Health Care News Oct. 25-29

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News
FRIDAY
Health-care spending to reach $192B in 2010
Spending on health care in Canada is slowing, but is expected to reach nearly $192 billion this year — or $5,614 per person — according to a new report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

TUESDAY
The decline of the specialty pharmacy
Specialty drugs, which treat rare diseases such as hemophilia, cancer, and multiple sclerosis, are one of the fastest-growing areas of healthcare. Due to their small patient volume and complex manufacturing requirements, specialty treatments can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Employers looking at health insurance options
The new health care law wasn't supposed to undercut employer plans that have provided most people in the U.S. with coverage for generations.
Conflict over health benefits brochure
A requirement that insurers summarize their health plans in a short brochure has led to a drawnout clash between industry and consumer advocates over how to best define health insurance benefits.

MONDAY
Health reform's side effect: Scams
Fraud experts say health insurance scams are on the rise as criminals quickly exploit consumers' confusion about how the new health care law changes their insurance coverage.
Employers Look at Health Insurance Options
The new health care law wasn't supposed to undercut employer plans that have provided most people in the U.S. with coverage for generations. But last week a leading manufacturer told workers their costs will jump partly because of the law. Also, a Democratic governor laid out a scheme for employers to get out of health care by shifting workers into taxpayer-subsidized insurance markets that open in 2014.

Economist Comments
TUESDAY
Big Insurance, Big Medicine
ObamaCare is already driving a wave of health-care consolidation—and higher costs.

MONDAY
Health care: Freddy Krueger lives
Caught in a cobweb of false promises, the American people were fed a story about how health care reform would insure everyone, allow people to keep their own insurance policies and reduce health care spending while improving quality. Sadly, these were fantasies masquerading as fact. The scary tale that follows needs no skeletons or vampires; statistics alone can frighten you.

Blogs
FRIDAY
Obamacare Subsidies Are Not a Free Lunch
It is true that the tax credits will reduce the effective premium that many households will face for health insurance coverage. However, the key question from a policy perspective is whether the benefits of the Obamacare tax credits outweigh their costs.
Secondary Sources: Lessons From Chile, Health-Insurance Competition, Housing
A roundup of economic news from around the Web.

WEDNESDAY
Even CBO Is Skeptical of Obamacare
Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Douglas Elmendorf recently spoke at the University of Southern California about the economic impact of Obamacare. He predicts that Obamacare will further depress the nation’s employment picture.

TUESDAY
Obamacare Frankenstein Is Scarier Than “Zombie Legislation”
Though proponents of the health care law may still be heard shouting, “It’s alive! It’s alive!,” the truth is that conservatives and liberals alike recognize that, as “successful implementation poses remarkable challenges and will require adequate funding, enormous ingenuity, and goodwill from federal and state officials, as well as cooperation from private insurers, businesses, and private citizens.”
Governor Bredesen Got the Calculations Right
Tennessee Governor Philip Bredesen explained how Obamacare has created a situation where the state government and many of its employees will find it mutually advantageous to the get rid of the employer-sponsored insurance program the state currently offers.

MONDAY
Side Effects: Obamacare Strengthens Compliance-Based Medicine
Value-based purchasing in Medicare will alter reimbursement only under Medicare Part A, but from the legislative language, it appears that the way that hospitals treat all patients will be used to determine performance scores. This means that all Americans, not just seniors, will be affected. The negative consequences of compliance-focused medicine are numerous.

Reports
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