How the seemingly largest hospital bill came to be

September 20, 2011 J Roberts

Read about the world’s largest healthcare bill.

By Karen M. Cheung

It may be the largest hospital bill ever. Estimated at $9.2 million, including interest, the bill is from Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital for the care of deceased Tameka Jaqway Campwell.

Although the American Hospital Association, the Health Care Financial Management Association, and even the Guinness Book of Records couldn’t confirm the highest hospital bill in history, according to Associated Press (AP), the $9.2 million in charges for one patient certainly draws questions into high healthcare costs and end-of-life decision making.

Campwell had an incurable disease, progressive demyelinating neuropathy. The patient’s mother Holly Bennett accused the hospital of not feeding her daughter and giving her too much morphine, which, she claimed, resulted in the patient’s weight falling to 37 pounds, reports the AP. Campwell died two years ago.

The hospital is suing the patient’s estate for the outstanding bill.

“If they think they’re getting money from me, they’re crazy,” Bennett said in the article. “Who’s ever even heard of a bill that high?”

Although the hospital charges will likely drop to $2.25 million after readjustments, Bennett told ABC News she would not pay the multimillion-dollar bill. She said that she never received an itemized bill during the five years of treatment and that the lawsuit is a strategy to prevent her from filing her own lawsuit for medical malpractice against the hospital.

A frequent complaint from patients and providers alike, patients often do not understand the associated costs for tests and care with no clear prices for services.

“This is tragic,” said Alan Sager, a professor of health policy and management at Boston University School of Public Health, in the ABC article. “A patient apparently received costly care that might have made her more comfortable–and might have slowed the progression of her illness, but these interventions apparently could do little more than slow a steep decline.”

Hospital palliative care has doubled in the past decade, ranking as one of the fastest growing specialties with 63 percent of U.S. hospitals using palliative programs. According to a Center to Advance Palliative Care report this month, there are 1,568 palliative teams at nationwide hospitals, up from just 658 in 2000.

Caterpillar predicts $100M health care reform cost

March 31, 2010April 1, 2010 J Roberts

It’s a fact that the new healthcare reform will create additional tax burdons for most US companies, including insurance companies. The net result could mean increased premiums or less benefits with greater out-of-pocket expense or both. Read the expert from the Associated Press about Caterpillar.

(AP) — PEORIA, Ill. – Heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar says the new health care reform law will create a $100 million drag on its first-quarter earnings because of tax law changes. The Peoria company said Wednesday that the health care overhaul President Barack Obama signed this week will reduce the tax deduction it receives for its retiree health care program.

Caterpillar says even though the change won’t take effect until 2011, its liabilities for retiree health care are already reflected in its financial statements.

So Caterpillar expects to record an after-tax charge of $100 million in the first quarter.
And the company says the tax-law change is not reflected in its already cautious 2010 profit outlook of about $2.50 per share.

Too Little on What Controls Costs

September 16, 2009September 28, 2009 J Roberts

Robert Reich’s comment stating the President’s speech should have been clearer about how his plan will contain future costs was right on the mark. See his blog posting below.

More than a week after the Presidential speech to Congress there still has not been any indication or revelation on how the administration intends to reign in the high cost of care that continues to grow at an unacceptable level. While President Obama wasted no time bashing insurance companies for their unjust practice of dropping coverage for preexisting conditions or other catastrophic illnesses, he failed to touch upon or address the crux of healthcare reform: containing cost.

At no point was there mention concerning the myriad of components that contribute to the rise in health care costs such as physicians, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and other entities all entrenched in our current health care system. It is true that insurance bureaucracies contribute to the rise in health care costs, they themselves are not the lone culprit. The fact is, there are so many moving parts to this byzantine system, all of which contribute to rise in costs. This is a fact that can’t be ignored by the Administration, Congress or anyone wanting to promote real change to the system. Without controlling the increasing rise in costs, any plan is doomed for failure.

Robert Reich, a professor at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, was secretary of labor in the Clinton administration. He is the author, most recently, of “Supercapitalism,” and he blogs at Robert Reich’s Blog.

The president’s rebuttal of the fear-mongers was strong and he made a compelling case for preventing insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions or dropping coverage because of a serious illness and for requiring all Americans to have health insurance. He clarified his goal of full coverage and his support for a public insurance option.

He should have been clearer about how he intends to pay for the coverage of Americans who can’t otherwise afford it.

But I thought he should have been clearer about how he intends to pay for the coverage of Americans who can’t otherwise afford it, and how he’ll contain future costs. A commission to look at health outcomes is a fine idea but how are its findings to be used and enforced?

Taxing high-cost insurance plans is worthwhile but won’t raise much money or dramatically reduce future costs. An optional public insurance plan that’s open to all would put competitive pressure on private plans to reduce costs while also pressuring drug companies and providers to do the same, but his version of a public option would be available only to a relatively small number of Americans who lack employer-provided care.

The proposed health care exchange could generate real savings if the federal government acts as gatekeeper and limits access only to private insurers that offer low prices and high quality, but he didn’t explain the government’s role.

Still, he recaptured the initiative on health care and provided some cover for conservative and Blue Dog Democrats who need it in order to vote for the plan — which, I assume, were his most immediate political goals.

Health insurance premiums increase for the healthcare industry |

July 7, 2009July 10, 2009 J Roberts

Healthcare premiums are on the rise in 2009 and, no surprise, the costs continue to shift to consumers. More and more individuals and families are facing greater healthcare premiums and less coverage leaving them with greater out-of-pocket expenses. If you are faced with increased out-of-pocket expenses related to healthcare issues, Medical Cost Advocate can help.

Most U.S. healthcare organizations saw an increase in their health insurance premiums this year, according to information contained in the 2009 Compensation Data Healthcare report.

The 2009 Compensation Data Healthcare results reveal that, although the average premium increase had been decreasing in previous years, the average premium increase was 9.9 percent for all plan types. The data is collected by Compdata Surveys, a national compensation survey and consulting firm.

Comparatively, the average premium increase was 7.0 percent in 2008 and 10.9 percent the previous year. When comparing plans in 2009, 66.5 percent of organizations offering PPO plans saw an average increase of 9.5 percent. Those offering HMO and POS plans had average premium increases of 9.4 and 9.8 percent, respectively. HDHP plans had increases of 9.6 percent.

“Medical plans continue to be a source of scrutiny, as high health insurance costs are cutting into organizations’ bottom lines,” said Amy Kaminski, manager of marketing programs for Compdata Surveys. “Organizations continue to search for ways to reduce healthcare costs, but often higher costs are passed on to employees.”

To contain rising costs, healthcare providers used a variety of methods. The most often used method was coordination of benefits, at 81.4 percent in 2009, while a network of healthcare professionals was employed by 77.3 percent. Utilization review was prevalent, as 62.7 percent of organizations used it to contain costs.

The 2009 Compensation Data Healthcare results showed 63.6 percent of companies increased the employee portion of the premium in their efforts to reduce costs. This is higher than the percentage seen in 2007.

Currently, 37.4 percent and 16.4 percent of organizations increased deductible levels and employee co-insurance levels, respectively. On average, healthcare providers contribute 9.8 percent of payroll toward the cost of health benefits, which is the same cost to provide all of the following benefits: dental, life, retirement, disability and other non-mandated benefits.

Compensation Data Healthcare 2009 contains data on more than 200 industry-specific job titles and more than 250 benchmark titles ranging from entry-level to top executives. Data is collected annually from employers across the country.

The results provide a comprehensive summary of pay data, benefit information and pay practices with an effective date of January 1, 2009.