State HMOs report operating losses; Fallon, HMO Blue, Harvard Pilgrim rely on investment income.
Byline: Bob Kievra WORCESTER - Three of the state's major health maintenance organizations yesterday reported operating losses for the second quarter ended June 30. Tufts Health Plan of Watertown was the lone HMO to report operating income for the second quarter. The three other major...

Publication of Quality Report Cards and Trends in Reported Quality Measures in Nursing Homes.
Quality report cards have become a major component of initiatives to enhance the quality of the American health care system. In addition to numerous private and state report cards, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) now provides web-based reports on the quality of health maintenance organizations (HMOs),...

Health savings accounts catching on ... slowly.
WASHINGTON -- While health savings accounts and other forms of tax-deferred, consumer-driven health care financing options have captured the fancy of many policy makers, such options have met with a lukewarm welcome among American employers and the people who work for them. According to data from Forrester...

HMOs in Massachusetts say 2007 was profitable.
Byline: Bob Kievra The state's major health maintenance organizations boosted operating income in the fourth quarter, closing the books on a profitable 2007. Worcester-based Fallon Community Health Plan had net income of $15.1 million on revenues of $916.2 million in 2007. In the fourth quarter,...

Digest.
COLUMN: Digest HMOs report operating losses The state's major health maintenance organizations all reported operating losses for the first quarter, citing seasonal increases in the use of health care services and rising medical costs. Fallon Community Health Plan reported net income of $1.1...

Risks not transferred.
From the consumer-directed health plan vendors came the rosy surveys fast and furious: CDHPs were the most promising cost-control measures since the advent of health maintenance organizations in the early 1990s. Proponents--OK, let's call them shills--touted savings as high as 8 percent or even 10 percent. The...

Employees, employers are slow to start using HSAs.
WASHINGTON -- Although health savings accounts and other forms of tax-deferred, consumer-driven health care financing options have captured the fancy of policy makers, employers and employees have been reticent about embracing them. As of June 2007, between 8 million and 9 million Americans were enrolled in a...

Prostate cancer survival longest after surgery in race comparison study.
ORLANDO--Men who have surgery to remove prostate cancer experience better long-term survival, compared with patients who have radiation therapy or watchful waiting, according to a retrospective study of African American and white men. Researchers assessed survival in a cohort of 23,811 men diagnosed with prostate cancer enrolled...

Managed care: what's in store for U.S.? Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are leaping to the forefront of efforts to extend health care to the entire U.S. population.
HEALTH CARE is watched more closely by cost-conscious corporations and insurers than gold miners leaving a day's work in South Africa. Strategy focuses on avoiding certain outcomes and limiting access to specialty care. Despite the desirability of this goal, managed care may not be appropriate for all vulnerable populations...

HMOs in state receive profitable bill of health; Fallon lists membership gains, lower income.
Byline: Bob Kievra The state's major health maintenance organizations operated profitably in 2006 with some adding members while others sought to stem or reverse membership declines. Fallon Community Health Plan of Worcester reported lower net income of $17.5 million on revenues of $842 million in...