Healthcare Spending

Tom Taylor learned a lesson about healthcare finances when he had both his knees replaced a couple of months apart at separate hospitals in Northern California. The tab at the first hospital was $95,000, but the second cost $55,000. The same doctor performed identical surgeries on both knees, and Taylor says he can't detect any differences between the two. "Nobody knows what it costs," said Taylor, 53, a former health insurance sales executive. "There is a complete lack of transparency in the healthcare system."

Art Kellermann, a doctor and a vice president at Rand Health, a division of the Rand Corp., responds to Christopher J. Conover of Duke University's Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research and the American Enterprise Institute, on the issue of how much is too much money for the nation to pay for healthcare. Conover's Op Ed, " Healthcare wasn't broken ," was published March 15. If you would like to write a full-length response to a recent Times article, editorial or Op-Ed, here are our FAQs and submission policy.

Here's how healthcare management works in the Hiltzik household as 2011 starts to slip away: We've ordered a year's worth of disposable contact lenses for my son to supplement the year's supply he already has. I've bugged my wife to buy new eyeglasses and sunglasses, although the two pair of designer frames she already has are functional, and plenty stylish too. When the latest statement arrived from my dentist, I cursed my dental plan for...

Spending on genetic tests has reached $5 billion annually and could top $25 billion within a decade, according to an insurance industry study published Monday. The rise in spending is likely to intensify the debate over genetic testing as policymakers and employers struggle to contain spiraling healthcare costs. The growing availability of genetic and molecular diagnostic tests offers the promise of earlier detection of disease and more personalized treatments that could wring substantial savings from the nation's $2.6 trillion-a-year healthcare tab. But many medical providers and other experts worry that those benefits may be outweighed by indiscriminate use of genetic testing, similar to what has occurred with some spending on popular prescription drugs and expensive imaging tests.

After spending the majority of her 48 years trying, and failing, to slim down, Veronica Mahaffey was still 50 pounds overweight -- not morbidly obese by a long shot, but still far from the size she wanted. Worried about her health, she called a San Diego weight-loss surgery clinic last spring and asked for help. She was told no. At 185 pounds and with a body mass index of 28, the Ramona mother of four was not heavy enough to meet medical guidelines or insurance company qualifications for weight-loss surgery.

Government figures released today show that Americans may be getting a respite from the torrid pace of increases in healthcare spending, but experts cautioned that it was too soon for a national sigh of relief. The data show that in 2005, spending on healthcare grew 6.9%. That was the smallest rate of increase since 1999, and marked the third straight year in which the pace had moderated. In 2004, for example, spending grew by 7.2%.

Art Kellermann, a doctor and a vice president at Rand Health, a division of the Rand Corp., responds to Christopher J. Conover of Duke University's Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research and the American Enterprise Institute, on the issue of how much is too much money for the nation to pay for healthcare. Conover's Op Ed, " Healthcare wasn't broken ," was published March 15. If you would like to write a full-length response to a recent Times article, editorial or Op-Ed, here are our FAQs and submission policy.

Spending on genetic tests has reached $5 billion annually and could top $25 billion within a decade, according to an insurance industry study published Monday. The rise in spending is likely to intensify the debate over genetic testing as policymakers and employers struggle to contain spiraling healthcare costs. The growing availability of genetic and molecular diagnostic tests offers the promise of earlier detection of disease and more personalized treatments that could wring substantial savings from the nation's $2.6 trillion-a-year healthcare tab. But many medical providers and other experts worry that those benefits may be outweighed by indiscriminate use of genetic testing, similar to what has occurred with some spending on popular prescription drugs and expensive imaging tests.

Pushed by a dramatic increase in the number of Americans who will get insurance under the new healthcare law, total U.S. medical spending will continue to gallop upward, consuming nearly 20% of the economy by 2019, according to a new government estimate. But because new savings in the law offset most of the cost of extending insurance to more people, the nation's total healthcare bill is not expected to be substantially larger than it would have been without the overhaul. "It appears that the Affordable Care Act will have a moderate effect on health spending growth," said Andrea M. Sisko, the lead author of the closely watched study by independent economists at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

In his healthcare address Wednesday night, President Obama proposed a new element in his overhaul plan -- the creation of a so-called trigger to prevent higher medical costs from pushing the budget deficit higher. Here is what he is proposing: How would the spending "trigger" work? In broad terms, it would force cutbacks in government outlays if healthcare spending began to get out of control. Specifically, the trigger -- also referred to as a fail-safe -- would kick in if savings that Obama says his plan would create somehow failed to materialize.

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.)

The Internet is buzzing with rumors that TV chef Paula Deen, queen of the deep fryer, could soon reveal to the world that she has Type 2 diabetes. The Daily reports that Deen, known for fat-laden dishes such as deep-fried, bacon-wrapped macaroni and cheese, is on the cusp of spilling the refried beans about her condition. Last year, the National Enquirer wrote that Deen had the condition, and the Daily is also reporting that the TV star has inked a deal with a pharmaceutical company to endorse a diabetes drug.

For more evidence that the Golden State has lost some of its luster, consider this news from the federal government: California spends less per person on healthcare than all but eight states. New data show that total spending by insurers, government agencies and individuals amounted to $6,238 per resident in 2009, well below the national average of $6,815. That puts California on a bottom tier with Arkansas, Georgia, Texas, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado and Idaho. Healthcare analysts blame the low spending largely on the fact that the state has more than 7 million people who are uninsured, or about 1 in 5 Californians.

Here's how healthcare management works in the Hiltzik household as 2011 starts to slip away: We've ordered a year's worth of disposable contact lenses for my son to supplement the year's supply he already has. I've bugged my wife to buy new eyeglasses and sunglasses, although the two pair of designer frames she already has are functional, and plenty stylish too. When the latest statement arrived from my dentist, I cursed my dental plan for...

Spending on healthcare in the United States continued to far outpace other industrialized countries in 2009, according to a new tally by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. Healthcare spending in the U.S. accounted for 17.4% of the nation's total economic output, nearly twice the average of 34 OECD countries, the OECD found. The next biggest health spender - the Netherlands - spent just 12% of its gross domestic product on medical care. Spending per capita on healthcare, which hit $7,960 in 2009, also far exceeded that of even some of the richest countries in Western Europe.

Lawmakers in both houses of the Legislature on Friday gave a preliminary blessing to Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget, which calls for deep cuts to state services and counts on voters to approve billions of dollars in taxes later this year. The legislators made relatively minor changes to the governor's $84.6 billion spending proposal. Some differences remain on cuts in home healthcare services and healthcare for the developmentally disabled, as well as on Brown's proposed elimination of redevelopment agencies.

Call it the McVictim syndrome. Too many pundits, public health experts and politicians are working overtime to find scapegoats for America's obesity epidemic. In his latest book, former FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler argues that modern food is addictive. In it, he recounts how he was once helpless to stop himself from eating a cookie. In a paper in this month's Journal of Health Economics, University of Illinois researchers join a long list of analysts who blame urban sprawl for obesity.

The Internet is buzzing with rumors that TV chef Paula Deen, queen of the deep fryer, could soon reveal to the world that she has Type 2 diabetes. The Daily reports that Deen, known for fat-laden dishes such as deep-fried, bacon-wrapped macaroni and cheese, is on the cusp of spilling the refried beans about her condition. Last year, the National Enquirer wrote that Deen had the condition, and the Daily is also reporting that the TV star has inked a deal with a pharmaceutical company to endorse a diabetes drug.

Call it the McVictim syndrome. Too many pundits, public health experts and politicians are working overtime to find scapegoats for America's obesity epidemic. In his latest book, former FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler argues that modern food is addictive. In it, he recounts how he was once helpless to stop himself from eating a cookie. In a paper in this month's Journal of Health Economics, University of Illinois researchers join a long list of analysts who blame urban sprawl for obesity.

Healthcare premiums paid by large U.S. employers have more than doubled over the last decade, but the costs to their employees more than tripled, a study released Monday found. And next year companies can expect healthcare costs to rise nearly 9% on average — the largest increase in five years — as they confront an aging workforce, large medical claims and changes brought by healthcare reform. The study by human resources firm Hewitt Associates found that Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego were among the metropolitan areas nationwide where employers have experienced the largest cost increases this year.