Managed Care Webography

 

Agency for Health Care Research and Policy

Good website covering choices of health plans that might be right for you.

America’s Health Insurance Plans

See their Consumer Guides section for lots of good general information about health plans. Remember — this site is sponsored by the plans.

Association of Cancer Online Resources

This site is not for the novice. It is a compilation of articles related to financing cancer. The purpose of the Cancer-Finance online list is to exchange information among those who know the financial perils of illness best. But you might get a little lost, unless you want deep reading.

BenefitsCheckUp

BenefitsCheckUp can help you find programs for people ages 55 and over that may pay for some of the costs of prescription drugs, health care, utilities, and other essential items or services.

Cancer Lynx — Medical Social Workers

This page offers information about medical social workers, who help cancer patients with a variety of issues. This includes helping you with any number of health insurance issues.

Department of Labor Information on Health Plans

Want to know what your rights are under your insurance plan? Want to know more about patient privacy? Go to this site — they are on your side and will tell you everything you need to know.

Health Care Choices — Information for Patients and Purchasers of Health Services

Health Care Choices provides comprehensive information to patients, consumers, employers, and other purchasers of health services on health insurance, physicians, hospitals, breast cancer, and other diseases.

HealthcareCoach.com

Plain talking from the National Health Law Program, a nonprofit group, to help you understand the laws and your rights with health insurance. Excellent site for all patients who want to make sure they get anything they deserve under their health plan or if they lose insurance.

Health Consumer Alliance

Consumer information about managed care and choosing a plan. The best part of this site is that it is translated into many languages. The focus is California, but there’s lots of good information for everyone.

Health Insurance Infonet from Georgetown and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

This is a great website to get all of the information you need about health insurance. You can get a free consumer guide to insurance coverage.

Icare4U

Good for cancer patients to read before treatment or for anybody to read before choosing managed care.

Kaiser Family Foundation

This is a very high-content site regarding all kinds of insurance. Probably not for the beginner, but for someone who is intent about learning how the insurance system works in the United States.

Managed Care Fact Sheets

These are fact sheets about managed care organizations, but they have a lot of technical terms and statistics. Not for the average patient, but for those interested in how these plans really work.

Medline Resources on Health Insurance

All the latest news and information on every kind of health insurance. This is a comprehensive look at all facts and issues of insured care today.

National Association of Health Underwriters

Do not be misled by the sponsor of this website — it is chock full of really good insurance information and even uninsured information. This is highly recommended for intermediate consumer readers.

National Cervical Cancer Coalition

Not just information about cervical cancer, but also interesting info about managed care for cancer patients.

Patient Advocate Foundation

The Patient Advocate Foundation is a national nonprofit organization that serves as an active liaison between cancer patients and their insurers, employers, and/or creditors to resolve insurance, job discrimination, and/or debt crisis matters relative to their diagnoses through case managers, doctors, and attorneys. They also have a co-payment foundation.

State Health Insurance Counseling and Assistance Programs (SHIPs)

Think you need help with your plan? Want to apply for assistance? Need an appeal? These folks are out there to help you now — for free! Here are some of their services:

  • Choosing a managed care plan
  • Deciding between original Medicare (fee-for-service) and managed care
  • Understanding your new health plan choices
  • Understanding your Medicare bill
  • Deciding how/whether to purchase additional health insurance (Medigap policy, long-term care insurance, etc.)
  • Understanding how to appeal payment denials
  • Understanding your Medicare rights/protections and how to submit a complaint about medical care or treatment
Latest Cancer News
ACOG Updates Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines

November 20, 2009 — The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has revised its cervical cancer screening recommendations: the organization now recommends that women begin screening at the age of 21 and receive screening at less frequent intervals. These recommendations will be published in the December 2009 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

New Velcade®-melphalan Transplant Regimen for Multiple Myeloma

November 20, 2009 — Researchers from France have reported encouraging results with adding Velcade® (bortezomib) to high-dose melphalan followed by autologus stem cell infusion for initial treatment of patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma. The details of this Phase II study appeared in an early online publication in Blood on November 2, 2009.

Folic Acid May Be Beneficial in Patients with Recurrent Colorectal Adenoma Who Are Folate Deficient

November 20, 2009 — Researchers affiliated with the Health Professional Follow-Up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study have reported that folic acid supplementation in patients with recurrent colorectal adenoma was not protective or harmful in most patients. However, patients who were folate deficient had a significant 39% decrease in adenoma recurrence. The details of this study appeared in an early online publication on October 28, 2009 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Select news items provided by Reuters Health