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For quite some time, policy makers have been able to point to win-win moves: increase access to health care (e.g. make insurance more affordable) and decrease costs; alternatively, increase quality of care to targeted individuals (e.g. patients with chronic conditions who frequent hospitals) and reduce costs over time. There have been some studies to support these notions. The Washington Post pointed to two recent studies that provide contrary evidence. It's too early to tell whether society can decrease costs at a large scale over the long-term while increasing coverage or quality.

For quite some time, policy makers have been able to point to win-win moves: increase access to health care (e.g. make insurance more affordable) and decrease costs; alternatively, increase quality of care to targeted individuals (e.g. patients with chronic conditions who frequent hospitals) and reduce costs over time. There have been some studies to support these notions. The Washington Post pointed to two recent studies that provide contrary evidence. It's too early to tell whether society can decrease costs at a large scale over the long-term while increasing coverage or quality.

It's not difficult to imagine why the idea of decreasing costs while increasing coverage and quality is attractive to policy-makers and politicians: it's almost like a free lunch. Even if the idea were true, however, there would be limits on how far those savings could extend. Beyond that point, policy-makers and politicians would need to decide what would be paid for and by whom.

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve this site, we've released some changes this week to help users manage the reviews that they have submitted to us. While we continue to send one e-mail per submitted review to confirm the address, we now include a second link that allows users to see a list of prior reviews that are associated with users' specific e-mail addresses. From that list, users can unpublish or edit prior reviews. If users need to recover the links to manage their reviews, they can request those links by visiting the FAQ.

As part of our ongoing efforts to improve this site, we've released some changes this week to help users manage the reviews that they have submitted to us. While we continue to send one e-mail per submitted review to confirm the address, we now include a second link that allows users to see a list of prior reviews that are associated with users' specific e-mail addresses. From that list, users can unpublish or edit prior reviews. If users need to recover the links to manage their reviews, they can request those links by visiting the FAQ.

Note that the policy that a specific user can only leave one review per provider is now automatically enforced. Users can edit prior reviews to include any new information that they deem appropriate.

Happy new year!

Happy new year! From the staff at DocSpot.

Wishing you a merry Christmas -- DocSpot

Wishing you a merry Christmas -- DocSpot

Kaiser Health News reported on enrollment in the health insurance exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act as roughly matching last year's enrollment. The numbers are not final since a few states have not yet closed enrollment. However, that the enrollment nearly matches last year's is surprising given that the White House halved the window for sign-up while slashing the marketing budget by 90%.

Kaiser Health News reported on enrollment in the health insurance exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act as roughly matching last year's enrollment. The numbers are not final since a few states have not yet closed enrollment. However, that the enrollment nearly matches last year's is surprising given that the White House halved the window for sign-up while slashing the marketing budget by 90%.

Interestingly, the current White House administration, a vocal critic of the Affordable Care Act, apparently "framed the outcome as the result of her agency's efficient use of government funding and as a sign of how staffers had created a strong, well-run website."

The comparable level enrollment suggests that there is strong demand for the insurance policies, and that the insurance marketplaces might be more robust than anticipated.