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Healthcare Costs For U.S. Companies Seen Rising Nine Percent
"Healthcare costs for U.S. businesses are seen rising by 9 percent in 2010, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers PWC.UL survey, which showed that employers will expect workers to pay more of the bill," Reuters reports. "PwC"s annual "Behind the Numbers: Medical Costs Trends for 2010," released on Thursday, showed that one of the factors driving costs was more workers using health insurance plans if they expected to be laid off. And, it showed that as unemployment rises in the United States, leaving more people uninsured or underinsured, there will be a decline in membership in commercial plans and greater dependence on public programs, such as Medicaid." Of the 500 employers surveyed, 42 percent said they "would increase workers" share of healthcare costs," and 41 percent that they "would increase medical cost sharing through changes to plans." In addition, "more than two-thirds of employers offer wellness and disease management programs, but few said they were very effective at lowering costs."
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House Democrats Set To Move Bill After Accord With Blue Dogs, Liberals Objecting
House Democrats on Wednesday made a deal with fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats on a health reform bill that "would reduce the overall cost of the package and ensure more funding for rural hospitals, concessions that could allow the Energy and Commerce Committee to finish its consideration of the legislation," The Washington Post reports. The deal will be considered on the House floor no earlier than September, according to several lawmakers. House lawmakers plan to conclude their markup of the legislation in the Energy Committee Thursday.
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Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Feature Highlights Recent Blog Entries
"Blog Watch" offers readers a roundup of health policy-related blog posts.Bloggers are tentatively reacting to a report and blog post released by the Congressional Budget Office that summarizes the agency"s approach to estimating the cost of any health overhaul bills. At issue is how CBO will count different stipulations of legislation -- like an individual mandate or a public plan -- and whether their conclusions will result in a heftier price tag. Douglas Elmendorf explained on the Director"s Blog: "In CBO"s view, the key consideration is whether a proposal would be making health insurance an essentially governmental program, tightly controlled by the federal government with little choice available to those who offer and buy health insurance -- or whether the system would provide significant flexibility in terms of the types, prices, and number of private-sector sellers of insurance available to people. The former -- a governmental program -- belongs in the federal budget (including all premiums paid by individuals and firms to private insurers), but the latter -- a largely private-sector system -- does not." Janet Adamy of the Wall Street Journal"s Washington Wire notes that the report doesn"t address the cost estimates of the scenarios. Alan Katz on his Health Care Reform Blog concludes, "the message is clear: the looser government"s hand grips the new health care system the smaller its budgetary impact." Liberal bloggers had a variety of reactions -- some found the report too vague, while others saw it as good news. The New Republic"s Jonathan Cohn says, "you may need a Talmudic scholar to figure out what those implications are." Cohn continues, "Other passages in the briefing are [similarly] vexing and, for what it"s worth, the reactions I"ve gotten from insiders familiar with the report have ranged from sighs of relief to statements not suitable for a family blog." Ezra Klein agrees the report lacks specificity, but says, "Even so, I"m cheered by the simple existence of this ruling. The fact that CBO is explaining its thinking before legislation arrives [is] yet more evidence that CBO appears, insofar as it can, to be trying to help out on health reform. ... That"s an important change from past years." Interesting Elsewhere:
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Surveys Show GPs Need More Support - Australian Medical Association

A study which found up to one third of GPs are planning to retire early highlights the need for governments to boost support for general practice, AMA Federal President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today. The results of a survey of 178 West Australian GPs aged 45-65 years showed one third of respondents intended to retire before the age of 65. The results were published in the Medical Journal of Australia as the AMA prepared to mark GP Week from 20-26 July. Survey participants cited exhaustion and burnout, increasing bureaucracy, poor job satisfaction and disillusionment with the health system or Medicare as obstacles to working in General Practice. Dr Pesce said it would be devastating for general practice if a similar proportion of the GP workforce in other states decided to retire early. "General practice is the cornerstone of our health system and patients will suffer if overwork forces GPs to retire early," Dr Pesce said. "Most GPs love their jobs but overwork and stress - often linked to the current medical workforce shortage - is taking its toll. Doctors are also frustrated by the amount of time they are forced to spend completing paperwork instead of caring for patients." Dr Pesce said the Government should increase GP training places and incentives for experienced GPs to take on trainees. "Increasing the size of the medical workforce will take pressure off existing GPs," he said. "Extra Government investment is needed to help GP practices fund the infrastructure to accommodate trainees. The Government also needs to look at ways of reducing the amount of Medicare-related red tape GPs are forced to deal with. "The theme for GP Week this year is "There is no substitute." GPs provide comprehensive medical care to Australians of all ages. It"s true: We really can"t do without our GPs." Australian Medical Association


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