Walmart’s Care Bundling – Will It Fix U.S. Healthcare?

This month Harvard Business Review (HBR) published the dramatic results of Walmart’s innovative centers-of-excellence (COE) care-bundling initiative. Walmart’s third-party administrator, Health Designs Plus (HDP), claims that this approach saved Walmart $86 million on spine surgery alone over 3 years, and could “address the cost-and-quality dilemma and drive change nationally.” But will it? FixingUSHealthcare blog agrees that … Continue reading Walmart’s Care Bundling – Will It Fix U.S. Healthcare? →

It’s Not Just About Costly Drugs – It’s Testing, Too

On the stump, many of the candidates are railing against skyrocketing drug costs. They promise at campaign rallies at the top of their lungs to “Bring down the cost of drugs.” This blog, however, claims that it’s not only about costly drugs. It’s the whole system that is rigged and has high costs baked into … Continue reading It’s Not Just About Costly Drugs – It’s Testing, Too →

Paying for the High Cost of U.S. Healthcare

Fixing U.S. Healthcare blog has claimed the high cost of U.S. healthcare is the Real Problem paying such a high price diverts resources from other important national priorities if left unchecked, these relentlessly rising healthcare costs will seriously weaken the nation over time. Two recent authoritative op-eds support the first two claims, but not the … Continue reading Paying for the High Cost of U.S. Healthcare →

Healthcare Reform Is in the News

Healthcare is in the news a lot lately. Here are summaries of 3 recent articles along with my comments: 1. Health insurers use cash and gifts to sway which benefits employers choose Link: https://www.propublica.org/article/health-insurance-brokers-cost-commissions-bonuses Summary: Health insurance companies give out lucrative commissions and bonuses for influencing brokers who set up coverage plans. These incentives are not … Continue reading Healthcare Reform Is in the News →

Wages Are Up, But Whittled Down by Rising Healthcare Costs

Wages are up 3.2% for 2018, according the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So, why don’t we feel 3.2% richer? It’s because relentless healthcare cost increases are eating up one-quarter of our gains. Gross annual pay increased $1,507, but one-quarter of it was taken right out of our paychecks to pay our healthcare premiums. This … Continue reading Wages Are Up, But Whittled Down by Rising Healthcare Costs →