With the majority of doctor’s offices using some type of electronic health record system, questions invariably arise about the security of protected health information (PHI). Increased availability of patient data requires a heightened reliance on… more »

Some thoughts on three years of health care reform from a medical insider: “[W]e should admit that our health care system has flaws when it comes to the uninsured. To prove the health care reform’s benefits, the easy-to-sell low-risk coverage for… more »

While cancer remains an all-too-real fact of life for many people, there is at least a bit of positive news about the disease. According to HealthDay (via WebMD), a new report found that there are currently 13.7 million cancer survivors in the U.S.… more »

Coinciding with the Society of Actuaries analysis we reported yesterday comes an acknowledgment by the Obama administration that health care costs will rise for some people under the Affordable Care Act… but exactly who will be affected and by how… more »

You can save some serious cash on prescription drugs if you shop around a bit, concluded a new secret shopping study by Consumer Reports. Katie Moisse of ABC News reports: “The magazine called more than 200 pharmacies across the country to request… more »

Ohio is one of many states that could see a huge spike in claim costs for individual health policies – as much as 80%, says a new report by the Society of Actuaries. According to the Associated Press, financial risk analysts concluded that while… more »

Nearly one-third of MRI referrals are inappropriate, an expert physician panel says – and MRIs for low back problems are particularly overused. MedPage Today reports that 29% of MRI referrals to two large teaching hospitals were deemed… more »

A former drug purchasing manager for Kaiser Permanente provides “An Insider’s View of Generic-drug Pricing“, courtesy of the Los Angeles Times: “Bob Toomajian worked for 16 years as Kaiser Permanente’s drug purchasing… more »

Larger companies are increasingly offering only a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) tied a savings account to pay for health expenses, according to the annual health benefits survey by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health. Kaiser… more »

Prescription painkillers could be more difficult to obtain if new legislation successfully wotks its way through Congress. Called the Safe Prescribing Act, the bill would move medications that contain hydrocodone, such as Vicodin, from a Schedule III… more »

Barring congressional action, the recent budget sequestration will require reductions in the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit for some small tax-exempt employers, the Internal Revenue Service has announced. Accounting Today reports that the… more »

Today, the Supreme Court heard arguments on what’s been dubbed “pay for delay” drug contracts, in which brand name drug manufacturers settle litigation by making deals wirth generics rival to temporarily keep cheaper versions off the… more »

Getting more than one blood pressure check a year may hurt rather than help, a new study suggests. According to Reuters Health, researchers reviewing five years of patient data concluded that the practice of receiving screened at every doctor’s… more »

CQ HealthBeat (via The Commowealth Fund) reports that Health and Human Services is making contingency plans in the event that health care exchanges are not ready in time for launch. Gary Cohen, director of the Center for Consumer Information and… more »

Presenters at MedBen Universities in 2013 will include members of the MedBen team speaking on a variety of benefits management topics. But we also invite outside health care professionals to share their knowledge. One such featured speaker at many MBUs… more »

On the occasion of the Affordable Care Act turning the big “0-3″, John Merline of Investor’s Business Daily has compiled “10 Disturbing Facts Americans Have Learned” about the health care reform law. We highlight five here… more »

Advocates for increased Alzheimer’s research say that deaths linked to the memory-robbing disease have gone up in the last decade, while those for stroke, breast cancer and HIV have dropped, Bloomberg (via Employee Benefits News) reports. Researchers… more »

MedBen conducted its annual Government Roundtable for current and prospective municipality clients omn March 21. And just like at its hospital-focused seminar a week earlier, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Brian Fargus had some good news to… more »

The majority of Americans are still in the dark about how health care reform will affect them, finds a new Kaiser Family Foundation poll. On the eve of the third anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, two-thirds of the uninsured under… more »

Physical therapy can prove just as effective for repairing the knee as surgery, a new study concludes. The Associated Press reports that a torn meniscus – one of the crescent-shaped cartilage discs that cushion the knee – can improve… more »

A featured presenter at many MedBen Universities this year will be Caroline Fraker, MedBen Vice President of Compliance. Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, Fraker has spoken at numerous seminars about how changes to health care… more »

A new study suggests that women age 50 and over can safely get a mammogram every two years without increasing their risk of developing advanced breast cancer. Biennial screenings was also associated with a lower risk of heaving a false-positive result… more »

A reminder for many MedBen FSA or HRA plan members: If you have a balance in your 2012 account that you still need to submit claims for, please do so right away! Most employers allow a “grace period” to submit reimbursement requests for… more »

Estimates of original tax increases stemming from the implementation of health care reform rules were well off the mark, according to the TaxProf Blog: “The Joint Committee on Taxation recently released a 96 page report on the tax provisions… more »

Only about 1 out of 10 Internet users consult online rankings of hospitals, says a Pew Research Center Survey – and those who do may come away confused. According to Kaiser Health News, multiple nonprofit groups now offer online evaluations of… more »

“NorthBay Adventure is the kind of small business that could be expected to buy medical insurance for workers under sweeping health-act rules taking effect in 2014. But executive director George Comfort says that’s not likely to happen. “Instead,… more »

The question of whether generic drugmakers can be held liable in the designs of their medications, even when the brand drugmaker’s design is followed, is about to be debated in the nation’s highest court. Reuters reports that the Supreme… more »

Most states come up short regarding laws that guarantee patient access to information on hospital and clinic prices, finds a new report from the employer group Catalyst for Payment Reform and the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute. According… more »

Health care price inflation from January 2012 to January 2013 was only 1.5% – the lowest rate since December 1997, according to MedPage Today. “The Health Care Price Index was driven lower by declines in hospital, home health, nursing home,… more »

As the number of Americans with diabetes has grown, so, naturally, has its cost – 41% over the past five years, USA Today reports. A recent study commissioned by the American Diabetes Association found that diabetes cost the U.S. $245 billion in… more »

Hospital groups administered by MedBen saw cost declines in 2012, Vice President of Sales and Marketing Brian Fargus announced today at the company’s 11th Annual Hospital Roundtable. Fargus said that the average cost per employee per year for… more »

Coming on the heels of news about the complex application for federal health insurance comes this headline from NBC News: “Health insurance exchanges: Be ready to be overwhelmed“. The article lists four things people can expect from the new… more »

Aspirin is sometimes referred to as a “miracle drug” – and exaggeration though that may be, there’s no denying that research repeatedly suggests it contains multiple benefits. The latest example is a study linking the drug to a… more »

Wasn’t health care reform supposed to making getting coverage easier? A 21-page draft of the federal Application for Health Insurance suggests just the opposite. According to the Associated Press, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department… more »

There’s a growing concern among cardiologists that heart patients are being overmedicated, and some think that certain drugs could be eliminated without risking patient health, Reuters reports. At recent scientific sessions of the American… more »

MedBen has once again successfully completed an ISO 9001:2008 Surveillance Audit. On Thursday, March 7, auditors from SAI Global reviewed the company’s management system to ensure that it continued to comply with established ISO standards, and… more »

Apparently, the Obama administration has set a pretty high bar for what constitutes “Essential Health Benefits". Technology company HealthPocket examined 11,000 individual health plans across the U.S. to determine how many of them met the… more »

The federal government and drug manufacturers don’t see eye-to-eye on so-called “pay-to-delay” deals – paid arrangements between brand-name and generic drugmakers to wait until a certain date before introducing lower-cost… more »

Liz Kowalczyk of the Boston Globe reports on the growing trend of hospital patients who are mad as heck and aren’t gonna take it anymore: “Patients, angered by surprise surcharges that hospitals tack on bills for doctor visits, are… more »

“Higher-than-expected costs for the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) preexisting condition risk pool are a sign that the law will cost more than first expected, according to some lawmakers and analysts. “The Centers for Medicare and… more »

David Lazarus of The Los Angeles Times exposes the arbitrary nature of prescription drug costs from one manufacturer to another, from one pharmacy to another – and occasionally, from within the pharmacy itself: “Diane Shattuck filled a… more »

Looking to save yourself and your company money on health care spending? A new study says it pays to be informed. According to Modern Healthcare, patients who scored high on a self-reported survey of “knowledge, skill and confidence” to… more »

The question of whether large employers will discontinue health care coverage once insurance exchanges open next year has been bandied about since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010. But seeing that the exchanges are soon to become reality,… more »

As we recently announced on this blog, our MedBen.com website has received a full makeover. If you’re used to steering around the old MedBen.com website, it may take a few moments to get used to the updated site’s layout. Hopefully, you’ll quickly pick… more »

A new study finds that getting a colonoscopy may reduce the risk of developing advanced colon cancer by 70%, including hard-to-detect forms of the disease. HealthDay News (via WebMD) reports that the research team set out to answer a simple question:… more »

Total pharmacy spending by those with private health insurance decreased for the first time in two decades, a new report finds. And not surprisingly, generic drugs played a large role in that decline. According to Pharmalot, data complied by pharmacy… more »

Corporate employers expect to spend $521 per employee on worksite wellness incentives in 2013, according to a new survey by Fidelity Investments. That is 13% more than the employee average of $460 reported in 2011, and double the $260 average reported… more »

MedBen’s ongoing commitment to client peace of mind is exemplified in a variety of ways, from customer-centered benefit solutions and advanced cost containment methods to intelligent reporting tools. And recently, we bolstered this commitment even… more »

MedBen is pleased to announce the completion of a total update to the MedBen.com website! We’ve reworked the site from top to bottom with the express goal of making it as easy to use as possible. We invite you to take the new site for a test… more »