Consumer Driven Health Care

Writing about companies curbing costs, regulatory messes and just general uncertainty all day doesnt exactly put me in a cheery mood. That, coupled with wondering how Im going to pay for the myriad medical bills Ive racked up recently, makes me really want a drink right now (its Wednesday afternoon)....

Employers want their employees to be responsible for their healthand they want it so badly that the number of companies using financial incentives and penalties for participation in health programs is rapidly on the rise, according to a survey of companies by Towers Watson.

With fall in the air, open enrollment season is under way. For health care benefits brokers, that means its crunch time. Employees of the companies you serve and many benefits administrators, too have loads of questions about how consumer-directed plans work.

Less than half of American workers with diabetes think they have what they need in the workplace regarding their health, according to a recent poll of members of dLife, a community network and resource for people living with diabetes.

Funny thing is, the vocal anti-vaccine crowd needs the vaccinated majority to keep their children healthy. As we saw with recent pertussis and measles outbreaks in California, all it takes is a single unvaccinated parent or child to reignite another epidemic.

Heres yet another reason to exercise: Austrian researchers found higher levels of physical activity are linked to reduced mortality. And the more activity, the better.