Latest news with #healthcareCosts
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Lower bridge, ferry costs mean less of a barrier for people going off-Island for health care
Living with a rare disease that comes with chronic pain hasn't been easy or cheap for P.E.I. resident Christine MacFadyen. Just leaving the province to get treatment came with a hefty price tag of $50 to cross the Confederation Bridge — a cost that added up quickly, given that she's been unable to work and has had to make the trip for the past 16 years. MacFadyen has granulomatosis with polyangiitis, or GPA, which causes swelling in small blood vessels. The bridge toll, along with the cost of gas and hotels, has meant a major financial strain for her family. She estimates she had to cross the Northumberland Strait to the mainland roughly 25 times a year. The cost associated with travelling off-Island for health care eventually pushed MacFadyen's family into bankruptcy. WATCH | Cheaper bridge and ferry trips will help people who have to leave P.E.I. for health care: "Sometimes we didn't have the money to go across the bridge and that was a barrier to getting the proper health care," she said. That toll to cross the bridge to New Brunswick will fall to $20 as of this Friday, following an announcement by Prime Minister Mark Carney this week. Fares for passengers, cars and commercial traffic on the ferry service between eastern P.E.I. and Nova Scotia will also go down by 50 per cent. MacFadyen no longer has to cover the bridge toll herself thanks to Hope Air, an organization that provides financial support to Canadians who need to travel to access medical care. While she said the toll reduction will make a difference for others like her who have to travel out of province for health care, she thinks the cost should be free for anyone receiving medical treatment that's not available to them in this province. "If [treatment is] not available on the Island, then we have no other choice," MacFadyen said. The P.E.I. government does offer some out-of-province travel supports to Islanders, depending on their income, to cover costs like flights, ferry passes, gas cards, bus tickets and meals. In a statement to CBC News, the province said it gave out 1,420 bridge passes and 44 ferry passes last year to people travelling for health care. 'The number one side effect of cancer is debt' Grappling with debt from health-care expenses impacts more than just those with rare conditions. Heather Mulligan, the Canadian Cancer Society's senior manager of advocacy for Atlantic Canada, said the organization often hears from Islanders who say the financial support available to them is not enough. "The number one side effect of cancer is debt," Mulligan said. Many people living with cancer on the Island have no choice but to travel out of province to get the care they need. Mulligan said some patients go to off-Island appointments every month. She said lowering the bridge toll will eliminate some of the barriers patients face when accessing medical care. "Reducing the bridge fees and reducing the ferry fees not only is an affordability announcement, one that is meant to bolster tourism and interconnectedness, but it eliminates a financial barrier that some Islanders have to face when accessing an essential care like cancer care," Mulligan said.
The Independent
30-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Can intermittent fasting help you lose weight?
Obesity affects two in five U.S. adults, contributing to nearly $173 billion in annual healthcare costs and increasing risks of chronic conditions. A new study published in The BMJ, involving researchers from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, analyzed the effectiveness of various intermittent fasting strategies. The research found that alternate-day fasting, which involves fasting for a full day every other day, was the most effective form of intermittent fasting for weight management. Alternate-day fasting led to 2.8 pounds greater weight loss compared to traditional calorie-restricted diets and improved cardiometabolic risk factors such as waist circumference and cholesterol levels. Despite its benefits, the study noted that the observed weight loss did not meet the minimally important clinical threshold, and individuals should consult healthcare providers before adopting intermittent fasting.
Washington Post
25-06-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
Transcript: The Price of Care
MS. WINFIELD CUNNINGHAM: Hello, and welcome to Washington Post Live. I'm Paige Winfield Cunningham, a health care reporter here at The Post, and today we have two segments on health care costs and what's cooking in health care policy these days. Later, we'll hear from Jeanne Lambrew and Larry Levitt, where we'll take a deep dive into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The Guardian
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
More Australians can't afford specialist fees. Experts say it's ‘not in the spirit of Medicare'
The cost of an initial dermatology appointment is now up to nearly $300 on average, new data shows. It reflects a broader problem: that Medicare rebates are not keeping up with the pace specialist fees are rising. Online healthcare directory Cleanbill, which has tracked bulk billing rates among GPs, is expanding to provide data on out-of-pocket costs to see other health professionals, starting with dermatology. The report, released on Thursday, found the Medicare rebate in March 2017 for an initial appointment with a dermatologist was $72.75, while the out-of-pocket cost was $148.73. By March 2025, the rebate had risen by $11.40, to $84.15, while the average out-of-pocket costs, at $210.18, were $61.45 more expensive. Over eight years, average out-of-pocket costs for an initial consultation had increased by over 40%, and average follow-up consultation costs had increased by over 55%. The rebate rose by less than 16%. Cleanbill compared the 2017 data collected by predecessor MindTheGap for 165 dermatology clinics still currently operating, with its own data collected in October. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Based on all 280 dermatology clinics Cleanbill identified currently operating, the average upfront cost of an appointment was $296.71 – more than 3.5 times the Medicare rebate. Cleanbill's report highlighted that as private health insurance does not cover out-of-hospital consultations, these out-of-pockets costs are being borne entirely by patients. Private health insurance mainly covers the cost of private hospital treatment, and may also cover non-Medicare subsidised services such as physiotherapy, psychology and dental services – but not GP or specialist consultations. 'These out-of-pocket costs far exceed the increases that we've seen to the Medicare rebate,' Cleanbill's chief executive, James Gillespie, said. 'In these circumstances, it's easy to see why the number of Australians putting off specialist care due to cost has risen from 176,000 in 2016-17 to 900,000 in 2023-24,' he wrote in the report, citing Australian Bureau of Statistics data. Many specialist services are available to patients for free in public outpatient clinics, but patients need a referral from their GP to qualify, and each hospital or specialist clinic has its own process for assessing urgency, accepting referral letters and making appointments. A GP referral is needed to claim the Medicare rebate at a specialist appointment, meaning a second round of out-of-pocket costs that 'stacks one on top of the other', Gillespie said. Gillespie said it was reasonable to extrapolate similar price increases across other medical specialists than dermatologists. The latest government data on medical specialist consultations showed patient out-of-pocket costs in non-hospital settings increased in real terms (adjusting for inflation) from $1.1bn in 2012-13 to $1.9bn in 2022-23 – or 'from $213 per patient to $294 (38%)'. In the same period, Medicare benefits paid by the government increased in real terms from $2.5bn to $2.9bn – or 16%. The government this year promised $7m to expand the much-derided Medical Costs Finder website, which the former Coalition government spent $24m setting up to see only 70 specialists – out of 11,000 registered to practice – choose to voluntarily display their fee information as of March 2025. Prof Yuting Zhang, an expert in health economics at the University of Melbourne, said providing cost information was only a first step – and the government had not outlined a policy to lower fees. Zhang and her colleagues at the Health Analytics, Leadership and Economics Hub mapped specialist fees in 2023 across different areas, finding on average that rheumatology had the highest fees, followed by neurology and immunology. Specialist fees have gone up 'a lot' but the Medicare schedule fee hasn't been properly indexed, Zhang said, remaining 'quite flat' for about the last 20 years, leaving patients to absorb the increasing gap. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Some fees were 'super high' at about $1,200 but cost varied widely even within the same specialty for exactly the same services, she said. 'Some people might be willing to pay a lot more to see a specialist and thinking the price might be an indicator for quality – which I can assure you, it's never the case,' Zhang said. 'More expensive doesn't really mean better.' A third of people living with chronic diseases say they are not able to attend specialist appointments due to the cost, a study published in May in the journal Health Policy found, with both the upfront cost and out-of-pocket costs being a major barrier to care. Australian National University researchers analysed the experiences of more than 1,800 Australians living with a range of chronic conditions within 37 studies. Assoc prof Jane Desborough, the lead author of the study, said while GPs face 'consistent pressure' to bulk-bill, backed by policy initiatives, there is 'no similar conversation about non-GP specialists who are also trained in the public system, who are also remunerated through Medicare … yet from the evidence, it seems quite uncommon for them to bulk-bill'. Many Australians with multiple chronic conditions often need to see several different specialists; even a person with a single chronic condition such as psoriatic arthritis needs both a dermatologist and rheumatologist. Those who struggled to afford specialist appointments reported often choosing who they saw based on 'what's hurting most at the time', Desborough said. Chronic illness often impacts people's capacity to work. The frustration of not being able to afford specialist visits is compounded by the long wait list for public specialist clinics, she said, as well as an increased trend by specialists towards exclusive private practice. Those who had full access to the specialist clinics in the public system were 'very grateful for what Medicare does,' Desborough said. But as for others, having to forego important aspects of their life – like food choices, social activities, family holidays, children's sport, school excursions – to access healthcare: 'That's not in the spirit of Medicare,' she said. The health minister, Mark Butler, said the private health sector, including insurers and specialists, 'need[s] to do more to protect patients for exorbitant bills'. Zhang said specialist medical colleges could play a role, by developing codes of conduct around fee practices and scrutinising members who consistently charge high fees. The government could also open more public clinics offering free specialist care for those who cannot afford the gap fees in private clinics, Zhang said.
Independent Singapore
02-06-2025
- Business
- Independent Singapore
Singaporeans shocked by S$52K/month rental for Tampines clinic
SINGAPORE: On Sunday (Jun 1), a doctor shared on LinkedIn that a rental clinic in Tampines is going for a monthly rental rate of more than S$52,000 per month. Dr. Hisham Badaruddin posted a screenshot of the final result for the bid of S$52,188 for Block 954C, Tampines Street 96, indicating that Lum Sian Wei Shaun was the successful tenderer. Its closing date was Jan 14, 2025. 'This is obscene … S$52K per month rental for a clinic in a HDB area? Madness…,' wrote Dr Hisham, whose LinkedIn bio says he is a Longevity Medicine Physician, in the caption to his post, adding that he believes the Ministry of Health might say that rentals in the private sector are out of their purview. Screenshot His post has since garnered many reactions and shares, with some commenters expressing concern that the high rental rate could be passed on to patients, who might find themselves saddled with higher consultation fees. In response to a question about the clinic's size, Dr Hisham guessed that it's likely to be less than 1,000 square meters. 'That's crazy! Can't believe this is a HDB tender!!' a commenter wrote. 'Rent in Singapore is abhorrently high, especially when it comes to businesses, and let's not talk about renewal of leases once you have invested your hard-earned money in renovation. The landlord knows you are stuck between a rock and a hard place!' wrote another LinkedIn user. Over on Reddit, where the post was shared, the top comment pointed out that 'Caring Pte Ltd, who was second in this bid, won two other bids with a S$25K/mo rent. In the same doc, there are two clinics in the North that went for S$4.2K and S$5K each. If the outlets were listed at these rates, Hisham might have a point, but in a closed bidding system, if he's literally bidding twice the amount as the next person, then either he's spoiling the market, or there's something special about that location that guarantees crazy good business.' See also Has the Wage Gap in Singapore Really Been Closing? Another agreed saying, 'There will always be these opportunistic people who'll try to ruin the playing field for market share & supposedly future gains.' 'Location is at a new BTO estate that recently TOP-ed, winning bid is essentially paying over the top to get a first mover advantage by trying to lock their patients in,' a commenter pointed out. A Reddit user wrote, 'S$52k is absolutely insane. It is double or triple the current market rate to rent in a populated HDB area. How do they even sustain? It doesn't seem right unless they are open for long hours or 24/7.' Some commenters on LinkedIn and Facebook, however, wrote that the renter may be planning an aesthetic clinic instead of a GP clinic, a practice that can be very lucrative indeed. /TISG Read also: Resident tells Jamus Lim her industry is being killed by high rental costs
