According to a new study published in the American Journal of Medicine, 42% of new cancer patients lose their entire life savings in two years because of treatment.
The same study found that 62% of cancer patients are in debt because of their treatment.
Continue reading… “Study: Almost half of new cancer patients lose their entire life savings”
Digital Editor at the Economist, Tom Standage, at the ‘PWC World in Beta’ conference predicts ‘data meets healthcare’ is one of 5 emerging technologies that are shaping todays world. Continue reading… “The Economist’s digital editor: wearables will kill the healthcare insurance industry”
The traditional fee-for-service approach to medicine that can lead to overtreatment and unnecessary medical tests and procedures.
The country’s Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans say they are spending more than $65 billion annually, about 20 percent of the medical claim dollars they pay, on “value-based” care that rewards better outcomes and keeps patients healthy. This is the latest blow to fee-for-service medicine.
Continue reading… “Blue Cross makes a $65B bet on value-based medical care”
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act bars insurers from denying coverage or raising premiums on individuals who show a genetic predisposition toward particular diseases.
The cost of sequencing an individual genome will soon be less than $1,000, reports the New York Times. That’s not nothing, but given what most health care costs, it’s not much. And it means that an individual mandate — or something much like it — is inevitable.
Continue reading… “The health insurance industry could be destroyed by a $1000 test”
What significant advances can we expect in 2012?
In 2011 some great medical feats were accomplished. Dallas Wiens became the first recipient of a full-face transplant in the United States, Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords survived a gunshot to her brain, and HIV researchers found a way to lower an infected person’s chance of transmitting the virus to sexual partners by 96 percent.
Continue reading… “5 advanced in medicine predicted for 2012”
U.S. poverty rate hits 15.1%
Income fell for the third straight year in 2010 in the typical American household. The poverty level rose up to its highest leve since 1993 as the aftermath of the latest recession continued to take a toll.
Continue reading… “Household income falls, poverty rate hits highest level since 1993”
Lowe’s has an agreement with the Cleveland Clinic for heart surgery and waived Anthony Reynolds $5,000 in deductibles.
When employee John McNally needed a knee-replacement operation, Alpha Coal West offered to pay his travel expenses if he would have the surgery in Fort Collins, Colo., a five-hour drive from his home near Gillette, Wyo.The Colorado surgery center had data showing good results with such operations, and it charged far less than the hospital in Gillette. Despite feeling “every bump on the way back,” McNally was so pleased with the outcome of the operation that he returned to Colorado a few months later to have his other knee done.
The proportion of abortion patients who were poor increased by almost 60%.
The abortion rate skyrocketed among poor women just as the economy tanked, according to a new study by the Guttmacher Institute. “Characteristics of U.S. Abortion Patients, 2008” reports that poor women’s “relative abortion rate was more than twice that of all women in 2008.” What’s more, “the proportion of abortion patients who were poor increased by almost 60% — from 27% in 2000 to 42% in 2008.” We already knew that the recession has put many women’s pregnancy plans on hold at the same time that it has made it harder for women to cover the cost of birth control; and, given that the proportion of women living in poverty has increased by 25 percent since 2000, the Guttmacher findings should come as no real surprise.
Continue reading… “Abortion Rates Skyrocket Among Poor Women”
Low-income Americans with no more than a high school education appear more likely to get vaccinated against H1N1 swine flu than people with more money and better schooling, according to a poll released on Friday. A telephone survey of 3,003 U.S. adults conducted by Thomson Reuters found that 49.8 percent of people with lower education levels were very concerned about H1N1, compared with only 29 percent of those with at least a four-year college degree.
Continue reading… “Less Education Means More H1N1 Concern In The U.S.”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
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