Americans Rely More on HSAs for Medical Expenses
NEW YORK, NY (April 28, 2011) – Americans are increasingly relying on Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to cover current and future medical expenses, according to a new report from J.P. Morgan Treasury Services that provides insight into the saving, spending and investing habits of its HSA accountholders in 2010. J.P. Morgan’s HSA Program Snapshot provides a better understanding of usage patterns and trends, and demonstrates first-hand how HSAs have become an integral part of helping people save and pay for medical expenses.
As of April 2011, J.P. Morgan manages more than 700,000 HSAs with more than $1.1 billion in assets.
“As healthcare costs continue to rise year over year, Americans are increasingly leveraging HSAs as a means for using pre-tax dollars on current medical expenses, as well as a way to invest and earn money for future health costs,” said David Josephs, Managing Director, J.P. Morgan. “J.P. Morgan has been administering HSAs since their inception, and we are uniquely qualified to deliver insight into HSA accountholder activity and behavior. We expect employers who are offering HSAs for the first time, or those who already have programs in place, to use J.P. Morgan’s HSA Program Snapshot as a benchmark for comparison as they review health plan options for the upcoming enrollment season.”
Among the highlights in 2010:
- The average HSA balance is $1,494 – up 7% from 2009.
- The average account contribution in 2010 was $1,884 versus $1,816 in 2009.
- 73% of accountholders contributed more than they spent during each month in 2010, compared to 68% in 2009.
- The average accountholder age is 43.
- On average, accountholders spent $5 more from their HSAs in each month of 2010 as compared to 2009. The average spend or distribution per HSA annually in 2010 was $1,377 compared to $1,305 in 2009.
- While purchases at drug stores and grocery stores resulted in the highest volume of transactions per account, hospitals and dental expenses had the highest average dollar amount per transaction ($207 and $195 respectively, basically on par with 2009.)
A full copy of J.P. Morgan’s HSA Program Snapshot is available at www.jpmorgan.com/visit/hsasnapshot
J.P. Morgan currently administers HSA programs in conjunction with many of the largest health insurance companies in the United States as well as Fortune 500 companies and small businesses and individuals across the nation.
Tough Demands on Nurses Adversely Affect Patients
BALTIMORE, MD (April 27, 2011) – Better working conditions and better staffing of nurses can significantly improve the care of patients with serious conditions, according to the latest nurse labor study by the University of Maryland School of Nursing.
Several troubling trends in patient outcomes surfaced as researchers analyzed survey data from 633 nurses in 71 hospitals in North Carolina and Illinois concerning patient outcomes, says lead investigator Alison Trinkoff, ScD, FAAN.
For example, pneumonia deaths were significantly more likely in hospitals where nurses reported increased psychological demands and more adverse work schedules. Trinkoff says they measured high psychological demands by very fast work, lack of time to complete work, excessive required work, being slowed by delays from other workers, and frequent interruptions. Another trend was that patients were more likely to develop deep vein thrombosis after surgery in hospitals where nurses reported high psychological demands. Staffing also was controlled in the analysis, so that the effects occurred independent of staffing.
“We selected outcomes that have been reported as nursing-sensitive and that have sufficient rates of occurrence to generate reporting data for over 90 percent of the hospitals,” says Trinkoff.
The researchers calculated the association between job demands on nurses, both psychological and physical, and work schedule, against outcomes of patients with heart attacks, congestive heart failure, stroke, and surgeries that open a bone flap of the skull [craniotomy].
Also, they discovered that deaths from congestive heart failure were also significantly associated with long shifts and with nurses continuing to work while sick.
They found that deaths from heart attacks were associated with nurses frequently working with awkward postures and heavy weekly burdens.
Patients were more likely to experience postoperative hemorrhaging when their nurses were frequently interrupted.
And, where nurses reported a lack of time away from the job, patients were significantly more likely to develop respiratory failure and infections.
Not surprisingly, the demands, along with the schedules adversely affect nurses as reported in other studies as well. But this study showed that they can affect patient outcomes.
Positive aspects of the practice environment, such as peer and supervisor support, did not offset, or balance, the adverse impact of these demands.
Hospitals where nurses reported a focus on patient safety were less likely to have such complications or adverse patient outcomes of hospitals where patient safety was not a stated focus.
The researchers have published data on such trends and others in their paper, “Linking Nursing Work Environment and Patient Outcomes” in the April issue of the Journal of Nursing Regulation. Study co-authors were Carla Storr, Meg Johantgen, Yulan Liang, Ayse Gurses, and Kihye Han.
The study is based on inpatient quality indicators and patient safety indicators established by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
NIH Launches Web Resource on Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Evidence-based information for health care providers
BETHESDA, MD (April 25, 2011) – A new online resource, designed to give health care providers easy access to evidence-based information on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), was unveiled today by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) of the National Institutes of Health.
With this new resource, providers will have the tools necessary to learn about the various CAM practices and products and be better able to discuss the safety and effectiveness of complementary and alternative medicine with their patients.
The portal on the NCCAM website at nccam.nih.gov is tailored to fit the needs of all health care providers, including physicians, nurses and nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and CAM providers. It includes information on the safety and efficacy of a range of common health practices that lie outside of mainstream medicine — natural products, such as dietary supplements, herbs, and probiotics, as well as mind-body practices such as meditation, chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage.
This resource was developed based on a series of NCCAM-sponsored focus groups where health care providers identified the need for an evidence-based, one-stop place to help answer their patients’ questions on CAM. With this need in mind, NCCAM developed a resource that provides reliable, objective, and evidenced-based information on CAM, including:
- links to relevant clinical practice guidelines
- safety and effectiveness information
- links to systematic reviews
- summaries of research studies
- scientific literature searches
- programs for continuing education credit
- patient fact sheets
- NCCAM’s Time to Talk tool kit on communicating about CAM.
Americans annually spend nearly $34 billion out-of-pocket on CAM products and practices. Surveys show that nearly 40 percent of American adults and 12 percent of American children use some form of CAM. Other surveys show that patients do not regularly discuss these practices with their health care providers. In fact, a recent study of Americans aged 50 and older found that overall two-thirds of respondents had not discussed CAM with their health care provider.
“NCCAM is charged to study and provide evidence-based information on the safety and efficacy of CAM health practices that are readily available and already used by a great number of people,” said Josephine P. Briggs, M.D., director of NCCAM. “As a physician, I understand the need to have easily accessible and accurate information on all health practices. This Web resource is a way for NCCAM to share this valuable information with all providers.”
To use this resource, please visit <http://nccam.nih.gov/health/providers/>.
Seniors Satisfied with PCPs But U.S. Health Care System a “C”
SAN MATEO, CA (April 25, 2011) – A March 2011 survey of 333 seniors 65 and older revealed that 81%1 are “very” or “extremely” satisfied with their primary care physicians (PCPs), yet give the performance of the overall U.S. health care system a weighted average grade of “C.” The survey also revealed that 1 in 4 respondents think that more than 50% of the money spent on health care in America is wasted.
The survey was fielded from March 1-7, 2011 by Extend Health Inc., which operates the nation’s largest private Medicare exchange.
Coincidentally, a similar survey2 of adult Americans of all ages sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health and also fielded in March produced similar results.
“The seniors who responded to our survey are happy with the doctors they see on a regular basis, but don’t think the overall health care system is performing well or that dollars are being used efficiently,” said Bryce Williams, CEO of Extend Health. “These results underscore the need for reform: even though people are satisfied with the quality of their care, they understand that there is plenty of room for improvement in health care and health care spending.”
The questions and detailed results from the Extend Health survey are as follows:
How satisfied are you with the relationship you have with your primary care physician?
Extremely satisfied ……36.1%
Very satisfied …………….44.5%
Somewhat satisfied ……17.2%
Not very satisfied ……….1.9%
Not satisfied at all ……….0.3%
On a report card scale with grades of A, B, C, D and F, how would you grade the overall performance of the health care system in America?
Grade …….Percentage ……Number Responding
A …………………….5.7% …………………….21
B …………………..36.7% ……………………136
C …………………..38.3% ……………………140
D ……………………15.1% …………………….57
F ……………………..4.2% …………………….14
In your opinion, what percentage of all dollars spent on health care in America are wasted?
Less than 10% ……….6.2%
10%-49% ……………..66.9%
50%-75% ……………..25.1%
More than 75% ………1.9%
Extend Health has helped more than 300,000 seniors compare and choose the private Medicare plans that best meets their needs and budgets. Extend Health is the only place seniors can compare more than 3,500 plans from 70 carriers side by side and find a plan that best meets their needs. Licensed benefit advisors are available to help seniors evaluate their Medicare coverage and explore new options quickly and easily.
1 For top line reporting purposes, Extend Health, Inc. rounds percentages up or down as appropriate.
2 “Americans’ Views on the Quality of Health Care,” a telephone poll of 1,034 Americans 18 years and older conducted between March 9-18 by SSRS, an independent research company, http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/files/quality-healthcare-topline.pdf