Monday, November 29, 2010

Kip Sullivan: Health care report card was flawed | StarTribune.com

Kip Sullivan: Health care report card was flawed | StarTribune.com: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
"Minnesotans should be alarmed by a report recently issued by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). The Minnesota Health Care Quality Report claims to measure the quality of care delivered by Minnesota's clinics and hospitals, but its methodology is so crude that it is impossible to say what is being measured."
Click here for the rest of the LTE

Monday, November 8, 2010

Alex MacGillis: Prices remain the malady in health care | StarTribune.com

Alex MacGillis: Prices remain the malady in health care StarTribune.com
This article goes into the argument about value versus quantity in the health care cost debate. Is it the insurance companies, the providers or us patients that are the cause of the problem? Hmmmm.....I can't help but wonder about the trend not only for providers to consolidate but for insurance companies to get into the provider buisness -- directly and indirectly via selling business support services. Still might be just the big coporations playing us all to make as much money as possible with no regard for our real health care needs.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Health group may offer plan to trim costs | StarTribune.com

Health group may offer plan to trim costs | StarTribune.com: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
This calls the public programs that pay for medical care INSURANCE. Insurance is defined as "promise of reimbursement in the case of loss; paid to people or companies so concerned about hazards that they have made prepayments to an insurance company". Since Pre-paid Medical Assistance started in MN the managed care companies get a payment per person to cover them like any other managed care plan would. Going from the State paying for medical bills to paying MCOs to pay them costs more but the State will not provide a cost comparison to show how wasteful this is. But then the MCOs have paid a lot to the politicians and lobbyists to keep us all ignorant of the ugly truth.