States Should Study Spending Before Picking Benefits, Report Says

cancer

California and other states should consider the medical care used by the highest-cost patients who battle and other chronic conditions when setting essential benefits under federal reform, according to a study.

Medicare

The report issued Tuesday by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics found that the under-65 population, which will be affected the most by the federal healthcare overhaul, has very different medical spending patterns than beneficiaries that policymakers should take into account as they prepare to extend coverage to millions of the uninsured.

Dave Jones, California’s insurance commissioner, said Tuesday that state officials are reviewing a list of seven policies already offered in the market to determine which one serves as the best statewide benchmark for when consumers are required to purchase insurance starting in 2014.

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Source: Los Angeles Times