Morning Read: Costs rising fastest for outpatient, children’s healthcare

The Health Care Cost Institute analyzed about 3 billion health insurance claims and found that prices rose five times faster than overall inflation for ER visits, outpatient surgery and facility-based mental health care. The report found the biggest spending increases in the Northeast, up 4.3 percent and among children under 18, up 4.5 percent nationally. That compares with a 3.1 percent jump in spending on 55 to 64 year olds.

Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth are appealing a ruling that says the court system has no jurisdiction to require an overhaul of the Veterans Administration’s mental healthcare system. The lawsuit began in 2007 and the plaintiffs said they expect the case to go to the Supreme Court.

A new report from the Department of Homeland Security recommends requiring vendor support for firmware, software patches and antivirus updates and using authentication and encryption to protect healthcare data on mobile devices. The report identifies the theft of medical information and malicious intrusion of healthcare technology systems as a major concern. Read the report here.

Recent articles in Forbes and the New York Times questioning the potential of drugs that raise HDL levels is bad news for Merck and Eli Lilly. Both companies are spending millions to develop the CETP drug class. FierceBiotech highlights the bad news from both sources.

Proteus Biomedical is raising money again to support its Raisin system which includes sensor-enabled pills, a peel-and-stick sensor patch worn on the body, and a mobile health app. The company raised about $17.5 million in a round of funding set to hit $50 million.

[Image from Kaiser Health News]

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