You hear whispers of it on the wind, legends of time where one person saw one doctor, who knew all of their past ailments, and truly cared about their health and well being. This standard has seemed to have fallen by the wayside in the recent years, among all the chaos and hubbub of the current United States healthcare system. Doctors now get paid per patient they see per day, so crammed waiting rooms, curt visits and impersonal service have become the norm, and we have gotten so used to it that we haven’t even considered an alternate way of doing things. But take of your goggles of disbelief, because a more personal, cozy model of health care is being buzzed about.

What is the Medical Home Model?

Three years ago, the healthcare guru’s over at IBM started looking at what they were doing to improve the quality of life for their employees and realizing they were overlooking a crucial component: healthcare. After realizing this crucial change that needed to be addressed, the director of healthcare transformation at IBM, Dr. Paul Grundy, helped found the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC). This coalition of large employers, consumer organizations and medical providers developed the Medical Home model, and its combination of old school patient care combined with the latest in medical communication technology makes this unique and optimistic proposal for healthcare. Under the Medical Home proposition, one doctor would act as a coach for the team of specialists treating one patient, including things like preventative, holistic and wellness needs. More time is spent with the patients in person than you are probably getting from your doctor now, and the doctor is accessible on the phone and via e-mail in addition to extended office hours and coordination of care across the entire medical team.

Advanced Technology and Medical Care

The sharing of a patient’s health information via an EHR, or electronic health record, is an integral part of how the Medical Home model works. An EHR can help to reduce errors, eliminate duplicate tests, highlight drug interactions, improve overall quality of care and reduce costs. This interweb of information can allow a patient to access a web portal to schedule appointments and check their lab results, patient registries and e-prescriptions. With the click of a mouse, information about a patient’s health can be shared across a network of healthcare providers, and patients can always stay in the know about their treatment, doctor recommendations and medications by hopping online or picking up the phone. Instead of wasting precious free time that most of us don’t have, you would be able to utilize the tools readily available to you in the form of your phone and computer to stay in touch with your physician. Doctors would get extra money for being available for the patients in odd hours, and offices can get a little bit more money by implementing the technological changes necessary to upgrade the office. Phone and e-mail consultations would be reimbursed.

(more…)

The term “Medicaid issues” is rather vague, and you can let your fingers do the walking online if you are wanting to learn more about Medicaid plans. Medicare Advantage, however, is more specific. These are health insurance plans that are a part of the Medicare program, and they include things like:

• Medicare Health Maintenance Organization (HMOs)
• Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO)
• Private Fee-for-Service Plans
• Medicare Special Needs Plans

The interesting thing is that these plans do exist and are available under Medicare, so it is only my educated guess that Health Net was lobbying to reduce restrictions here as well, possibly opening the doors to more potential members and not barring people for health issues.

Considering that Medicare is intended to provide health care to our elderly population, trying to keep people from getting health coverage based on preexisting medical conditions is pretty absurd. You show me one 75 year old who has made it that far in life without bringing any medical baggage along with them and I’ll buy you a cookie.

(more…)

There are some health insurance companies where you feel like you are being taken advantage of at every single turn. Hidden charges show up on bills, you don’t have an easy time getting in to see your doctor, and you may spend upward of an hour trying to get the right person on the phone for customer service. This is not to say that health insurance companies exist simply to frustrate you: quite the opposite. Sometimes they just do not seem like they are doing all they can to best serve your interests as a consumer or customer. Health Net, one of America’s biggest health insurance companies serving over 6.7 million people across the country, has recently stepped up to the plate big time in the game of keeping people’s best interests (and health) at heart. In the third quarter of 2008, the insurer spent $670K lobbying with the federal government for a variety of different groups and lifting coverage restrictions.

(more…)

Bankruptcy is no picnic. Having to legally declare yourself officially broke in hopes of someday cleaning your slate and getting back on your feet isn’t easy for anyone, and there are always countless contributing, individual factors as to why someone finds themselves whispering “bankrupt.” For those who gamble away their savings, lose their homes and drink away the last of their pennies, they are left to lie in a bed of their own making. However, President Elect Obama is proposing a dramatic change in some legislature which would help those people and families who had to file bankruptcy because of medical bills. What does this mean for the average American and is it really as good as it seems?

A Bankruptcy Reprieve

If you were to take a peek at Obama’s economic agenda, you’d see this listed in a bullet point: “Obama and Biden will create an exemption in bankruptcy law for individuals who can prove they filed for bankruptcy because of medical expenses. This exemption will create a process that forgives the debt and lets the individuals get back on their feet.” Taken from the horse’s mouth, or as close to that as we can get before Obama takes office, this seems like a dream scenario. If you are someone who has had to give up everything to spend down to the last penny on medical expenses for your loved one (partially covered by your health insurance or not), this may seem like the savings grace you have been dreaming of. But are all people in this scenario: virtuous, thrifty spenders who have only gone into such horrendous debt due to medical bills?

(more…)

If you’re anything like me, and many other HBO-loving Americans, you have seen a few episodes of “The Sopranos.” Ok, if you’re anything like me you’ve sat down and watched marathons of the show on DVD for weeks at a time, but that’s besides the point. There are a few of the mobster’s mothers who have to be cared for in assisted living and nursing home, and they are not shy about mentioning how much that type of care is costing them to pay for. Even if you’ve never seen a minute of this show and don’t have anyone in your life who needs long term care, it can’t be hard to imagine that it costs an arm and a leg.

Factor in the cost of the room combined with availability of medical services and round-the-clock attention and you can understand why a year’s worth of care in a private room back in 2007 cost $74,806. If you are looking into long term care insurance to help cover these astronomical costs for a member of your family, there are a lot of things to know and consider.

(more…)

If you or a loved one has ever dealt with cancer, you know what a nightmare treatments can be. While they can work wonders in curing the disease itself, side effects like losing one’s hair, nausea, exhaustion and a laundry list of other symptoms can leave patients feeling drained and sometimes hopeless.

If you are one who believes in treatments beyond the norm, you may want to learn more about alternative forms of therapy. Some may be covered by your health insurance provider, while other simply reply on positive thought or just moving your body. Even if you are initially skeptical, opening your mind to alternative treatments may prove incredibly rewarding for your health and well being.

Take Control of Your Body: Biofeedback

Personally, I’m very intrigued by this form of therapy, as I feel it could be applied to so many things beyond dealing with cancer treatments. Biofeedback basically a form of therapy that strives to connect the body and mind. It’s designed to enable the patient to use thoughts and will to control the body. Biofeedback is based on the idea, confirmed by scientific studies, that people have the innate potential to influence with their minds many of the automatic, involuntary functions of their bodies.

(more…)