'S NEW pages of Spencer’s Consumer-Driven Health Report Online. For questions regarding this email service, contact Customer Service at (800)449-9525.
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In 2008, consumer-driven health plan (CDHPs) offerings increased by 43% and now comprise nearly 13% of all plans offered by employers, according to United Benefit Advisors (UBA). The 2008 UBA Health Plan Survey also found that the percentage of employees enrolled in CDHPs increased from 6% in 2007 to 11.2% in 2008. The reason for this appears to be cost-related: while average premiums increased 7.4% for all plans, UBA found that after the first year, CDHP premiums decreased by an average of 7.9%…
The uninsured population declined last year, according to figures recently released by the Census Bureau. The percentage and number of uninsured individuals in 2007 were 15.3% and 45.7 million, down from 15.8% and 47 million in 2006 (see News, September 4, 2007, Number Of Americans Without Health Insurance Up In 2006, Census Bureau Reports…
In 2009, HMO plan costs will increase 10%, preferred provider organization plan costs will increase 10.3%, point-of-service (POS) plan costs will increase 10.4%, and high-deductible health plan (HDHP) costs will increase 10.6%, according to the 2009 Segal Health Plan Cost Trend Survey. While all of the increases are projected to be slightly lower than in 2008, the Segal Company warns that all medical plan types are projected to experience cost trends that are higher than the Consumer Price Index, which was 5.6% in July 2008…
The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed two rules to update transaction standards and code sets for the administrative simplification provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of (HIPAA). The proposed rules appeared in the August 22 Federal Register…
Transforming the health care system by improving patient outcomes and efficiency must be the “destination” for health information technology (IT), according to the authors of a Health Affairs Web Exclusive published on August 19. Instead of focusing first on the adoption of health IT as a tool to improve quality, stakeholders should focus on transforming the health care system as a whole, according to Carol C. Diamond, managing director of the health program at the Markle Foundation; and Clay Shirky, adjunct professor at New York University’s Graduate Interactive Telecommunications Program…
The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has issued final regulations to administer the Federal Employee Dental and Vision Benefits Enhancement Act of 2004, which was enacted on Dec. 23, 2004. The final regulations were published in the August 26 Federal Register (http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-19761.htm)…
More than one-fourth (26%) of Medicare Part D prescription drug enrollees who filled any prescriptions in 2007 reached the drug plan coverage gap, or “doughnut hole,” and many stopped taking their medications for chronic conditions during that gap. The proportion of Part D enrollees who reached the coverage gap rose with age, to one-third of enrollees age 85 and older, versus one-fourth of enrollees age 65 to 74. These are the findings of a study recently released by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), The Medicare Part D Coverage Gap: Costs and Consequences in 2007…
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