His story should be history
I met a young man last week who lost his job in December of 2009, and despite his best efforts, still hasn’t found another. He told me he had excellent health benefits through his previous employer, but rarely needed to use them. He described himself as a typical young and healthy patient – going in for routine cleanings at the dentist’s …
Read more >Michigan’s collaborative quality improvement programs cut health care costs and improve quality of care; Serve as successful national model for improvement
In a paper published today in the professional health care journal, Health Affairs, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the University of Michigan report that their model for collaborative health care quality improvement has measurably improved safety and quality in several clinical areas, and has saved millions in health care costs. Collaborative Quality Initiatives (CQI), the term given to …
Read more >The Cost of Prematurity – A Different Perspective: Or, How to Raise Health Care Costs Without Really Trying
In November 2010 we released an issue brief on the cost of prematurity in Michigan. In that issue brief we noted that in 2008/2009, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan spent a total of more than $46 million on preterm infants in the first year of life. The average cost of medical care for a preterm baby in its …
Read more >What Does One Year Mean?
Well, the polling data are in! And, the results: people are just as confused about health reform today as they were when it passed a year ago; maybe, more so. In fact, 22 percent of those polled by the Kaiser Family Foundation believe health care reform has already been repealed and another 26 percent aren’t sure. How could it be …
Read more >What are “essential benefits”?
The Affordable Care Act uses a number of terms that could never have been field tested by a marketing team. One that is very confusing to most people is the term “essential benefits” – a concept key to the way health insurance exchanges will work and the health benefits people will actually get under health reform. Health insurance exchanges will …
Read more >Bipartisan Opportunities in Health Care: the Push for Transparency
Despite the “Strum und Drang” over health care reform in Congress these days, there is actually some interesting bipartisan activity occurring. While the stridency on health care reform often gets the most notice, the bipartisan activity offers some hope that challenging problems can move forward in a constructive way. Not surprisingly, this activity is taking place principally in the Senate …
Read more >The State and Federal Dance on Health Reform
The Affordable Care Act is a complicated law, in part because it builds off the current health care system to achieve some far reaching goals: significantly expanded access to care and control over the rate of cost increase. Though some describe the Act as a federal takeover of health care, in fact, much of the law is to be carried …
Read more >Detroit Free Press: Antibiotics overprescribed for children, study finds
Report on CHRT’s February 2011 Issue Brief, “Antibiotic Prescribing and Use.”
Read more >The Associated Press: Study: Mich. children overprescribed antibiotics
Report on CHRT’s February 2011 Issue Brief “Antibiotic Prescribing and Use.” (No longer available online)
Read more >Crain's Detroit Business: Adult antibiotic use down, but up for children in Michigan, says report
Report on CHRT’s February 2011 Issue Brief, “Antibiotic Prescribing and Use.”
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