Bad news/good news: Americans still hate their health plans, but a little less than before

This Week's Healthcare News
iHealthBeat
Bill Aims To Expand Use of Telehealth To Avert Hospital Readmissions
Mar,20,2013
by+Staff
On Monday, Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and John Thune (R-S.D.) reintroduced a bill (S 596) that aims to expand the use of telehealth technology to reduce hospital readmissions among Medicare beneficiaries in rural and underserved areas, the Alexandria Echo Press reports (Alexandria Echo Press, 3/19).
The measure -- called the Fostering Independence Through Technology Act -- has been introduced in previous years but has never passed (iHealthBeat, 3/9/11).

Details of the Legislation
The latest version of the bill calls for HHS to establish pilot programs that would provide incentives to home health agencies that purchase and use remote patient monitoring and communication technologies.
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HealthDataManagement
HHS Wants Input on Speeding Health Information Exchange Adoption
Mar,6,2013
by:+Joseph Goedert
Comments due by April 21. Adoption of basic electronic health records systems has steadily risen under the meaningful use program. An estimated 40 percent of physicians were using the software in 2012, and HHS expects that to top 50 percent during 2013. Now, the goal is to accelerate health information exchange.
“We seek to build on that work by engaging other policy areas within HHS jurisdiction to promote routine sharing of information among health care providers across settings of care to support care coordination and delivery system reform,” the department notes in the RFI. “We also recognize that economic and regulatory barriers may impair the development of a patient centered, information rich, high performance health care system where persons’ health information follows them wherever they access health care services.”
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Med city News
Bad news/good news: Americans still hate their health plans, but a little less than before
Mar,18,2013
By:+Deanna Pogorelc
Health plans, apparently, could stand to learn a few things from Publix and Trader Joe’s. The grocery chains garnered the top customer experience ratings in a new survey in which health plans as an industry ranked second to last. Although insurers seem to be investing more now than ever in improving the customer experience, the survey implies they still have a long way to go.
The 2013 Temkin Experience Ratings survey asked 10,000 American consumers to rate their recent experiences with hundreds of companies across 19 industries. Only TV service providers received lower ratings than health plans.
Tricare, the health program of U.S. military personnel and retirees, and Kaiser Permanente emerged as the leaders in the health plan category, which included 15 payers including Aetna, Anthem, CIGNA, Highmark, Humana and Medicare. Thirteen of the 15 plans scored average ratings that fell in the “poor” or “very poor” categories, with Empire (BCBS) and Medicaid landing near the bottom.
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Modern Healthcare.com
Providers, insurers must forge new links to manage slower growing payments
Mar,16,2013
by:+ Merrill Goozner
Total healthcare costs have remained in check for three straight years. The sector's share of the overall economy hasn't budged since 2009—a welcome change from the experience of most of the past half century. But no one in Washington has conducted a careful examination of what's behind this trend. Did the recession and still-sluggish economy cause consumers to cut back? Have providers' herculean efforts to improve quality and lower costs borne fruit? Have insurers rediscovered their inner cost-control selves?
Instead, Congress in its infinite nonwisdom decided to pull out its preferred legislative tool for dealing with the nation's deficit problem: the meat ax. Earlier this month, it defaulted on its legislative responsibilities by imposing an across-the-board 2% cut that kicks in April 1.
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