Consumer Choice

Managing Chronic Illness: Consumers Say They Want More Autonomy

Wendy Lynch — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 10:00:17 +0000

Wendy Lynch, Ph.D.

Director, Altarum Center for Consumer Choice in Health Care

A majority of consumers want to be able to do more for themselves when managing chronic illness.

Despite Prevalence of Unnecessary Health Care, Few Question Doctors

Wendy Lynch — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 16:23:18 +0000

Wendy Lynch, Ph.D.

Director, Altarum Center for Consumer Choice in Health Care

For a variety of economic, legal and cultural reasons, Americans frequently receive care that will provide them little to no benefit. According to estimates, the U.S. health care system wastes between $250-$325 billion annually on unnecessary care; $6.8 billion of that is spent on 12 common unnecessary tests and treatments. Some (if not most) of the pressure to avoid unnecessary and/or harmful services must come from the intended recipients of those services.

Affordable Health Insurance: Employers Should Adopt Account-Based Health Plans to Keep Costs Down

Marijka Lischak — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 12:00:22 +0000

Roy Ramthun

President, HSA Consulting Services

This is the second in a two-part series. To read the first part, click here.

Health Savings Accounts and Reimbursement Arrangements Encourage Employer Group Health Coverage

Marijka Lischak — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 12:00:56 +0000

Roy Ramthun

President, HSA Consulting Services

This is the first in a two-part series.

Three Purple Messages for Consumers

Wendy Lynch — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 15:49:51 +0000

Wendy Lynch, Ph.D.

Director, Altarum Center for Consumer Choice in Health Care

At Altarum's Center for Consumer Choice in Health Care, we're working to increase individual involvement in health care decisions.

The New Normal In Health Insurance: High Deductibles

Jonathan Orr — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 11:24:57 +0000

Kaiser Health News

By Jay Hancock, Kaiser Health News.

Medical Overuse: More Care is Not Necessarily Better Care

Jonathan Orr — Thu, 31 May 2012 11:39:59 +0000

Holly Korda, Ph.D.

Deputy Director for Strategy and Growth, Altarum Institute

Overuse of health care is moving into the policy spotlight as a critical—and addressable—cost and quality issue.

More Information Is Not Always Better: Pulling Consumers Into Active Choices About Testing

Jonathan Orr — Tue, 01 May 2012 11:53:53 +0000

Wendy Lynch, Ph.D.

Director, Altarum Center for Consumer Choice in Health Care

“I’m thinking of getting a full-body CT scan,” Jane said. “What do you think?” Here was a healthy, active 72-year-old with no specific symptoms considering an expensive screening test.

Activating Consumers with Financial Control: Lessons from Health Savings Accounts

Jonathan Orr — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:20:13 +0000

Wendy Lynch, Ph.D.

Director, Altarum Center for Consumer Choice in Health Care

Health Savings Accounts are growing up. No longer an oddity, millions of families have accounts funded by tens of thousands of employers (1). After almost a decade, the cumulative evidence about consumer-directed health plans is quite compelling.

On “the Myth of Runaway Health Spending”: Is the Crisis Really Ending?

Paul Hughes-Cromwick — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:23:09 +0000

Charles Roehrig, Ph.D.

Vice President and Director, Altarum Center for Sustainable Health Spending

Center for Sustainable Health Spending colleagues George Miller, Ph.D. and Paul Hughes-Cromwick have the following thoughts.

Are Consumers Ready to Transform Health Care? If Not Now, When?

Jonathan Orr — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:00:40 +0000

Wendy Lynch, Ph.D.

Director, Altarum Center for Consumer Choice in Health Care

There is a massive untapped resource in health care: consumers. Like a sleeping giant, unaware of its size and power, consumers have yet to realize what effect they could have on the system simply by asking questions or making choices.

The Walmart Opportunity: Can Retailers Revamp Primary Care?

Marijka Lischak — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:57:40 +0000

Kaiser Health News

Just as Walmart and other retailers shook up the prescription drug business by offering $4 generic drugs, the industry now aims to apply its negotiating and marketing clout to tackle problems that vex consumers and the health sector: unpredictable costs, a lack of primary care doctors and inefficient management of chronic illnesses, whose costs drive the majority of health care spending.

Most Consumers Don't Ask About the Price of Health Care Services

Wendy Lynch — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:54:54 +0000

Wendy Lynch, Ph.D.

Director, Altarum Center for Consumer Choice in Health Care

How interested are consumers in the price of health care services? Results from our Consumer Opinion survey indicate that most consumers have never asked about the price of a health care service before getting care. Fewer than 30 percent asked about price in the past year. F

Paying Patients to Take Drugs or Helping Them Make Informed Choices?

Marijka Lischak — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:11:17 +0000

Wendy Lynch, Ph.D.

Director, Altarum Center for Consumer Choice in Health Care

While there is certainly evidence that cost influences a person’s likelihood of refilling medications, price is only one of many factors. It’s not a single conscious choice between taking a pill or not; it is ongoing management of a complex array of daily and weekly activities.

The Biggest Health Disparity of All: Control (Part 2)

Tim Green — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 04:00:00 +0000

Wendy Lynch, Ph.D.

Director, Altarum Center for Consumer Choice in Health Care

In many cases the health care system has determined that certain people are incapable of understanding their health issues and making their own decisions.