Rob's Rant - Feb 24, 2006

Don’t Blame the HSA
Whether you’re a Republican or Democrat, any time you are getting a tax deduction to save money (in the case of the HSA for your health care expenses) it is a win, win situation.
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2006/2/emw350313.htm

Wal-Mart to expand health plans
By William Spain, MarketWatch
Last Update: 6:28 PM ET Feb 23, 2006
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Under fire from activist groups and legislators who charge it with underinsuring its workers, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday that it will roll out major improvements to its employee health-care benefit plans.
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7BCB94ACEC%2DA703%2D47F3%2D9911%2D2AD5523EB5E9%7D&siteid=google&print=true&dist=printBottom

Health plan lifts the veil on charges

Rob's Note: Great move on the part of the insurance companies, We just need to see more of it from the doctors and the healthcare professionals.

List of doctor, hospital prices is most extensive available
By GUY BOULTON
gboulton@journalsentinel.com
Feb. 23, 2006
More than 44,000 people in a new health plan now have access to the most extensive information made public to date on what hospitals and doctors in the Milwaukee area charge.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=403820

Analysis:Health to rise to 4TR
Rob's Note: Ms Pierce make a very proffetic statement at the end of her article. She clarifies that fact 4 Trillion is based on current demands and does not take into consideration and aged and demanding baby boomer population. We all must remember
this group grew up when the phrase "greed is good" was a national slogan. I give Olga extra points. What she missed was the massive expenses associated with our ever EXPANDING OBESE population. From our children to seniors, obesity will be the KILLER
OF THE SYSTEM. Good job Olga.
By OLGA PIERCE
UPI Health Business Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Slight decreases in the growth rate of healthcare spending for 2005 and 2006 will not prevent it from accounting for one fifth of GDP by 2015, federal forecasters predicted Wednesday.
http://www.upi.com/HealthBusiness/view.php?StoryID=20060222-100912-1357r

Bush's Proposed Health Accounts Offer Tax Benefit for Wealthy
Rob's Note - We started selling HSAs because they were good for all, this article just goes on to say it may get better. HSAs are good for everyone in this Country who wants to take persoanl reponsibility for their HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE. If it takes tax deductions and tax credits for AMERICANS TO GET THE FAT OFF - SO BE IT!
Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush's proposal to expand health savings accounts, intended to help contain spiraling medical costs, may prove a tax-free boon for the nation's rich.
Both supporters and opponents of the proposal said the enhanced HSAs offer unprecedented tax advantages and may become more attractive than 401(k)s or Individual Retirement Accounts as a way for the richest and healthiest Americans to build savings.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a.v8quwjesw8#

President's Vision for Healthcare Reform Could Define Winners and Losers Among Insurers, Financial Services Firms
Rob's Note - This article shows the challenges ahead of us if we are going to fix healthcare. We can not guarantee that HSAs will fix all. HSAs are just tools, but I can guarantee if we do nothing nothing will happen. Secondly, I can guarantee if we do not make a dramatic difference in the personal health
of every American (My Demand side theory) our system WILL FAIL NO MATTER WHAT CHANGES WE MAKE AND NO MATTER WHO PAYS FOR THE SERVICES. Demand will exceed supply!
New DiamondCluster White Paper Analyzes Challenges for Health Insurers, Opportunities for Financial Institutions
CHICAGO, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- President Bush's recent State of the Union address outlined three vital themes for the nation's healthcare that could have a significant impact on health insurers and financial services firms, cautions management consulting firm DiamondCluster International (Nasdaq: DTPI).
http://www.upi.com/HealthBusiness/view.php?StoryID=20060222-100912-1357r

High-deductible health savings plans slow to catch on locally
Joy Davia
Staff writer
(February 23, 2006) — Dave Caporale's trips to the pharmacy no longer require those $20 co-payments.
Caporale now pays with a type of credit card that takes his prescription money out of a health savings account, or HSA, that's funded by his employer, Brinkman International Group Inc.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060223/BUSINESS/602230345/1001

Aetna's secret to success? People
Aetna's stock price has been on a roll and with more room to grow, the company's new CEO sees more growth in its future.
By Shaheen Pasha, CNNMoney.com staff writer
February 22, 2006: 4:18 PM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Aetna's new president and chief executive, Ronald Williams, can remember a time when Wall Street wanted little to do with the troubled health insurer.
http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/22/news/companies/aetna_ceo/index.htm?section=money_latest

Clinic to Offer Primary Care Medical Services
to All Uninsured Patients at Medicare Rates Plus 25%

MIAMI, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- In a major initiative to encourage health
care providers to start charging the uninsured more reasonable prices, Consejo
de Latinos Unidos, a national non-profit organization that educates and
assists the uninsured, and the Ross Integral Medical Clinic outlined the
details of a "Fair Pricing for the Uninsured" plan at a news conference today.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-22-2006/0004287258&EDATE=


Re: Employers charging smokers extra for health insurance
Rob's Note: This little blog is a great example what ALL AMERICANS will be faced with. Who's insurance is it? Does it matter what I do in my personal time? Can an employer discriminate at time of employment?
First - The insurance sponsered but the employer is PAID 100% by the employee via the employer pay less in wages to compensate for the amount paid for health insurance. The employer provides the purchasing service
because he gets a tax deduction. The insurance companie likes it because they get to set the rules to make sure the get the benefit of BIG NUMBERS. They want to make sure the 80% who do not use health insurance is there to pay
for the 20% who spend all the money. Secondly, since it is you insurance what you do in your "personal" time does matter. When we purchase car insurance do we differenciate between driving to work and driving to the beach? Americans better
wake up NOW because the healthcare industry is not going to stop with SMOKING, they are going to go after FAT PEOPLE. Fat people cost more money to maintain and Fat people are going to pay more in premiums just like reckless drivers regarding
their auto insurance. Everybody needs to stop worrying about their cars and SUV's and start worrying about their bodies.
February 22, 2006
blog
"Where is it going to end?" asked Jim Clark, a smoker and owner of Strauss Tobacconist in Cincinnati. "Are they going to start saying you can't wear a blue shirt on Monday or drive a green car on Thursday?"
http://www.harktheherald.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,/topic,7088.msg24324


How Are the Amish Lowering Health-Care Costs?
Patients Pay in Cash and Don't Sue
Feb. 23, 2006 — - The Amish of Lancaster County, Pa., don't have insurance, but they won't have to pay full price for medical expenses or travel to Tijuana, Mexico, for affordable health care anymore, either.
http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/print?id=1652941


Neighborhood may help prevent childhood obesity
Thu Feb 23, 2006 3:25 PM GMT
By Charnicia Huggins
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The neighborhood an adolescent lives in may influence his or her development of obesity, new study findings suggest. Specifically, investigators found that adolescents from close-knit neighborhoods were less likely to be obese.
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2006-02-23T152551Z_01_HAR355470_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-NEIGHBORHOOD-OBESITY-DC.XML


Depression, childhood obesity and eating disorders effect children
By Associated Press
Depression hard to spot in children, teens
HOUSTON — Statistics suggest that more than 10 percent of the U.S. population experiences at least one episode of depression by the time they are 24 years old. Depression can be hard to spot in children and adolescents, but addressing it early can make all the difference in preventing development, learning, and additional emotional disorders.
http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/2006/02/23/life/life04.txt



February 24, 2006
U.S. to Pay Big Employers Billions Not to End Their Retiree Health Plans
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH

America's largest companies expect the federal government to pay them about $4 billion over the next four years to help keep their retiree health plans alive at a time when such benefits are increasingly on the chopping block, according to a new study by Credit Suisse First Boston.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/24/business/24retire.html?_r=1&oref=slogin