Medicare beneficiaries need to pay for a sometimes significant portion of their health care costs. Just like private health insurance, Medicare requires beneficiaries to pay premiums, deductibles and coinsurance. But there’s a lot you can do to keep these costs manageable. Here are some steps to minimize Medicare’s out-of-pocket costs. Premiums. Most people aren’t charged […]
Yacht-size bonuses for Wall Street big shots and employee-of-the-month plaques for supermarket standouts are nothing new, but companies’ continued efforts to keep costs down have pushed employers to increasingly turn to one-off bonuses and nonmonetary rewards at the expense of annual pay raises. “There is a quiet revolution in compensation,” said Ken Abosch, a partner […]
With more quality and pricing data available now than ever before, insurers and employers are trying to figure out how to steer patients toward high-performing, low-cost doctors. Companies such as the Leapfrog Group and nonprofits like FAIR Health are creating tools that make medical data easier to access, but turning patients into rational consumers is […]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a new version of its “Job Safety and Health – It’s The Law!” poster. Background Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), employers have certain responsibilities, including the obligation to: Provide their employees with a safe workplace; Follow all relevant safety and health standards; […]
New smartphone apps can deliver doctors to your doorstep. Heal is a smartphone app similar to the on-demand car service Uber, but instead of a car, a doctor shows up at your door. Users download the app and then type in a few details such as address and the reason for the visit. After adding […]
The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved sweeping changes in the way Medicare pays doctors, clearing the bill for President Obama and resolving an issue that has bedeviled Congress and the Medicare program for more than a decade. The 92-to-8 vote in the Senate, following passage in the House last month by a vote of 392 […]