Monthly Archives: November 2012 - Part 2

Opinion: Obamacare saved consumers $2.1 billion in 2012

By Bob Semro For most Americans, when it comes to the Affordable Care Act, the proof is in the pudding: Will it make health care more affordable? Will it save me money? Heres a number: $2.1 billion. Thats the amount saved in 2012 by consumers because of two provisions of the ACA, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Thats money in the pocketbook for millions of Americans, and it supports the notion that insurance premiums can be better managed. One provision is the review of insurance rates by states, and the other is medical loss ratio requirements…

New data tool finds health costs vary wildly

By Katie Kerwin McCrimmon An MRI on your knee in Colorado could cost as little as $297 or as much as $1,261 depending on where you get it, according to the first release of health data from a powerful new tool aimed at improving health, bringing down costs and improving the quality of care. On Thursday, Colorado became the 12th state in the nation to unveil an All Payer Claims Database (APCD) with the debut of www.cohealthdata.org managed by the Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC). So far, the database includes about 40 percent of health data from…