Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
What If You Could Buy Some Of Your Insurance On Demand, Like Renting A Movie Instead Of Paying Monthly For Cable Packages?
People with health insurance often pay for coverage they never use. A startup wants to shake that up. It's a radical idea: On-demand insurance that lets customers buy some of their coverage only if and when they need it, similar to how TV viewers might rent a new release from Amazon instead of paying every month for a pricey cable package they rarely use. This approach from Bind Benefits is one of the latest wrinkles in a yearslong push by companies and insurers to control costs and make patients smarter health care shoppers. (Murphy, 12/17)
About three in 10 Americans say they have delayed seeking medical treatment within the past year because of medical costs, according to a new poll published Monday. A Gallup poll聽found that 29 percent of聽respondents said they had put off treatment because of costs.聽About 19 percent said they delayed treatment for serious or somewhat serious conditions, according to the poll. (Burke, 12/17)
In other news on health care costs聽鈥
Kaiser Health News: After Her Skiing Accident, An Uphill Battle Over Snowballing Bills
Sarah Witter couldn鈥檛 get a break even though her leg had gotten several. As she lay on a ski trail in Vermont last February, Witter, now 63, knew she hadn鈥檛 suffered a regular fall because she could not get up. An X-ray showed she had fractured two major bones in her lower left leg. A surgeon at Rutland Regional Medical Center screwed two gleaming metal plates onto the bones to stabilize them. 鈥淚 was very pleased with how things came together,鈥 the doctor wrote in his operation notes. But as spring ended, the wound started to hurt more. (Rau, 12/18)
