Kelley Weiss's blog

Small businesses still largely confused about Obamacare

With less than a year to go before the full rollout of Obamacare, many business owners are still scratching their heads over what it will mean for them.

In fact, most still wrongly believe they’ll have to offer health insurance to their employees, according to a recent eHealth survey.

Immediately bench athletes with concussion signs

New recommendations from the American Academy of Neurologists add to the swell of research and attention being paid to concussions in youth athletes. 

How much do you "like" your hospital?

Clicking that thumbs-up “like” button on Facebook is moving beyond cute baby photos and hip new restaurants in town. Now hospitals are joining the mix.

A recent article published in the American Journal of Medical Quality says positive endorsements on Facebook could actually mean something about hospital quality.

Researchers looked at two measures: 30-day mortality rates and patient satisfaction. 

The study found that hospitals with higher patient death rates got fewer “likes.” It also found that people who “like” a hospital on Facebook are more likely to recommend it.

School health centers get final health reform grants

The last influx of federal funds to boost California’s school health centers came just before the New Year. 

Through the Affordable Care Act 31 California school health centers received more than $14 million in December.

This final round of grants brought California’s total federal funding to more than $30 million since 2011, the most of any state.

More businesses try to get workers healthier

As if fitting into your favorite pair of “skinny jeans” isn’t enough…your boss might give you a discount on your health insurance if you do.

It’s a growing trend these days for companies to offer incentives – or the proverbial carrot – to get workers in better shape.

Don Powell is the CEO and president of the American Institute for Preventive Medicine. He advises about 13,000 corporations around the country, including unions and the military, about implementing wellness programs.

Health care costs slow in California - what's it mean?

When it comes to health care in California, low cost is not the first thing that comes to mind. But it turns out that the Golden State spends less than most others on health care.

That’s according to a new report from the California HealthCare Foundation. California’s per-capita spending on health care is the ninth lowest in the nation.

California’s growth in health care spending is slowing as well. In 2003 it peaked at 9.7 percent; in 2009 spending growth was 4.5 percent, in line with the national average.

Consumer's guide to high-deductible health plans

If you work at a small business and have health insurance, odds are about 50-50 that you’ll have a high-deductible health plan according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey.

This kind of coverage asks employees to pick up more of the tab for their health care costs. Workers pay out-of-pocket for health care expenses until they reach the deductible. Then the insurance kicks in.

The idea is to make consumers savvier about health care costs by asking them to spend their own money first. At the same time, the employer can save money by shifting more of the costs to the consumer.

Reshuffling Medicare costs, does it add up?

The debate in Washington over how to find savings in the mammoth Medicare program has been going on for years. In its latest incarnation, the agency that assists Medicare in making policy recommendations – the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission or MedPAC – is focusing on out-of-pocket expenses.

MedPAC commissioners have universally approved a plan for Congress now to consider:

--A limit on out-of-pocket costs.

--Combining deductibles for in-patient and outpatient services.

--Creating flat rate “copayments” for certain services, instead of a percentage of the cost of care called “coinsurance.”

--Charging supplemental insurance plans.

Humanitarian group helps give out free medications

Every year thousands of patients get free prescription drugs to manage illnesses ranging from diabetes to heart disease. Pharmaceutical companies donate the medications that are usually set aside for low-income patients who don’t have health insurance.

But this can involve a burdensome paperwork process.

That’s where Damon Taugher, director of the non-profit humanitarian group Direct Relief USA, comes in. His organization has decades of experience getting medical aid to disaster-stricken areas – as in Haiti after the earthquake that hit two years ago.

Taugher says he wanted to apply the same principles to what he calls a domestic health care crisis in the United States.

School health centers grow in California

About 20 years ago California was one of the first states to try a new concept of setting up full-service health clinics on school campuses in underserved areas.

Today – with the help of federal grant money and a growing need for services – these clinics are an integral part of many schools’ attempts to improve public health.

In 2011 California won more than $15.5 million in federal grants under the Affordable Care Act to upgrade existing clinics or open new sites.

The law set aside $200 million dollars to be distributed around the country from 2010-2013. So far, sites in California have received about 15 percent of that funding.

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