Author: blogger

Health Care Reform’s Effects on Employers

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I came across this paper written in July of 2010, and it still applies (at least until January 20th of next year). It outlines what is scheduled to occur in 2014 with small employer premiums under PPACA. First of all, a small employer is defined as any company with fewer than 50 employees. Large employers (50+) will have to pay penalties if they do not offer group health coverage. As far as I know, there is no penalty for small employers not offering it. There are some factors in California that may mitigate big premium hikes. Actually, we have had small group reform here for the past 19 years. It began in 1993 with a requirement that all employers with 5 or more employees be issued guaranteed coverage. In 1994 the minimum was lowered to 4 employees, and by 1996 it was lowered to 2 or more. The impact of this has been to stabilize the market over the long term. Group rates are already higher than individual rates because every employee that is eligible cannot be declined and all group plans must offer maternity coverage. Since the mandated addition of 100% free preventative care to all plans as a result of PPACA, premiums have not gone up as much as I thought they would, and in some cases have gone down. Keeping people healthy by early detection of problems should have a beneficial long-term impact.

What probably will have a negative impact on rates is the shrinking of the rate categories based on age. For example, rates are now broken up into 5 or 6 age groups, under 30, 30-39, etc. In 2014 there can be no more than a 3:1 difference between what is charged a 64 year old and an 18 year old. So if the premium for an 18 year is $150, the rate for the 64 year old could be no more than $450. The paper also talks about the removal of gender-based ratings, but California hasnt had them since the early nineties.

Will premiums go up? Of course they will, but I think California is better positioned than some other states. I have read comments by some that say “why should I pay for the people that dont want coverage and wont buy it?” My answer is that we all are already paying for the uninsured that either cant or wont get coverage, because they still use the health care system. And they use it for free. The rest of us pay for them in the form of higher health care costs and higher insurance premiums. From my point of view, and that of many on both sides of the issue, the biggest problem with the individual mandate provision that is before the Supreme Court (aside from the question of its constitutionality) is that it is not stiff enough. It is actually cheaper to go without insurance and pay the penalty than to buy coverage. But that was the result of political compromise. Too bad, because the one common element of every stable health care system worldwide is covering nearly everyone.

Of course all of this may be moot if Mitt wins. If he does, we may see some big changes to the Act. That might not be such a bad thing, but it should be noted that the health insurance industry has already priced many of the anticipated changes into their products, and some have said that it would actually cost them more to make changes once again so soon. Well just have to wait and see what happens. Hope this is helpful.

Us Healthcare It Market Exhibiting Double-digit Growth

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US healthcare IT market is growing immensely due to declining costs of HIT systems implementation, stricter government regulations and huge incentives for implementation. Moreover, current industry trends such as emergence of cloud computing in healthcare IT, growing strategic collaborations and rapid technological upgradation in the industry are also playing pivotal roles in the development of countrys healthcare IT market. Considering the above factors, the US healthcare IT market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of around 10% during 2014-2018.

The report, US Healthcare IT Market Outlook 2018, spread over 95 pages, covers a comprehensive research and thorough analysis of US healthcare IT market. The report provides a critical analysis and an unbiased view into the state of the countrys healthcare IT industry, including the current and future market size for various industry segments. The report features market analysis of HIT segments (hardware, software and services) coupled with the in-depth analysis of major HIT components. These components comprises of hospital information system (it covers EMR, CPOE, CDSS, MIIS), pharmacy information system and laboratory information system.

Further, our study delves into the potential growth areas of healthcare IT market in the country which would help the client to get deeper information about the industry. In addition to that, various regulations have been covered in the report which are affecting industry growth or may affect in the future.

Also, we have covered an in-depth analysis of competitive landscape covering business overview, key financials, strength & weakness analysis and recent developments of major healthcare IT vendors of the country. Overall, the report would facilitate clients in analyzing the driving forces and understand the existing opportunities in the industry.

Some of the key findings of the report are:

– Rising Merger and Acquisitions to augment market growth
– Declining cost of implementation propelling HIT adoption
– Government incentives driving rapid growth in US Healthcare IT

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Don’t Get Stuck Paying Your Own Healthcare Costs

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If you have just graduated from college and want health insurance, consider these options. If you are employed by a large enough business, you are probably eligible for company provided coverage. If you are younger than 26, you can still be covered by your parents, or you can research personal health insurance policies.

If you have vision problems now, or if members of your family do and you think you will in the future, vision insurance is something you will want to purchase. The insurance covers all or most of your check-ups plus contacts or glasses. Vision insurance is not something that you have to have, so it may cost you more to get the coverage.

Health insurance can be extremely expensive or even out of reach if you contract life-threatening condition. Consider a vegetarian diet as a preventative measure. Research has consistently shown that many years of improper diet accumulates into chronic conditions. Once you have a chronic disease, it can be very difficult and costly to treat. By becoming a vegetarian, you can avoid many chronic diseases. Insurers are beginning to understand this. This is a great diet because it saves your life while reducing your healthcare costs.

Remember that each state regulates the private insurance companies under its own jurisdiction, so interstate commerce laws prevent private insurance from being sold to you in one state if you live in another. This means that if you go to a hospital that is out of your state, your policy may not cover it. Insurance companies can be strange like that, so you need to know all the ins and outs of your policy.

Find out if your doctors participate in the health insurance plan you are considering. If your favorite doctor is not within a prospective carrier’s network, it may be wise to seek alternative insurance providers.

It’s important to take into consideration whether or not you can keep your current doctors if you change your health insurance provider. Doing so causes extra costs if your doctor is not part of the network.

Find out about healthcare savings accounts, and determine if they would work for you. Money that you put into an HSA is taken out before taxes and can reduce the cost of your medical expenses. Prescriptions, as well as other medical-related expenses, can be paid for through these accounts. It is important to know what you can and cannot use your account for.

It doesn’t matter the type of insurance coverage you currently have, but you will save money if you choose generic drugs. Most drugs have generic counterparts which are much cheaper than the name brand. In addition, generic drugs are chemically the same as the name brand.

See if your employer has a wellness program for their employees. A lot of employers offer incentives to any employee who has their health and lifestyle assessed. Signing up for physical fitness programs can help you save money on your insurance premiums and even lower your company’s payments for insurance.

You need good health insurance if you are planning on starting a family anytime soon. Don’t leave this to chance; some insurance doesn’t cover pregnancy, complications from pregnancy or labor.

Review your insurance plan annually to see which prescriptions are covered. This changes every year, so you should ensure you look over the list yourself when you re-enroll, so that you won’t be shocked when you refill your prescription.

You can make a more informed decision on the right health insurance for you or your loved ones when you conduct the proper research. Health insurance is a topic that should not be put to the side. Obtaining the right health insurance is crucial. Determining which health insurance policy to obtain is one of the most important decisions you have to make.

Indian IT Companies to benefit from healthcare reforms

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Barrack Obama’s healthcare victory is going to be a boon for Indian IT and offshoring companies. This historic win of Obama is likely to fetch Indian IT companies deal worth Rs. 1.2 lakh crore. The US Supreme Court upheld the law that many believe will change the face of America’s healthcare sector.

A rough figure estimates that more than 25 million American citizen will buy healthcare insurance. Interestingly, the healthcare reform will ensure that every single medical practitioner will have a centralized data center in digital format. This will result in massive data conversion for electronic records for insurance claim and other processes.

This will largely benefit Indian outsourcing companies, and they have started to look at companies who will offshore this process. This will help Indian companies to have a better understanding of the process and learn the complexities.

America’s earlier process were all aimed at bringing back job to the US citizen, but most of the policy failed to take shape since the need to outsource was always the prequisite for the American industry. Offshore outsourcing has only seen to be climbing the graph, mainly for the reason that it is cheap and affordable. Companies in US have also targeted in that front where they could bring in more business and jobs, but on the contrary it seems they have to implement more measures.

Finally outsourcing to India will grow, because with new healthcare regulations compliance will be increasingly complex, so it becomes obvious that Indian companies will have to take up the challenge and make a beginning.

HIPAA Training To Safeguard Patient Healthcare Information

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HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This act was introduced to prevent health care fraud and abuse and to protect privacy and confidentiality of health care information.

HIPAA comes in two parts, the title 1 which protects health insurance coverage for workers and their families especially when they change their jobs or in circumstances when they lose their jobs. The title 2 is called administrative simplification which specifies standards for health care transactions, providers, insurance plans and employers.

The HIPAA regulations guide several aspects of health insurance including the providers, insurance plans and employers. A highlighting aspect of HIPAA is the health information privacy and protection.

Since the regulation is stringent and has many legal implications, most companies provide HIPAA training to their employees and award HIPAA certification on successful completion of the training.

The HIPAA training focuses on the customer interaction and data safeguard aspects of insurance and healthcare operations. HIPAA training provides complete information about HIPAA requirement for physical safeguards and technical safeguards.

HIPAA requires that the physical access of protected data be controlled, hardware or software removal from the network be monitored, installed monitors to avoid healthcare information from being intercepted during electronic transfer, ensure safety from unexpected deletion or loss of patient health information, and many more requirements that need to be in place to safeguard patient information.

HIPAA training course can be taken by individual employees or all the employees of a company as a whole. The HIPAA training provides all the information about the compliance deadlines and penalties, about who is affected and how its regulations can be implemented in the job and office. It also covers the guidelines for HIPAA guided privacy of healthcare information.

At the end of HIPAA training, there is a final test which checks the employees’ understanding of the concepts and other details. On passing the test, HIPAA certification will be awarded. HIPAA training covers all the aspects of HIPAA which a person working in the healthcare insurance industry or in any other industry associated with healthcare, needs to know.

A person with HIPAA certification can expect to know HIPAA standards, HIPAA privacy rules, healthcare information security rules and the implementations of HIPAA regulations. HIPAA training also ensures that the company employees understand the nuances well so that the required changes are made in a simple manner, thereby avoiding rework or excessive overhead costs.

HIPAA certification helps ensure that the company, healthcare agency, medical center or insurance company, is compliant with the requirements. This can help in avoiding severe penalties that are payable in case of violation. HIPAA certification also helps in understanding the legislation better and helps in implementing the required changes in a smooth and phased manner so that there is no interruption in the operations.

The requirements of HIPAA in terms of ensuring the safety and security of patient healthcare information are a good step towards protecting confidentiality. Health information is private to the patient, if shared with an unauthorized third party, it may not only hamper the person’s trust and confidentiality it may also lead to unauthorized use of the information in an inappropriate manner. HIPAA certification provides the required groundwork training to implement the act successfully.