Healthcare Costs

President Obama beats Mitt Romney on controlling healthcare costs, Romney wins on dealing with the deficit, and they are essentially tied on who can better attack unemployment, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll that assesses how voters view the two presidential candidates on economic issues. Not surprisingly, the voter preferences match up well with the candidates' respective campaign narratives. When asked which candidate would be more capable of handling specific issues, Obama led on the cost of healthcare by seven points while Romney boasted a 15-point hold on the budget deficit and debt.

HealthCare Partners, the Torrance owner of physician groups in Southern California, Nevada and Florida, agreed to be acquired in a $4.42-billion deal by dialysis chain DaVita Inc., as large healthcare companies continue snapping up doctor groups and clinics. HealthCare Partners, a privately held company led by founding physician and Chief Executive Robert Margolis, is becoming the latest big medical group swept up in a consolidation wave triggered by federal government efforts to tame rising healthcare costs.

Fewer companies offered health insurance last year, and the ones that did charged employees more for their coverage. That's among the major findings of in an annual California Employer Health Benefits Survey released Wednesday by the California HealthCare Foundation, a research and grant-making nonprofit organization. According to the survey, premiums for employer health insurance plans rose 153.5% since 2002, a rate that's more than five times the increase in California's inflation rate.

President Obama beats Mitt Romney on controlling healthcare costs, Romney wins on dealing with the deficit, and they are essentially tied on who can better attack unemployment, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll that assesses how voters view the two presidential candidates on economic issues. Not surprisingly, the voter preferences match up well with the candidates' respective campaign narratives. When asked which candidate would be more capable of handling specific issues, Obama led on the cost of healthcare by seven points while Romney boasted a 15-point hold on the budget deficit and debt.

The largest union representing Hollywood's technical workers has begun contract negotiations with the major studios amid concerns that rising healthcare costs could lead to cuts in health and pension benefits for below-the-line crew members. The largest union representing Hollywood's technical workers has begun contract negotiations with the major studios amid concerns that rising healthcare costs could lead to cuts in health and pension benefits for below-the-line crew members. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees — which represents more than 100,000 entertainment industry workers, including cinematographers, set decorators and prop masters — on Wednesday began negotiating a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

There are six things that young doctors need to learn during their training period as interns and residents, starting with basics like acquiring “medical knowledge” and honing their “patient care” skills. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the American Board of Medical Specialties make sure that doctors-in-training master these general competencies before they complete their residency training. One more item should be added to this list, according to Dr. Steven E. Weinberger , chief executive of the American College of Physicians: how to provide high-quality medical care without breaking the bank.

Healthcare expenses for U.S. employers are expected to increase next year at the lowest rate in more than a decade, but the cost of benefits for workers is likely to outpace the growth of their earnings, a national survey has found. Companies expect their bills for health benefits to rise 5.4% on average next year, the smallest increase since 1997, according to preliminary results from a survey of nearly 1,600 employers by benefits consulting firm Mercer. The smaller increase reflects cost-cutting efforts by employers.

Increased spending for healthcare is gobbling up about one-quarter of the growth in the economy, and health-related items now amount to more than three times the defense budget and twice what the nation devotes to education, a report released today concludes.

When House Budget Committee Chairman Paul D. Ryan unveiled his blueprint this week for cutting federal spending by $5.8 trillion over the next decade, he argued that a revamping of the government's health safety net would rein in skyrocketing costs. But because commercial insurers cost more to run than government plans, the Wisconsin Republican's proposal to privatize Medicare starting in 2022 would actually spark a dramatic increase in how much the nation spends on healthcare for the elderly, according to an independent analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Slim society's tolerance is wearing thin. As more people over the last decade have tipped the scales toward obesity, normal weight folks have signed up for employee wellness programs that offer them lower premiums and other financial perks as a reward for their healthy weight -- and that indirectly penalize heavier workers. They've crafted policies, most unsuccessful, to compel individuals to lose weight. They've become vocal, sometimes vehemently so, in their support for "sin taxes" on junk food and soda.

The Times' editorial, "Healthcare law's day in court," on March 26 argued that the Supreme Court should uphold the law's controversial requirement that virtually all American adults maintain health insurance, starting in 2014. It drew a skeptical comment online from reader "TheresaKlein," who wrote: "This editorial contradicts itself. First it states that buying insurance is a matter of individual responsibility. Then it states that the law prevents insurance companies from charging people different rates depending on their medical risk.

Something close to two out of three bankruptcies in this country are not on account of Vegas gambling trips that got out of hand, or wild living in high style. They're because of medical bills. That means that Mary Brown, who owed about $4,500 in medical bills out of the $55,000 debt she and her husband held, could be the poster woman for the healthcare overhaul law now being argued before the Supreme Court. Except that she was already the poster woman for the other side, the opponents of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Brown and her husband were running an auto repair shop in Florida when she volunteered to be a plaintiff against the law being challenged by the National Federation of Independent Business.

“The West Wing” hasn't aired a new episode in years, but actor Martin Sheen still delivers that TV president's punch in a new ad against the GOP's plans to change Medicare. The Democratic-run effort is part of the budget battle playing out in Congress this week - and the campaign trail in the months to come - as the House GOP prepares to double-down on a proposal to dramatically alter the health program from seniors. “What is their goal?” asks Sheen, speaking intently into the camera.

Two years after Congress enacted a sweeping healthcare reform measure, lawmakers are still battling over how to rein in the rising cost of medical care. On Thursday, the House voted to eliminate one of the main cost controls in the 2010 law: the Independent Payments Advisory Board, whose purpose is to keep a lid on the growth of Medicare's budget. The board may be a blunt instrument, but it's not the threat that its detractors claim. The advisory board is something of a fallback plan in case the slew of other cost-control measures in the healthcare reform law don't pan out. For any year in which Medicare costs are projected to rise faster than the targets set by the law, the board - 15 full-time members with relevant expertise, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate - must recommend ways to rein in spending.

Like many states, California is struggling to pay for the health insurance it offers poor residents. The ranks of the Medi-Cal program grew by more than 12% after the economy tanked, and rising healthcare costs increased the fiscal burden. Making matters worse, state officials kept trying to solve the problem mainly by paying doctors less for their services and charging Medi-Cal beneficiaries more, ignoring the skewed incentives and inefficiencies in the system that were driving costs higher.

The largest union representing Hollywood's technical workers has begun contract negotiations with the major studios amid concerns that rising healthcare costs could lead to cuts in health and pension benefits for below-the-line crew members. The largest union representing Hollywood's technical workers has begun contract negotiations with the major studios amid concerns that rising healthcare costs could lead to cuts in health and pension benefits for below-the-line crew members. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees — which represents more than 100,000 entertainment industry workers, including cinematographers, set decorators and prop masters — on Wednesday began negotiating a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Don't look now, but the 2012 election is turning into a national referendum on what to do about Medicare. Democrats want to run on the issue - and to charge that Republican proposals to change Medicare into a voucher-based system would end the current guarantee of virtually unlimited healthcare for the elderly. The chairman of their House campaign committee, Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), has told candidates to stress three issues: "Medicare, Medicare and Medicare. " At least some Republicans - such as Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.)

Like many states, California is struggling to pay for the health insurance it offers poor residents. The ranks of the Medi-Cal program grew by more than 12% after the economy tanked, and rising healthcare costs increased the fiscal burden. Making matters worse, state officials kept trying to solve the problem mainly by paying doctors less for their services and charging Medi-Cal beneficiaries more, ignoring the skewed incentives and inefficiencies in the system that were driving costs higher.

Don't look now, but the 2012 election is turning into a national referendum on what to do about Medicare. Democrats want to run on the issue - and to charge that Republican proposals to change Medicare into a voucher-based system would end the current guarantee of virtually unlimited healthcare for the elderly. The chairman of their House campaign committee, Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), has told candidates to stress three issues: "Medicare, Medicare and Medicare. " At least some Republicans - such as Rep. Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.)