Tuesday Tidbits

Joe Davidson's column in this morning's Washington Post discusses an OPM briefing paper advocating changes to the FEHB Act that would increase competition by, for example, allowing regional PPOs to join the program. Davidson's column also provides a link to a Blue Cross Blue Shield briefing paper with legislative alternatives to the regional PPO offerings. As Davidson points out at the end of his column this initiative is not on the legislative radar screen right now.

The National Business Group on Health announced the results of a nationwide survey yesterday finding that large employers expect to hold health plan cost increases to 7% in 2013 using high deductible plans and wellness initiatives.  Next month OPM will announce the FEHBP's average premium increase for 2013 which the FEHBlog expects to be well below 7%.

Meanwhile, the AMA News breathes a sigh of relief that the number of primary care doctors visits is rebounding this year.   "Dr. [Glenn] Stream [president of the American Academy of Family Physicians] said it’s still too early to conclude that the first signs of increased volume are going to be part of a sustained trend, or to know how long such a trend will last. But over the longer term, he expects to see a rise in demand for primary care due to the aging population and the start of health coverage guarantees, mandates and subsidies in 2014." Hope springs eternal.