Biomedical subjects

I Hellander

Publications and source records attributed to I Hellander.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

A review of data on the health sector of the United States.

This report presents data on the state of U.S. health care in mid-2000. It provides information on the number of uninsured and underinsured (with special attention to health coverage among Hispanics and drug coverage among seniors); the increasing costs of health care; inequalities in the socioeconomic, health, and medical spheres; and the role of corporate money in health care. Recent data are presented on the pharmaceutical industry (with special notes on drug industry lobbying, drug safety, the use of publicly funded research to boost industry profits, and drug marketing to physicians) and the hospital and nursing home industries (including Medicare HMOs). The author also summarizes the health proposals of the presidential candidates, recent health care legislation, and some health system changes in Canada.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

A review of data on the health sector of the United States. May 2001.

This report presents data on the state of U.S. health care in early 2001. It provides information on the numbers of uninsured and underinsured and their difficulties in obtaining health care; the increasing costs of care; and medical, social, and economic inequalities. Data are presented on the state of the nations' health maintenance organizations (including Medicare HMOs), pharmaceutical industry, and hospital industry, and on the role of these industries' money in U.S. politics. The author also looks at some proposals on the Congressional agenda, and gives a summary of some reasons why tax credits won't work. Also provided is some recent information on the status of health care and health care systems elsewhere in the world.

Delivery of Health Care↗

PubMed2000

A review of data on the health sector of the United States.

This report provides data on the state of U.S. health care at the start of the new century. It reveals increasing numbers of uninsured and underinsured Americans; increasing costs for health insurance, health care services, and medicines; and increasing inequalities in health and in access to health care. The author also provides data on the current state of the pharmaceutical and health service industries, including Medicaid and Medicare HMOs. The results of some opinion polls on health care, conducted among physicians and the general public, are also summarized.

Aged↗

PubMed1999

Quality of care in investor-owned vs not-for-profit HMOs.

CONTEXT: The proportion of health maintenance organization (HMO) members enrolled in investor-owned plans has increased sharply, yet little is known about the quality of these plans compared with not-for-profit HMOs. OBJECTIVE: To compare quality-of-care measures for investor-owned and not-for-profit HMOs. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Analysis of the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) Version 3.0 from the National Committee for Quality Assurance's Quality Compass 1997, which included 1996 quality-of-care data for 329 HMO plans (248 investor-owned and 81 not-for-profit), representing 56% of the total HMO enrollment in the United States. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Rates for 14 HEDIS quality-of-care indicators. RESULTS: Compared with not-for-profit HMOs, investor-owned plans had lower rates for all 14 quality-of-care indicators. Among patients discharged from the hospital after myocardial infarction, 59.2% of members in investor-owned HMOs vs 70.6% in not-for-profit plans received a beta-blocker (P<.001); 35.1% of patients with diabetes mellitus in investor-owned plans vs 47.9% in not-for-profit plans had annual eye examinations (P<.001). Investor-owned plans had lower rates than not-for-profit plans of immunization (63.9% vs 72.3%; P<.001), mammography (69.4% vs 75.1%; P<.001), Papanicolaou tests (69.2% vs 77.1%; P<.001), and psychiatric hospitalization (70.5% vs 77.1%; P<.001). Quality scores were highest for staff- and group-model HMOs. In multivariate analyses, investor ownership was consistently associated with lower quality after controlling for model type, geographic region, and the method each HMO used to collect data. CONCLUSIONS: Investor-owned HMOs deliver lower quality of care than not-for-profit plans.

Health Facilities, Proprietary↗

PubMed1995

The growing epidemic of uninsurance: new data on the health insurance coverage of Americans.

Despite a massive expansion of Medicaid and an upswing in the economy, the total number of Americans uninsured in 1993 was 39.7 million, more than at any time since the passage of Medicaid and Medicare in the 1960s. Since 1989, the ranks of the uninsured have swelled by 6.3 million. Millions more would be uninsured if Medicaid enrollment had not risen dramatically, by 10.5 million people since 1989. Loss of health coverage is a growing problem for middle-income families, women, and children, as it has long been for low-income families. Even in Hawaii, whose employer mandate program is often cited as a model of universal coverage, there was a large increase in uninsurance. Nationwide, the sharp upswing in the number of Americans who are uninsured has coincided with government and corporate policies to encourage medical competition and push people into managed care plans. Republican proposals to limit AFDC benefits threaten to further increase uninsurance, particularly among women and children. Only a Canadian-style single-payer reform can assure universal coverage and simultaneously contain costs.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1994

Health care paper chase, 1993: the cost to the nation, the states, and the District of Columbia.

The U.S. health care payment system is an elaborate and increasingly wasteful paper chase. This article presents new state-by-state estimates of health care administrative costs in the United States, and savings that could be realized with single-payer reform. In 1993, health care bureaucracy will consume 24.7 cents of every health care dollar, a total of $232.3 billion. Administration's share of health spending is up from 23.9 percent in 1987, and from 21.9 percent in 1983. Reducing the cost of administration to Canadian levels by adopting a single-payer health care system would cut U.S. health care bureaucracy by more than half (50.7 percent), saving at least $117.7 billion in 1993. The savings achievable with a single-payer system could fund universal access for the uninsured and improve benefits for the tens of millions of Americans who currently have only partial coverage, without any increase in overall health spending. Reform measures such as electronic billing, insurance industry consolidation, and increased competition (including "managed competition") would save little or nothing on administration. Only a single-payer reform that incorporates the "macro-management" approach to cost control, as in Canada, can achieve significant administrative savings.

Cost Savings↗

PubMedDate not supplied

HMO profits and quality.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Health Maintenance Organizations↗