Categories
Cardiovascular
Diagnostics
Endocrinology
Health Insurance
Medical Devices
Mental Health
Nutrition
Oncology
Public Health
Sexual Health
Popular Articles

Over Half Of Eligible OGIB Patients May Benefit From Small Bowel Capsule Endoscopy
Given Imaging Ltd.

Will Emphasis On Prevention Bring Health Costs Down?
Kaiser Health News reports that "If there is one thing that both parties can agree on in the health overhaul debate, it"s the need to build a health system that promotes prevention rather than just manages disease." Proposals currently being debated in Congress would require "Medicare and private health insurers to fully cover preventive services such as checkups and screening tests for cancer without any patient co-payments or deductibles." President Obama maintains that "prevention measures can save lives and limit health spending," and such a provision is "one of the eight consumer protections he wants in any health overhaul legislation." But the health insurance industry is balking, saying "such a provision would lead to higher premiums and hamper insurers" flexibility to design plans" (Galewitz, 8/4).
News of the day
Co-ops Offer Compromise, But Could Take Decades To Develop
"A network of health insurance plans run by the customers they serve, proposed in the U.S. Congress to offset opposition to a government-run system, may take a generation to pay off, even with $10 billion in seed money," Bloomberg reports. The co-ops, according to Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., who first floated the idea last month could lower costs, cover more Americans, and gain bipartisan support. President Obama said in late June that he was "open" to the idea.
Health Insurance

Scrap England's "Shameful" Prescription Charge, Urges DTB

The prescription charge in England is a tax in all but name - and an unfair one at that - and should be axed, says Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB). England is the only one of the four UK countries that has either not already scrapped the charge or plans to do so by April 2011. DTB argues that, contrary to popular belief, the ÷£7.20 currently levied on prescription medicines does not directly reflect the cost of the drug prescribed and does not specifically fund health services. Instead, the charge is for raising general tax revenue, it says. With the abolition of the charge in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, a key argument put forward for its retention - namely that it reminds people of the cost of medicines, and acts as a deterrent to overuse prescription services - rings hollow, says DTB. "Why only people in England need such a reminder is far from clear," it says. Those who support the charge argue that many people are exempt. But these exemptions are totally illogical, says DTB. And they are so confusing that even NHS Prescription Services is setting up an online quiz for healthcare professionals to test their knowledge about whom they should and should not be charging. The other concern that advocates for the retention of the charge advance is that its abolition might prompt patients to demand medicines "of dubious value." The counter argument is that if these products are so questionable, they should not be available for prescription in the first place, insists DTB. Having demolished the arguments in support of keeping the prescription charge in England, DTB concludes: "[It] is a poorly conceived, manifestly unfair tax that shames the NHS and the Department of Health. It needs to go." Drug And Therapeutics Bulletin


Add your comment:
Name:
Site address: http://
Your message:
Enter today\\\\'s date, 2 digits
(spam protection):

© Copyright 2009