Amazon Partners with Blue Cross, Medical Supplies Now Available for Purchase

August 14, 2018/by Rebecca Yates

Great news for Amazon shoppers and Regence Blue Cross members.

Retail medical supplies and equipment can now be purchased through an Amazon Local Associates shopping page. Blue Cross members can shop, buy and file a claim through the Regence website at:

https://www.regence.com/web/regence_producer/

“Once members have accessed this page:

1) Members will be prompted to sign an authorization agreement opting them into the program

2) They will be given a unique, one-time 10% off discount code that they can apply in the discount coupon field on the Amazon checkout page for applicable equipment and supplies

3) The member is then redirected to the Amazon Local Associates shopping page where they can shop for and purchase medical equipment and supplies

o Please remember to apply your unique discount code upon checkout to receive the 10% discount.

o This program will be in place until the end of September, with the potential to extend further based on member engagement.”

Source: https://www.regence.com/web/regence_producer/

Recent Study Looks At Health Care Pricing

May 15, 2018/by Rebecca Yates

According to a recently published healthcare economics paper, different insurers pay varied prices for the same services and procedures at the same hospital, indicating that bargaining leverage really does impact healthcare prices.

Authors took actual data from claims for three national insurers. Studies showed that dominate hospitals can dictate how much they are going to get paid for specific services and procedures. For hospitals that hold an monopoly in their area, that number was 12.5% higher than those who had nearby competitors. For more concentrated markets, providers can shift more risk to insurers, which affects the ability to keep prices at a set standard.

“The two main types of contracts use prospectively set prices that pay a fixed dollar amount based on the DRG classification code, or a model that sets payments as a percentage of hospital charges.
Hospitals are likely to prefer the latter because they get paid for every service they provide, and thus bear less risk. This drives prices up and also places less pressure on the hospital to reduce costs.”

In simply terms, it’s about negotiation. The hospital may charge $50,000 for a hip replacement, but the negotiated price may be more like $22,000, Medicare reimbursements would be even less.

“Researchers also found that prices increased by more than 6% when merging hospitals were less than 5 miles apart. They didn’t find significant price impact when the hospitals were separated by at least 25 miles.”

Sources: The Price Ain’t Right? Hospital Prices and Health Spending on the Privately Insured Zack Cooper (Yale University) Stuart V. Craig (University of Pennsylvania) Martin Gaynor (Carnegie Mellon University and NBER) John Van Reenen (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CEP, and NBER)

Modernhealthcare.com

Health Care Cost Institute

Safe Opioid Disposal

April 3, 2018/by Rebecca Yates

Did you know that eighty percent of people addicted to heroin started with a legal prescription of an opioid?

Opioids are a common medication given to treat pain. Often, a patient prescribed these medications does not need the entire prescribed amount, leaving extra pills unused. Opioids can also be very addictive, thus a safe way to dispose of any unused amounts is important.

Some common opioids include:

Hydrocodone (Norco, Lortab, Vicodin, Zohydro)
Oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet, Percodan, Roxicodone)
Morphine (MSIR, MS Contin)
Codeine (Tylenol #3, Phenergan with codeine)
Fentanyl (Duragesic, Actiq)
Hydromorphone (Dilaudid)
Oxymorphone (Opana)
Meperidine (Demerol)
Tramadol (Ultram, ConZip)
Buprenorphine (Subutex, Suboxone, Butrans, Zubsolv)
Methadone (Dolophine, Methadose)

Intermountain Community Pharmacies provide collection sites for free.

For more information on safe disposal visit http://useonlyasdirected.org/

Source: Use Only As Directed

Opticare of Utah offers Discount of Lasik

March 15, 2018/by Rebecca Yates

Opticare of Utah has very rich discounts at Standard Optical for LASIK, Normally it is $250 discount per eye compared to the 15% discount with most other carriers, this is a definite advantage and a great benefit, offer ends 3/31/2018!

Visit https://www.facebook.com/StandardOptical/

Source: Opticare of Utah

Medicaid Waiver Amendments Passed in Utah Senate

March 6, 2018/by Rebecca Yates

Recently, the Utah Senate voted in favor of SB 0172, authorizing some changes and waivers to Medicaid requirements.

These changes would allow the Utah Department of Health to:

Ask for federal funds or block grants for Medicaid recipients without certain restrictions on how they use the money.

Second, if the block grant is denied, the bill would allow the health department to do three things:

Require able-bodied Medicaid enrollees to have a job or be working toward a job
Create an HSA option for Medicaid enrollees
Enable Medicaid enrollees flexibility in paying for health care

The goal is allow able-bodied people on Medicaid to live more dignified and and give them the tools to to assist them in no longer needing to rely on the program.

Source: Sutherland Institute

Small Business Owners, Including Ark’s Rebecca Yates, attend Goldman Sachs Summit

February 27, 2018/by Rebecca Yates

‘More than 110 of Utah’s small business owners attended the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Summit in Washington DC. As graduates of the small business-training program, run by Salt Lake Community College, business leaders heard from the ‘who’s who’ of entrepreneurism and government leadership such as Tyler Perry, Senator Marco Rubio and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The summit, titled The Big Power of Small Business, showcased speakers like Richard Branson of Virgin Group who said ‘in order to be a good leader, you have to be a good listener.’ Sara Blakely, Founder and CEO of Spanx, a billion dollar brand, told her story of starting her business with grit and determination. Warren Buffett received a standing ovation as he spoke about the remarkable things small business leaders do and how they impact the economy and lives in every community.’

Goldman Sachs 10KSB graduates and Utah Sen. Mike Lee (center) photo courtesy of SLCC

Read full article https://saltlakecommunitycollege.blogspot.com/2018/02/goldman-sachs-10k-small-business-alums.html

Payment Deadlines Extended

January 5, 2018/by Rebecca Yates

Due to the growth in their plans and high call volumes, the University of Utah Health Plans and SelectHealth are extending their payment deadline to January 12 ( U of U) and January 15 for individuals with a January 1 effective date.

You may call the University of Utah Health Care customer service at 801-587-6480 option 5.
Walk-in payments can be made M – F from 8:30 am – 4:30 pm at University of Utah Health Plans – 6053 Fashion Square Drive, Suite 110 Murray, UT 84107.
Call SelectHealth at 801-442- 7778 or 1-844-442-4106

Select Health U of U Health Plans

Select Health to enforce CMS Guidelines

September 26, 2017/by Rebecca Yates

Select Health will be enforcing the CMS guidelines for the Special Enrollment Periods (SEP) for marriages as of September 1, 2017. The CMS guidelines states that at least one of the applicants has had one day of coverage in the past 60 days, at a minimum. Proof of both the marriage and prior coverage is required to process a SEP application.

Changes to Preventive Lab Services also in effect as of January 1, 2017.

The following lab procedures are covered under the adult medical benefit when billed with a covered diagnosis codes:

Basic Metabolic Panel
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
General Health Panel
Thyroid
Urinalysis

Questions? Please give us a call.

Doctor in black tie with stethoscope studio shot

Employee microchipping, invasion of privacy or just efficient?

September 5, 2017/by Rebecca Yates

Similar to microchipping your pets, you may have heard that a company in Wisconsin is offering microchip implants to their employees. The majority of their employees have already agreed to inject the implant into their finger, exchanging convenience for privacy.

The implants are programmed to allow accesses to certain company functions, like entrance into secure company offices and IT networks. The RFID microchips communicate using electromagnetic fields and can be read at a distance of six inches.

Privacy advocates are concerned that this procedure is yet another way to intrude on our privacy. Smart phones have already stripped us of some privacies, apps can now collect data from your phone and broadcast your information. Do you find it unsettling when your phone knows exactly where you are, or Google knows your interest based on your search history?

Arguments against microchipping humans, are vast. What may originate as a matter of convenience can turn into monitoring a person’s habits on an entirely different level. They may even evolve to monitor productivity or lifestyle habits.

What say you?

Report shows ACA marketplaces experienced most profitable first quarter yet

July 25, 2017/by Rebecca Yates

According to a new analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, health insurers who participated in the Affordable Care Act marketplace earned an average of $300 per member in the first part of 2017.

This figure is more than double than this time period for the previous three years.

The figures presented to do not account for administrative costs, however, the increases still show that the marketplaces are becoming more profitable for private companies selling plans on the exchanges.

According to Cynthia Cox, a researcher at the Kaiser Family Foundation who worked on the analysis, the current profitability seems to come from increased premiums and steady cost which also suggests the markets are becoming more stable.

These increases were partially due to insurance companies underestimating the cost to cover people in the marketplace, many were sicker than expected and seeking insurance. Additionally, costs have been stable over the past few years, indicating that healthy people were not driven out of the marketplace. Insurers have set premiums high enough for them to profit but not so high that healthier customers left the market, allowing the market to achieve stability.

Source: Kaiser Family Foundation