Managed Care - September 2008 - (Page 8)

NEWS AND COMMENTARY Health care falls to fourth among hot presidential topics hen it comes to the topics that the presidential candidates should discuss, according to voters, health care falls to fourth, behind the economy, Iraq, and gas prices. These findings were reported in a recent Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll. Nearly half of voters (47 percent) say the economy is the top issue they want to hear discussed, followed by the war in Iraq (40 percent). The proportion who want to hear about gas prices — 25 percent — more than doubled since April. Health care follows closely. It’s worth noting, however, that health care remains the third most mentioned issue among Democratic voters, with 28 percent saying they want to hear the candidates talk about it, compared to just 14 percent of Republicans and 21 percent of independents. W Headlines On Deadline . . . Sixty-three percent of health care providers expect electronic health records to have “a lot” or a “tremendous” impact on improving health care, according to the IVANS 2008 Healthcare Provider survey. Twentyseven percent of respondents said EHRs would have some effect on improving health care, 6 percent said EHRs would have little effect, and 4 percent said EHRs would have no effect. . . . The United States Census Bureau reported in its Annual Social and Economic Supplement that both the percentage and number of people without health insurance decreased in 2007. The percentage without health insurance was 15.3 percent in 2007, down from 15.8 percent in 2006, and the number of uninsured was 45.7 million, down from 47.0 million. It further reported that the percentage of people covered by private health insurance was 67.5 percent, down from 67.9 percent in 2006. Further highlights show that the percentage of people covered by employmentbased health insurance decreased to 59.3 in 2007 from 59.7 percent in 2006. The number of people covered by employment-based health insurance, 177.4 million, was not statistically different from 2006. . . . Quality Compass 2008, the NCQA’s compilation of clinical performance and patient experience, is now available. It’s the first time that individual preferred provider organization plan data will be included in the compilation. “Twothirds of privately insured Americans receive their coverage through PPOs,” says NCQA chief information officer Rick Moore. “The inclusion of this data allows decision-makers in the health plan contracting cycle make meaningful comparisons among both health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organization plans.” — Tony Berberabe Can we talk? What two issues would you most like to hear the presidential candidates talk about? (open-ended, top four responses shown for registered voters) 50% Iraq 40% Health care 30% Economy 20% 10% 0% Gas prices M A M J J A 2007 S O N D J F M A M J 2008 Percentage of registered voters who named health care as one of the top two issues they would like to hear the presidential candidates discuss 50% Democrats 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Independents Republicans M A M J J A 2007 S O N D J F M A M J 2008 Source for both: The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 8 MANAGED CARE / SEPTEMBER 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managed Care - September 2008

Managed Care - September 2008 Editor’s Memo Contents Legislation & Regulation News and Commentary Medication Management Compensation Monitor Archimedes Lends Hippocrates a Hand Some Other Predictive Modeling Programs Messing With Medicare Advantage The Trouble With MAC MedPAC’s Suggestions Sound Familiar The Leader in Patient Satisfaction Formulary Files Plan Watch Tomorrow’s Medicine Ad Index Outlook

Managed Care - September 2008

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