Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
A new study indicates HMO enrollment in New England has declined over the past year. HealthLeaders-Interstudy (here’s hoping the new company gets a new name shortly)’s just-released New England Health Plan Analysis indicates that all states save New Hampshire experienced … Continue reading HMO enrollment drops in New England
Read More...The latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office have the Medicare Drug Program’s costs over the next ten years at $849 billion. This is a rather substantial increase over the initial projections of some $400 billion, which were for the … Continue reading Medicare drug costs up…again
Read More...News in brief. The Congressional Budget Office projects potential savings from Pres. Bush’s Medicaid cuts will be some $11 billion less (over the next five years) than the White House’s claims. The National Governors’ meeting ended without an agreement from … Continue reading Medicaid round up
Read More...Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan’s recent gloomy pronouncements about the potential impact of the federal deficit have focused even more attention on entitlement programs. Interestingly, Greenspan specifically mentioned governmental health programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare, noting that their contribution to … Continue reading The Federal budget, the deficit, and provider reimbursement
Read More...The White House is seeking a compromise with governors over Medicaid funding, and is rolling out the big guns in an effort to reach agreement this week. At issue is the Administration’s desire to reduce expenditures by some $60 billion … Continue reading Medicaid battle – White House v. State House, round 1
Read More...Weiss Ratings reported very strong earnings from HMOs in the first half of 2004. Weiss, perhaps the most insightful of the rating agencies, noted that over half of the HMOs studied were financially strong, and the industry generated $5.8 billion … Continue reading HMO profits up
Read More...Pres. Bush’s plans regarding health care are receiving quite a bit of attention as of late. Perhaps the most comprehensive overview is in the 1/31 edition of the LA Times. The “net” is a fundamental shift from an employer-based health … Continue reading Bush plans for health insurance
Read More...CorVel Corp just announced its results for the quarter and nine months ending December 2004 , and the picture isn’t pretty. Both revenues (down about 7%) and profits (dropped about 30%) declined significantly from the same period in 2003, while … Continue reading CorVel results
Read More...Secretary-designate Mike Leavitt, ex Governor of Utah (R), was confirmed by the Senate today. We have alluded to his background in health policy matters, specifically Medicaid experiments, when as Utah Gov. he received approval from CMS to reduce benefits in … Continue reading Medicaid experiments in Sec. Leavitt’s state
Read More...Managed Healthcare Executive magazine published their annual survey of HMO enrollment in December. The numbers show that most states actually experienced a decline in HMO enrollment, and nationally there was a decline of some 3 million members. Part of this … Continue reading HMO enrollment drops in 2003
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