Chiropractic Breakthrough

Insurance agents and brokers are so concerned they will be viewed as redundant under the new law that they successfully lobbied to get state insurance commissioners to publicly acknowledge their importance. At a meeting of the powerful National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) last week in Seattle, 25 commissioners sponsored a resolution stating that implementation of health reform should “recognize and protect the indispensable role that licensed insurance professionals play in serving consumers.”

Unlike physicians in primary care, the number of physician assistants and nurse practitioners are on the rise. According to the American Academy of Physician Assistants, there were 74,100 physician assistants in practice in 2008, the most recent census available. It’s projected to be the second-fastest-growing health profession, after home health aides, in the coming decade. As of 2010, there are 135,000 practicing nurse practitioners, according to the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, with an additional 8,000 being added to the ranks each year.

More than 10 million people are enrolled in high-deductible health plans linked to health savings accounts, up from 6.1 million in 2008, according to a recent survey by America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group. To open a health savings account, you must be enrolled in a qualified health insurance plan with a deductible of at least $1,200 for an individual or $2,400 for a family. In return for accepting the higher deductible, you are allowed to deposit pretax dollars in the H.S.A., which are used to pay your out-of-pocket medical costs. This year, singles may contribute a maximum of $3,050 to an H.S.A. and families can deposit up to $6,150. Earnings on the account are also tax-free, and no taxes are paid on withdrawals used for qualified medical expenses.

Federal official say the average Medicare drug benefit plan will cost $30 a month next year, a $1-a-month increase from this year’s average premium. The officials portrayed the estimated new cost as a very small price increase, while saying many older Americans will pay less out-of-pocket for brand-name drugs under the new health care law.

The American public’s confidence in the health care system rose markedly after passage of the sprawling legislative package this year, according to a survey released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. But the measurement of confidence quickly settled back to historical levels, according to the survey, as families turned from rhetoric to reality.

The Obama administration is rewriting new rules on medical privacy after criticism from consumer groups and members of Congress. According to the new rules, health care providers and insurers have to notify patients of a privacy breach only if they find that the violation posed a significant risk of financial, reputational or other harm to the individual.

A federal advisory panel on Thursday voted narrowly to recommend allowing Eli Lilly to market its antidepressant, Cymbalta, for some chronic pain conditions affecting millions of Americans, particularly lower back pain. The scientific advisory panel to the FDA voted 8 to 6 in favor of expanding approved uses of Cymbalta.

According to a recent article in Forbes magazine, one way to relieve the shortage of providers that the medical industry has created would be for the AMA to abandon its aggressive game of turf-protection and allow nurses, midwives, physician assistants and practitioners of alternative therapies such as chiropractors, to offer standard treatments for routine illnesses without physician supervision. http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/25/american-medical-association-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html?partner=email

In yet another setback in efforts to treat Alzheimer’s disease, Eli Lilly & Company announced on Tuesday that it had halted development of an experimental treatment after the compound, called semagacestat, actually made patients worse in two late-stage clinical trials.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, the state officials who regulate the conduct of insurance companies, are holding their summer meeting this week in Seattle. 65 Democratic members of Congress have sent a letter to the insurance commissioners asking them to develop strict definitions of “quality improvement,” a provision in the health care law.