| “In no other country does income inequality so profoundly limit access to care as it does here. Far too many people cannot afford the care they need and far too many are uninsured, especially compared to other wealthy nations.” | ||
| -David Blumenthal, President, Commonwealth Fund |
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Insurer filings suggest COVID-19 pandemic will not drive health spending in 2022 In initial filings, most Marketplace-participating insurers in 13 states and the District of Columbia are assuming COVID-19 will have no effect on their 2022 costs. Of the 75 insurer filings submitted in these states: * 13 said the COVID-19 pandemic will
have an upward effect on their costs, with most Source: Peterson-KFF: Insurer filings suggest COVID-19 pandemic will not drive health spending in 2022 |
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Google Cloud: Four survey
highlights on physicians and technology 1. Healthcare organizations accelerated technological upgrades over the course of the pandemic 2. Despite the technological leaps this year, most physicians still believe the industry lags behind in technology adoption but recognize the opportunity for technological support and advancement 3. Better interoperability alleviates physician burnout, improves health outcomes and speeds up diagnoses 4. Prioritizing Education, Research, And Workforce Development: Academic-Community Collaborations 5. Familiarity with new Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) interoperability rules grows, and many physicians are in favor Source: Google: New Research: COVID-19 accelerates innovation in healthcare but tech adoption still lags |
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Mission Impossible? How to Fix U.S. Healthcare
Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Dean
Katherine Baicker of the University of Chicago Harris School of
Public Policy, Zack Cooper of the Yale School of Public Health,
Martin S. Gaynor of Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College
of Information Systems and Public Policy, and Shelley
White-Means of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center
discuss strategies for fixing U.S. healthcare. |
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HealthshareTV, the
home for health care videos |
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How Insurers Can Advance Health Equity Under the Affordable Care
Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA) includes many requirements that advance health equity in the commercial coverage market and has contributed to significant progress in narrowing racial and ethnic health disparities. While health insurers alone cannot close disparities, insurance stakeholders play a key role and have committed to doing more to address systemic racism. Commonwealth Fund Blog, August 10, 2021 Hard Lessons From a City That Tried to Privatize Public Health If you were growing up in Detroit in the 1970s or ’80s, chances are you knew the city’s Herman Kiefer public health complex by both sight and reputation. Opened at the turn of the century and later enhanced by renowned industrial architect Albert Kahn, the imposing brick complex was named after a local infectious disease doctor. As the city grew, so did the complex and the services offered within, becoming synonymous with public health in the eyes of many families and residents. Kaiser Health News, August 6, 2021 5 Ways Payers Have Tackled Mental, Behavioral Healthcare in 2021 In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, payers have focused on improving and implementing mental and behavioral healthcare programs. From January to June 2019, 11 percent of US adults reported experiencing anxiety or depression, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation issue brief. By January 2021, the share of adults who experienced symptoms of anxiety or depression had quadrupled. Health Payer Intelligence, August 2, 2021 State Efforts to Standardize Marketplace Health Plans As the Biden administration continues its efforts to build on the Affordable Care Act (ACA), its regulatory to-do list includes revisiting Trump-era policies struck down by the courts. This spring, a federal court concluded that several Trump administration actions to weaken the ACA broke federal law. Among these was the decision to eliminate certain consumer-friendly rules for HealthCare.gov, including a policy encouraging standardized health plan designs for marketplace coverage. In its work to restore the policy, the Biden administration can learn from what states are doing now. Commonwealth Fund Blog, July 28, 2021 How 2 Rural Hospitals Use Charities to Help Patients with Out-of-Pocket Costs Outside financial aid might not be the best long-term solution to the national problem of high healthcare costs and inadequate insurance coverage, but two rural hospitals are taking innovative approaches to tapping philanthropic resources to reduce their bad debt and help patients with medical bills. HealthLeaders, July 27, 2021 The Pandemic Made Telemedicine an Instant Hit. Patients and Providers Feel the Growing Pains. Crystal Joseph pays for two telemedicine video services to ensure that her small therapy practice in Silver Spring, Maryland, can always connect with its clients. She’s been burned before. During one hours-long service outage of SimplePractice in late May, PsycYourMind, which offers mental health counseling and group sessions for Black patients, lost about $600 because of missed appointments. Kaiser Health News, July 26, 2021 As the Pandemic Eases, What Is the State of Health Care Coverage and Affordability in the U.S.? Findings from the Commonwealth Fund Health Care Coverage and COVID-19 Survey, March–June 2021. To shore up an economy and health system battered during the COVID-19-induced recession, the U.S. Congress passed four major relief bills in 2020 and 2021. The Biden administration also made a number of administrative changes, including some aimed at helping people enroll in health insurance coverage. After a year of severe job market disruption combined with a massive federal pandemic relief effort, what is the state of health care coverage and affordability in the United States? Commonwealth Fund, July 16, 2021 |
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CVS Health launches first nationwide virtual primary
care solution Aetna, a CVS Health company, announced an innovative health care solution, Aetna Virtual Primary Care, that reimagines the primary care experience and makes it easier for people to get the health services they need, anytime, anywhere. CVS, August 10, 2021 Biden Stimulus Increase Cut Obamacare Plan Premiums by 40% Monthly premiums for health coverage through the Affordable Care Act federal marketplace fell an average of 40% because of a boost in subsidies from government stimulus funds, the Biden administration said. More than 1.5 million people have enrolled in health plans through the HealthCare.gov marketplace since the administration opened a special window Feb. 15. Another 2.5 million who already had coverage took advantage of expanded assistance created by the American Rescue Plan stimulus that President Joe Biden signed into law in March. Bloomberg, August 4, 2021 US comes in last in health care rankings of high-income countries The US once again ranked last in access to health care, equity and outcomes among high-income countries, despite spending a far greater share of its economy on health care, a new report released Wednesday has found. The nation has landed in the basement in all seven studies the Commonwealth Fund has conducted since 2004. The US is the only one of the 11 countries surveyed not to have universal health insurance coverage. CNN, August 4, 2021 Study: Medicaid expansion cuts down uninsured surgical hospitalizations Medicaid expansion is associated with a reduction in surgical hospitalizations among the uninsured, a new study shows. Research published in Health Affairs examined state-level data across 44 states and patient-level data across four states to compare such hospitalizations in expansion and non-expansion states. Patients admitted for surgery largely first presented to the emergency department, and in 99% of cases their care would likely result in catastrophic visit costs, according to the study. In states that expanded Medicaid, the rate of uninsured discharges for these surgeries was lower, at 7.85 per 100,000. FierceHealthcare, August 3, 2021 Insurers push back on CMS' proposals to extend ACA open enrollment, bring back standardized plans Insurers pushed back at the Biden administration’s efforts to extend the Affordable Care Act’s open enrollment period by another month and require them to post standardized plan options. Several insurers and advocacy groups commented on the proposals outlined in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters, which outlines ACA marketplace exchange regulations for the 2022 coverage year. Insurers worried that extending the open enrollment period could lead to adverse selection and raise premiums for consumers. Fierce Healthcare, July 29, 2021 US hospitals struggle to reduce health disparities: Minority patients underrepresented in 4 of 5 hospitals Most U.S. hospitals are still disproportionately treating white patients for common services, a report published Tuesday shows, despite serving racially and ethnically diverse communities. USA TODAY, July 27, 2021 More than 2 million Americans sign up for Affordable Care Act coverage under Biden's special enrollment period More than 2 million Americans have signed up for 2021 coverage during a special enrollment period on the Obamacare federal and state exchanges, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Wednesday. The report includes plan selections from February 15, when President Joe Biden reopened enrollment to the uninsured, through June. Some 1.5 million people have signed up on the federal exchange, healthcare.gov, while more than 600,000 have selected policies in the 14 states and the District of Columbia that run their own exchanges. CNN, July 14, 2021 |
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