Archive for February, 2011

Hospital Study: Greater spending linked to higher mortality

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
Hospital Study: Greater spending linked to higher mortality
Hospital Study: Greater spending linked to higher mortality

An extensive study of Medicare patients in California hospitals found that the more money spent on the care of the patients, the lower the mortality rate, according to Health Leaders Media.

The study, which was limited to patients with six common medical conditions, was published in this month’s Annals of Internal Medicine.

 

The study found that higher patient survival was linked with higher spending for each of the diagnoses.

Data was analyzed from Medicare patients who suffered from stroke, pneumonia, hip fracture, congestive hearth failure, gastrointestinal hemorrhage and acute myocardial infarction. The scope of the study included spending data from 208 hospitals over 9 years.

According to the study, during 1999 to 2003, for example, patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction to California hospitals in the highest quintile of hospital spending had lower inpatient mortality than did those admitted to hospitals in the lowest. The prediction of inpatient deaths would increase by 1,831 if all patients admitted with acute myocardial infarction were cared for in hospitals in the lowest quintile of spending rather than the highest. 

John Romley, of the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California, is lead author of the study. He says he and his colleagues worked to control factors like patient health status and hospital teaching affiliation.

The study contradicts findings from a previous Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care that spearheaded much of what is being looked at in healthcare reform regulations, that expensive care is not necessarily better care, and may in fact be worse care.

“If the results are real … that would suggest these reductions across the board in hospital spending might lead to worse outcomes for some patients,” Romley told Reuters Health. That doesn’t mean cuts wouldn’t still be cost-effective, if money elsewhere could better improve public health. But, he added, “it is important to understand the trade-offs.”

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Posted in Medicare Fraud and Scams, Senior Health & Wellness | 6 Comments »

Do You Know the Difference Between Medigap and Medicare Advantage?

Thursday, February 10th, 2011
Do You Know the Difference Between Medigap and Medicare Advantage?

Do You Know the Difference Between Medigap and Medicare Advantage?

Both “Medigap” and Medicare Advantage plans are often referred to as “supplemental insurance” plans in Medicare articles and literature.  This language is confusing and somewhat misleading. Do you understand the difference?

Nicknamed “Medigap,” it is technically the only real “supplemental insurance”; its formal name is Medicare Supplemental Insurance. Only people enrolled in traditional Medicare can use a supplemental insurance plan.

Medigap is NOT a government run plan. Medigap is private insurance. You can buy it to defray some or most of your out-of-pocket costs. These might include:

  • The hospital deductible for Part A, which is currently $1,100 for each hospital benefit period.
  • Part B costs such as the percentage you pay for doctor’s visits and outpatient services.
  • The costs of emergencies up to plan limits you incur when traveling overseas.
  • Other costs as defined by the plan.

 

There are 10 types of medigap policies, and they are legally standardized, which means that the benefits you get are the same, regardless of who sells them to you.

However, that does not mean you will receive the same price from each insurer so it’s a good idea to check around. To compare the benefits in each Medigap plan, enter your zip code at Medicare Solutions.com to get started.

Medicare Advantage is an umbrella name for a VARIETY of private health plans which include HMOs, PPOs, PFFS (Private Fee For Service plan.)

Medicare Advantage, called “Medicare Part C” is an alternative to the traditional Medicare program. Those who enroll in Medicare Advantage may NOT purchase a Medigap plan or a stand-alone prescription drug plan.

Each Medicare Advantage plan covers all the same benefits as traditional Medicare (called “Part A” and “Part B”), but the plans operate on the copayment system and may offer extra benefits. Sometimes the copayments are lower than traditional Medicare, and sometimes not. Each plan is different.

For example, some plans may include vision and hearing services, and include prescription drug coverage at no additional cost. However, most plans will require you to go to in-network doctors, or to pay high co-pays if you go out of network.

To compare Medicare Advantage plans, go to Medicare Solutions.com and enter your zip code to begin.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Meditation Affects Brain Growth

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011
Meditation Affects Brain Growth

Practicing “Mindfulness” Can Teach Us to Pay Attention

Practicing “Mindfulness” Can Teach Us to Pay Attention

You don’t have to be a yogi to know that meditation is more than just sitting like a pretzel and chanting. Now scientists are finding that practicing meditation not only affects our psychological life: it physically alters the structure of the brain.

The findings support the growing hypothesis in the scientific community: that the brain is a far more pliable system than believed even a decade ago. In fact, the choices we make in the way we think and act affect the health and growth of our body’s most vital organ.

The study on brain growth, completed at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, had participants doing 30 minutes of “mindfulness meditation” for eight weeks.

The study participants were given MRI to measure changes in the grey matter growth during the study. Increased grey matter was found in the area of the brain the controls learning and memory with decreased grey matter in the brain where stress is controlled. The control group showed no changes in growth in these areas.

Adding meditation practice to your retirement plans might just lengthen your life and make you more healthy. In 2009, a study found that people who meditate may have lower blood pressure, a leading factor in heart disease Another study found links between meditation and ability to “pay attention” – a critical skill in a world where we are being exhausted by sensory inputs.

Meditation – along with its fraternal twin, yoga — has blossomed in Western culture in the last four decades and is now a fairly common practice in the United States.

Meditation is often connected to Eastern religions such as Buddhism or Hinduism, but the practice of meditation is not a religious act.  It is the practice of quieting the body and the mind from the many external stimuli, moving through concentration to a place of “unbroken attention.”

Those who meditate often say the goal is to achieve the same kind of “mindfulness” in their conscious lives as they do in their meditation practice.

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Posted in Miscellaneous, Senior Health & Wellness | 7 Comments »

Medicare Advisory Panel recommends co-pay for home health

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

 

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission wants a copayment to discourage misuse of home health care services.

The congressionally appointed commission voted 13-1 to recommend that lawmakers impose the new charge. Two commissioners abstained and one was absent.

According to the Associated Press, home health services, which are currently covered under Medicare, cost taxpayers approximately $20 billion a year.

The co-pays, commission chairman Glenn Hackbarth said, would help avoid the benefit turning into a “long-term care social support system.”

Concerns with Medicare fraud and a tight budget have motivated the commission to look for cuts. Home health care was originally considered a “cost saver.” Now increasing costs and big differences in how communities around the country use the benefit have given lawmakers reason to make changes.

Exemption from the recommendation would include low-income patients covered by Medicaid, as well as those just discharged from the hospital. According to the AP, more than 30 million beneficiaries in traditional Medicare would be directly subject to the fee.

The recommendation was strongly opposed by AARP lobbyists who support a strong network of home providers to assist the more than 3 million seniors and disabled people on Medicare who are not able to easily leave home.

In September, AARP strongly supported The Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of 2010, House Bill 4993 and Senate Bill 2814, which was a bi-partisan effort to expand the roles of nurse practitioners and physician assistant to allow them to certify home healthcare plans for Medicare patients.

In rural parts of the country, areas where the nation suffers from shortages of physicians, many Americans see nurse practitioners as their primary care provider.

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Posted in Reform | 2 Comments »