The Promise and Perils of Personalized Medicine

January 2008, PDF 14 pages

Michael Leavitt, current Secretary of Health and Human Services, has made advancing personalized medicine one of his department’s top priorities. In a speech to the Personalized Medicine Coalition, Leavitt described a move toward more individually tailored treatments as a transformative shift that could dramatically improve treatment.

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Common Sense Guide to Health Savings Accounts

October 2007, PDF 40 pages

Increasingly, individuals and families are considering health insurance policies with higher deductibles than traditional policies.  Sometimes, employers are asking their employees to enroll in these plans, either as an option or the only health insurance plan available to employees.  Individuals and families purchasing health insurance on their own can sometimes only find affordable health insurance if they choose a policy with a high deductible.

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The Uninsured in America

October 2007, PDF 18 pages

In 2006, while the poverty rate decreased and real median household income grew, America's uninsured population increased by 2.2 million's from 44.8 million in 2005 to 47 million in 2006. The percentage of the U.S. population without insurance rose from 15.3 percent in 2005 to 15.8 percent in 2006. The steepest increase in the uninsured rate was among children.

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Retail Health Care Clinics Overview

September 2007, PDF 20 pages

A revolution is hitting health care in the form of in-store clinics. Located within pharmacies and staffed by nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other health professionals (but generally not by doctors), retail health care clinics combine medical treatment with the retail approach of selling products at fixed prices to the consumer. They're changing the way Americans get health care. But is it for the better or the worse?

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How Agents Empower Health Insurance Shoppers

August 2007, PDF 12 pages

The secret to finding the right health plan is simple: first find the right agent. In this new white paper, the Vimo Research Group shows why the use of an agent is critical for a health insurance buyer both before and after the purchase of a plan.

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Women's Health: OB/GYN Trends Report's

June 2007, PDF 16 pages

The combined practice or field of obstetrics and gynecology, or OB/GYN, is one of the most sought after forms of health care in the United States. This report presents the latest data showing shifting trends in the gender make-up of OB/GYN specialists, and the wide disparities in prices for diagnosis-related groups in different areas of the country.

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Vimo HDHP Atlas

April 2007, PDF 30 pages

This report provides a snapshot of the HDHP market with independent statistics, and allows viewers to interactively navigate around the country to see currently available prices, premiums and HDHP product features. Additionally, this report distills useful information from various government and private research including usage trends, product feature trends, and legal regulations.

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HSA Funding : Are Health Care Consumers Leaving Money on the Table?

January 2007, PDF 13 pages

Millions of Americans are currently enrolled in or will soon consider a relatively new health benefit option known as a consumer directed health plan. Consumer directed health plans are poised for rapid growth and could provide coverage to as many as fifty million Americans within four years. This Vimo Report's will discuss funding trends that have emerged within the HSA market over the past several years. From Vimo's perspective, HSA funding levels are a key indicator of the health of the consumer directed movement. By focusing on recent enrollment statistics, it is clear that there is a significant gap between high deductible health plan enrollment and HSA adoption.

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HSA Custodians

October 2006, PDF 13 pages

This Vimo Ratings Report focuses on the world of HSA Custodians: the banks and other organizations that offer Health Savings Accounts to consumers. In this report, we evaluate HSA custodians based upon cost (fee structures) and return (interest rates) offered to consumers, and present the data in a format that is meaningful and actionable. The Report ranks interest rates on account balances of $2,500. More formal investment product offerings such as mutual funds and money market accounts were not included in the analysis, but will be a part of future Reports.

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