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| “Health care is never going back to the way it was before. When you’re forced to find different ways of doing things and you find out they are easier and more efficient, it’s going to be hard to go back to the old way.” | ||
| -Gail Wilensky, Health Economist |
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In a UChicago Harris/AP-NORC Poll, 45% of respondents would
choose a health insurance plan with lower premiums and higher
out-of-pocket costs, with 50% choosing a plan with lower
out-of-pocket costs and higher premiums. 45% would choose to
have lower coverage of treatments and drugs with lower premiums
and costs, with 50% opting for a broader coverage of treatments
and drugs with higher premiums and costs. Lastly, 40% would
choose a plan with higher out-of-pocket costs with no
restrictions on providers; with 56% opting for no out-of-pocket
costs but restrictions on providers. Source: University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy: In the Midst of the Coronavirus Outbreak, Concerns About the Health Care System Remain |
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Altarum: National Health
Spending 12-Month Growth Rates, April 2019-April 2020 1. National health spending: -24.3% 2. Personal health care: -30.1% 3. Hospital care: -40.7% 4. Physician and clinical services: -40.9% 5. Other professional services: -50.1% 6. Dental services: -60.8% 7. Other personal health care: 5.0% 8. Home health care: -33.2% 9. Nursing home care: 6.3% 10.Prescription drugs: 5.1% 11.Durable medical equipment: -20.6% 12.Nondurable medical products: -5.1% 13.Program administration and net cost of private health insurance: 10.2% 14.Government public health activities: 2.6%e Source: Altarum Health Sector Economic Indicators |
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The Covid Pandemic: Interface with the Healthcare System, the
Economy, Race, Politics, and History
In this UCSF Medical Grand Rounds presentation,
four world-renowned experts discuss the wide-ranging
implications and challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic with regard
to the healthcare system, the economy, race, politics, ethics,
and history. What will the lasting changes be? What can we learn
from history? The session is hosted by UCSF Department of
Medicine chair Bob Wachter. |
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Check out
HealthshareTV, the
home for health care videos |
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Healthcare Professionals and the Impact of COVID-19 This brief reports on FAIR Health’s in-depth study of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare professionals’ utilization and revenue, an impact that has not previously been assessed in depth. It also looks at how the impact varies by specialty. FAIR Health, June 10, 2020 The Implications of Medicaid Expansion in the Remaining States: 2020 Update Even absent the current COVID-19-related economic crisis, if the 15 holdout states had expanded Medicaid eligibility as envisioned under the ACA, 3.9 million fewer people would have been uninsured. Urban Institute, June 8, 2020 Concerns About the Health Care System Remain Despite the coronavirus outbreak putting a spotlight on many aspects of the U.S. health care system, the public’s opinions about health care costs and coverage have not significantly changed in recent months. University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, June 2020 Following the COVID-19 Surge: 5 Hospital Impacts Healthcare stakeholders weigh in as hospitals resume operations and adjust to changing industry dynamics. Following the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, hospitals and health systems are looking back on the damage suffered and anticipating the challenges to come. HealthLeaders, June 5, 2020 What Will Impact Premiums on the Individual Market for 2021? All Americans deserve access to affordable, comprehensive, high-quality care. With discussions around premium costs in the individual market for 2021 underway, there is a growing and understandable concern about the impact of COVID-19 on the nation’s health care system, increasing costs of medical care, and other issues. To help clarify the various factors affecting 2021 premium rates in the individual market, AHIP has released a detailed infographic aimed at identifying these factors and the role they play in 2021 rates. AHIP, May 29, 2020 Effects of a Public Option on Health Insurance Costs and Coverage A public option for health care—that is, a government-sponsored health insurance plan with publicly determined provider payment rates—is attracting growing interest in policy circles. Multiple public option proposals have been introduced in Congress, and at least 18 states have considered legislation for some form of public option. RAND, May 28, 2020 Accountable Care Organizations Are Increasingly Led by Physician Groups Because hospitals and health systems sponsored the majority of new accountable care organizations (ACOs) from 2010 to 2015, they influenced priorities and strategies of the policies designed to drive ACO adoption. In recent years, however, the majority of new ACOs have been sponsored by physician groups. AJMC, May 2020 |
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Physician, hospital spending sinks to lowest
point in more than 10 years Hospital and physician spending has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic -- so hard, in fact, that in April it reached its lowest point in more than a decade. A recent Altarum analysis shows that, due to the cancellation of elective procedures and low patient volume, tanking healthcare usage has contributed to a 24.3% decline in spending over a 12-month span, hitting a low of $2.88 trillion in April. Hospital care spending dipped from $1.25 trillion to $746 billion during that time. HealthcareFinance, June 16, 2020 Medicaid Rolls Surge, Adding to Budget Woes Many of the tens of millions of Americans who have lost their health insurance along with their jobs are enrolling in Medicaid — and with state budgets decimated by the pandemic, state officials worry they won’t have the money to pay for their health care. PEW, June 16, 2020 Report: The US Won’t Return to its Pre-COVID-19 Normal Until August 2021 The novel coronavirus (COVID-19)’s impact on the US will last more than twice as long as previously estimated by frontline physicians in April, who are now anticipating August 2021 before a return to normalcy. Despite substantially increased levels of system preparedness, fewer frontline physicians—24%, down from 30% in April—believe that the US can ‘flatten the curve’. InCrowd, June 15, 2020 The doctor is in, but coronavirus changes the look and feel of the office visit Doctors’ offices are slowly reopening as California loosens restrictions put in place to halt the spread of the coronavirus, but the patient experience may never be the same even after the virus is under control. SF Chronicle, June 14, 2020 Why virtual care will outlast the pandemic An explosion of virtual care during the pandemic is raising expectations that Washington will make sure Americans can continue video chatting with their doctors after the health crisis subsides. Telehealth had been inching ahead for quite a few years, but it remained a niche industry amid a thicket of regulatory restrictions designed to combat potential fraud and high costs. Politico, June 12, 2020 Here are the specialties hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic Healthcare revenue fell by nearly 50% in March and April for specialties that include primary care, oral surgery, dermatology and cardiology, a new study found. The study, published Wednesday by FAIR Health, which estimates healthcare costs and runs a claims database, details the drop in healthcare utilization for non-hospital providers. The industry has struggled financially with the cancellation of elective procedures and hesitancy from patients to go to the doctor’s office. Fierce Healthcare, June 11, 2020 COVID-19 could cost insurers up to $547B through 2021: report The estimated costs for treating COVID-19 could add up as much as $547 billion for private insurers from 2020 to 2021 depending on the rate of infection, an updated report found. The report, released Monday from consulting firm Wakely and commissioned by insurance lobbying group America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), looks at the utilization of medical services associated with a COVID-19 infection and the costs for such services. The analysis is restricted to insurers operating in commercial, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid managed care markets. Fierce Healthcare, June 8, 2020 Rapid Changes To Health System Spurred By COVID Might Be Here To Stay The U.S. health care system is famously resistant to government-imposed change. It took decades to create Medicare and Medicaid, mostly due to opposition from the medical-industrial complex. Then it was nearly another half-century before the passage of the Affordable Care Act. But the COVID-19 pandemic has done what no president or social movement or venture capitalist could have dreamed of: It forced sudden major changes to the nation’s health care system that are unlikely to be reversed. Kaiser Health News, June 8, 2020 Telehealth Expansion Changing Physician-Patient Relationship The dramatic growth of telemedicine during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is having a significant impact on the physician-patient relationship. In March, when the pandemic took hold in the United States, telehealth visits increased 50%, according to Frost and Sullivan. With in-person medical visits associated with the risk of coronavirus infection, virtual visits emerged as a safe and effective way for patients to meet with their doctors in many circumstances. HealthLeaders, May 27, 2020 |
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