Healthcare plans

The Internal Revenue Service issued new guidance allowing the continued use of flexible spending arrangement and health reimbursement arrangement debit cards for the purchase of prescribed over-the-counter medicines and drugs.

An executive at a software firm for personal health records recently told federal officials that too often, providers and payers use privacy and security issues as excuses to not permit patients access to their own information.

The number of individuals enrolled in consumer-driven health plans hit 22 million in 2010, reflecting a 1% increase compared to 2009, report researchers from the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Mathew Greenwald and Associates.

In a three-month period, about one-quarter of U.S. adults experience at least one day of back pain, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

If you want employees making better health care decisions, then give employers the data they need to create effective health plan choices.

Despite more than two-thirds of employees' self-proclaimed ignorance of critical illness insurance, the benefit is on the rise. Imagine what improved product knowledge and an enthusiastic broker could bring.

Federal officials should consider making intermediary entities providing services to health plans — such as benefits managers, third-party administrators and repricers — eligible for receiving a unique health plan identification number, according to recommendations recently sent to the Department of Health and Human Services.

A report from the Government Accountability Office says using EHRs, operating health insurance plans and employing physicians are effective strategies for integrated delivery systems to enhance patient care.

The federal government's plans to build a national database of health care claims data covering tens of millions of individuals are on hold, at least temporarily, after privacy advocates protested the idea and the brief public comment period.

National Business Coalition on Health issued yesterday its annual findings that evaluate the quality and efficiency of U.S. health plans.

The American Medical Association has adopted a new policy that gives guidance to physicians using social media.

One-third of recently surveyed physician practices and 14% of surveyed hospitals do not conduct a regular security risk analysis of their electronic health information.

After some pretty dour retirement news last Friday, I’m afraid I have more Gloomy Gus news today — this time related to health care.

For any employers leaning toward letting workers shop for health coverage in state-run exchanges come 2014, there’s encouraging news from a recent survey from Extend Health.

It’s gotta be tough to lead a major health insurance carrier (except for the high salary, of course). Insurance companies generally are vilified by the mainstream press, disliked by consumers and now there’s news that employers don’t like them much either.

Ouida Peterson is to benefits what Paula Deen is to cooking – except maybe without all the sugar and butter. Don’t let the charming Southern drawl fool you.

Although many tea-leaf readers predicted that health care reform would spur employers to drop health benefits, a new poll of nearly 3,700 executives by Crain Communications shows such forecasts may have been based more on fear than fact.

We have another podcast post today, this time with Heather Gatley, executive vice president of HR Services and general counsel for AlphaStaff.

So, we’ve had some time to start to digest the biggest components of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, when they go into effect and the implications for your health plans.

So, I promised that we’d get back to analyzing health care reform, and I am a woman of my word. We’re going to do things a little different today, though, and make today’s post a listen instead of a read.