Health Costs: Great Ideas, continued

 Health Care Costs: A Primer.  This primer on health care spending in the United States reviews the growth in health care spending since 1970 and the impact of health care costs on families and employers.  Published by the Kaiser Family Foundation,  May 2012. 

 U.S. Health Care Spending: The Big Picture.   The first in a new series of NIHCM data briefs on national health spending, pulls together the most current data available from multiple sources to provide an overview of the subject. The brief covers:  trends in health spending growth and the problem of excess growth,the sectors driving increased spending,the growth in public versus private spending, andchanges in consumer out-of-pocket spending.  Published by the NIHCM Foundation, May 2012.

Leveraging Innovative Technologies to Combat Health Care Fraud- A free Webinar, held Wednesday, June 13, 2012
This free webinar explored successful strategies to combat fraud and abuse in health care. Speakers will discuss the use of sophisticated IT systems and increased information sharing to identify abuses and reduce losses. This webinar is co-sponsored by the NCSL/FSL Transforming Health Care Through Technology Project and the NCSL Communications, Financial Services and Interstate Commerce Committee. More information.

Rationing Health Care More Fairly - The cross-fire over who will cut Medicare by how much sidesteps a critical issue about the future of our medical care: If we must ration our care to hold down costs in the future, how can we do it in a fair, efficient and transparent way? "The federal government’s spending on health care consumes 4.8 percent of the nation’s economic production and is expected to eat up 9.2 percent in 25 years, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. A vast majority of economists (polled as the IGM Forum) agree that restoring a sustainable budget will mean either cuts in Medicare and Medicaid or a tax increase on the middle class."  New York Times Business section, August 22, 2012.

Healthcare costs for American families in 2012 exceed $20,000 for the first time - The annual Milliman Medical Index (MMI) measures the total cost of healthcare for a typical family of four covered by a preferred provider organization (PPO) plan. The 2012 MMI cost is $20,728, an increase of $1,335, or 6.9% over 2011. The rate of increase is not as high as in the past, but the total dollar increase was still a record. The totals include payments outside of insurance coverage such as over-the-counter medications and supplements, as well as dental or vision care. This is the first year the average cost of healthcare for the typical American family of four has surpassed $20,000. Published 5/15/2012.