Another Obamacare Lie, Pediatric Dental Care

The flawed implementation of pediatric dental care under the new health law could leave millions of young patients without access, experts warn --

A Gap in the Affordable Care Act - NYTimes.com: "... pediatric dental care is handled differently from coverage of other essential benefits on federal and state exchanges. These plans are often sold separately from medical insurance, and dental coverage for children is optional. People shopping on the exchanges are not required to buy it and do not receive financial support for buying it. Now experts are warning that the flawed implementation of this benefit on the exchanges could leave millions of children without access to dental care..." (read more at link above)

more news below

Follow @nothinnormal

Highly Engaged Employees, The Great Performance Secret

The Overlooked Secret to Great Performance - NYTimes.com: "...The differentiating factor among companies with the most highly engaged employees was an environment that supported people’s physical, emotional and social well-being. Companies that did this least well had an average operating margin of 10 percent. Companies that best supported employees had an average operating margin of 27 percent...." (read more at link above)

more news below

Follow @nothinnormal

Obamacare blew it on health cost transparency

Another way Obamacare blew it -- no transparency on health care providers' charges --

How much for a new hip or knee? Depends on the hospital - Miami-Dade - MiamiHerald.com: ". . . .“We don’t fully understand the reasons,” she said. “But we want people to know that, when they go to the hospital for something, there may be another hospital two miles away that charges significantly less. We hope [the new data] gives folks the information they need to do some selective shopping.” Jackson Memorial and the University of Miami Hospital are much less than two miles apart — they’re right across from each other along Northwest 12th Avenue — but they charge far different prices for the same procedures. Jackson’s average cost for a pacemaker implant was $127,000, about twice as much as the $66,000 that UM Hospital charged. Treatment for pneumonia cost about $32,000 at Jackson — and $60,000 at UM. Similar cost discrepancies are apparent throughout South Florida and the rest of the country. . . ."

more news below

Follow @nothinnormal

Medicare Provider Charge Data, Medicare, Medicaid

At some point the data will create demand for real health care reform --

Medicare Provider Charge Data - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: "As part of the Obama administration’s work to make our health care system more affordable and accountable, data are being released that show significant variation across the country and within communities in what hospitals charge for common inpatient services. The data provided here include hospital-specific charges for the more than 3,000 U.S. hospitals that receive Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) payments for the top 100 most frequently billed discharges, paid under Medicare based on a rate per discharge using the Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Group (MS-DRG) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. These DRGs represent almost 7 million discharges or 60 percent of total Medicare IPPS discharges. . . ."

more news below

Follow @nothinnormal