The Great American Hospital Pricing Scam Exposed

By Rick Ungar – For the very first time, the federal government is publicly releasing the “rate card” (the full charge before insurance company discounts) prices hospitals throughout the nation charge.

While hospitals have long been required to share this data with the CMS—raising questions as to why the federal government has been willing to participate in keeping this data secret for so long—hospital providers have traditionally guarded this information from the public as carefully as the launch codes required to start a nuclear holocaust.

Until today (May 08).

Take a look at this fascinating graphic provided by The Huffington Post showing the comparative pricing for treating chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the New York area – $99,690 (New Jersey), $7,044 (Bronx). more> http://tinyurl.com/c3p4q4l

Why Is Your Doctor Typing? Electronic Medical Records Run Amok

By Steve Denning – Computerized medical records generate benefits. They are easily retrievable. They can be transferred from one practice to another and accessible to the many different service providers—hospitals, laboratories, specialists, radiology and so on—that might be involved in any one patient.

“In theory, perhaps,” he replied. “But in practice, it’s a horrible and costly bureaucracy that is being imposed on doctors. I spend less time with patients, and more time filling out multiple boxes on forms that don’t fit the way I work. Often I am filling out the same information over and over again. A lot of it is checking boxes, rather than understanding what this patient really needs.”

Paying people to work unintelligently doesn’t work and ultimately will be ineffective. What is needed are systems that actually help doctors do their work. more> http://tinyurl.com/d9uq3yt

President must address Obamacare ‘train wreck’

By Mitch McConnell – It may not be easy, but the president has a responsibility to explain as frankly as possible what this law will mean — before its major components take effect. He could start by delivering a major address, just as he did to push the law’s passage, laying out exactly what Americans can expect. He should also instruct his Cabinet secretaries to explain what this could mean as well.

Here are just a few (facts) we already know:

For many families and individuals, especially younger Americans, the law will lead to increased health insurance premiums. These have already gone up $2,370 per family since Obama took office, not down by $2,500 as he promised. more> http://tinyurl.com/aghzp8h

Related>

• Feds spend at least $890,000 on fees for empty accounts, David A. Fahrenthold, Washington Post

‘Inclusive Capitalism’: Bridging business-labor divide

By Nathan Milikowsky and Andrew Stern – Economic policy debates often focus on areas of division and discord. On the minimum wage, you’ll see some businesses fighting labor. On regulation, you have government versus the free market.

There are plenty of areas where American workers and companies agree, however, such as the need for public investments in infrastructure and education.

“Inclusive capitalism” is based on the simple idea that when a company does well, its workers should also do well. Mechanisms to promote inclusive capitalism include everything from broad-based profit-sharing and stock options to worker cooperatives and employee stock ownership plans. more> http://tinyurl.com/c7byfva

Social Security as solution, not problem

By Josh Freedman – Social Security is not the problem – it is the solution. Washington is filled with talk of a looming “retirement crisis.”

But the real problem is not the long-term solvency of Social Security. Rather, it is the fact that millions of Americans are facing an insecure and underfunded retirement.

Designed as a supplement t0 other retirement income, Social Security has become the primary retirement security program for the majority of workers. We need to expand it to make up for where other retirement supports have fallen short. more> http://tinyurl.com/bvnarkt