I was on vacation for about 10 days and despite my break, things were quite active in the benefits world! The chart below highlights what happens to our digital lives while on vacation.
Since I am ‘back to normal’ – enjoy these nuggets of information as you enjoy the summer sun…
- No one can escape talks of the debt ceiling. In fact, the deficit talks include the idea of repealing the long-term care CLASS Act.
- Although the health exchange regulations just came out, Bloom Health (somehow) creates a private health exchange.
- CIGNA lobbying to get expat plans exempted from medical loss ratio requirements.
- Lessons from MA – having health insurance doesn’t mean you have easy access to doctors and the Journal of American College of Surgeons predicts the same shortages for the rest of the US
- The SF Health Care Ordinance runs into a little trouble with the ‘use it or lose it’ rule. (I am not a fan of the SF Ordinance – the reporting required is nightmarish and while the City is lamenting – they automatically moved contributions into an HRA)
- The Institute of Medicine adds more preventive services for women to the list: gestational diabetes screening, HPV testing every three years beginning at age 30, STD counseling, counseling and screening for HIV, lactation counseling and breastfeeding equipment rental, domestic violence screening and counseling, and annual well-woman visits.
- More consolidation in health care – Express Scripts to acquire Medco making it the largest pharmacy benefit manager.
- Health care inflation slows (for once) and an interesting chart comparing life expectancy to health expenditures per capita. Guess which country is the outlier?
- More progress on the efforts to repeal the FSA ‘use-it-or-lose it’ rule
- A great article questioning the ROI calculations on wellness.
- 401(k) plan disclosures required in April 2012. Here is a summary of the requirements. Now there will be more things that participants don’t read.
- People who contribute to an HSA have higher 401(k) balances than non-HSA contributors – by 138%.
- An opinion piece in Bloomberg laments the impossibility of finding out pricing information for medical treatment.
- This is a video from 2010 but I crack up every time I see it: If Air Travel Worked Like Health Insurance
- 10 things we can learn about health from twitter is an interesting way to use twitter data for public health.
- Proposed changes to research rules which may speed up the IRB process. This means that potentially more research projects could potentially be launched faster.
- Some of the latest trends in health gamification and FDA proposes regulations for mobile medical apps.
- Unlimited vacation is a growing trend within the high tech space.
- Should you bill your doctor if they make you wait too long? This article details options for when your doctor keeps you waiting.
- Paper still a driving force in small doctor practices
