Medical Financial Burden Declined For Consumers In The Nongroup Market [ACA Coverage & Access]
The share of consumers in the nongroup health insurance market who spent more than 10 percent of family income on medical expenses declined by 6.7 percentage points after Affordable Care Act implementation (2013–15), and after adjustments for other factors. Average family medical expenses declined by $811 for nongroup consumers. (Source: Health Affairs)
Source: Health Affairs - May 1, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Boudreaux, M. H., Gonzales, G., Saloner, B. Tags: Health Reform, Insurance Coverage, Health Spending, Affordable Care Act ACA Coverage & amp; Access Source Type: research
Outpatient Office Wait Times And Quality Of Care For Medicaid Patients [ACA Coverage & Access]
The time patients spend in a doctor’s waiting room prior to a scheduled appointment is an important component of the quality of the overall health care experience. We analyzed data on twenty-one million outpatient visits obtained from electronic health record systems, which allowed us to measure time spent in the waiting room beyond the scheduled appointment time. Median wait time was a little more than four minutes. Almost one-fifth of visits had waits longer than twenty minutes, and 10 percent were more than thirty minutes. Waits were shorter for early-morning appointments, for younger patients, and at larger ...
Source: Health Affairs - May 1, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Oostrom, T., Einav, L., Finkelstein, A. Tags: Medicaid, Quality Of Care ACA Coverage & amp; Access Source Type: research
Medicaid Expansion Coverage Effects Grew In 2015 With Continued Improvements In Coverage Quality [ACA Coverage & Access]
Previous research has demonstrated large gains in insurance coverage associated with the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) Medicaid expansion in 2014. We used detailed federal survey data through 2015 to analyze more recent changes in coverage for low-income adults after the expansion. We found that the uninsurance rate fell in both expansion and nonexpansion states but that it fell significantly more in expansion states. By 2015 the post-ACA uninsurance rate for low-income adults had fallen by 7.5 percentage points more in expansion than in nonexpansion states, a difference that was similar (about 6.8 percentage p...
Source: Health Affairs - May 1, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Decker, S. L., Lipton, B. J., Sommers, B. D. Tags: Insurance Coverage, Medicaid, Affordable Care Act ACA Coverage & amp; Access Source Type: research
Medicaid Expansion Increased Coverage, Improved Affordability, And Reduced Psychological Distress For Low-Income Parents [ACA Coverage & Access]
Despite receiving less attention than their childless counterparts, low-income parents also experienced significant expansions of Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). We used data for the period 2010–15 from the National Health Interview Survey to examine the impacts of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion on coverage, access and use, affordability, and health status for low-income parents. We found that eligibility expansions increased coverage, reduced problems paying medical bills, and reduced severe psychological distress. We found only limited evidence of increased use of care among parents in...
Source: Health Affairs - May 1, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: McMorrow, S., Gates, J. A., Long, S. K., Kenney, G. M. Tags: Access To Care, Health Reform, Insurance Coverage, Medicaid ACA Coverage & amp; Access Source Type: research
Iowas Medicaid Expansion Promoted Healthy Behaviors But Was Challenging To Implement And Attracted Few Participants [ACA Coverage & Access]
As part of Iowa’s Medicaid expansion, the Healthy Behaviors Program was designed to provide members with incentives to complete specified healthy activities in return for waiving monthly premiums. We used claims data and interviews to document the first year (2014) of the program’s implementation. Healthy activities completion rates did not exceed 17 percent. Interviews with members and clinic managers revealed low levels of awareness of the program’s existence, deficits in knowledge about how the program works, and a variety of barriers to activity completion. Our findings suggest that the lack of knowle...
Source: Health Affairs - May 1, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Askelson, N. M., Wright, B., Bentler, S., Momany, E. T., Damiano, P. Tags: Health Reform, Medicaid ACA Coverage & amp; Access Source Type: research
Growing Insurance Coverage Did Not Reduce Access To Care For The Continuously Insured [ACA Coverage & Access]
Recent expansions in health insurance coverage have raised concerns about health care providers’ capacity to supply additional services and how that may have affected access to care for people who were already insured. When we examined data for the period 2008–14 from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, we found no consistent evidence that increases in the proportions of adults with insurance at the local-area level affected access to care for adults residing in the same areas who already had, and continued to have, insurance. This lack of an apparent relationship held true across eight measures of access, wh...
Source: Health Affairs - May 1, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Abdus, S., Hill, S. C. Tags: Access To Care, Insurance Coverage ACA Coverage & amp; Access Source Type: research
Navigating A Post-AHCA Landscape [Web First]
With the GOP’s ACA repeal-and-replace plan dead, at least for now, attention shifts to administrative action and other legislation. (Source: Health Affairs)
Source: Health Affairs - May 1, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Jost, T. S. Tags: Health Reform Web First Source Type: research
Revised 'Common Rule Shapes Protections For Research Participants [Entry Point]
Investigators and institutions have begun to prepare for new federal protections of study participants set to take effect in 2018. (Source: Health Affairs)
Source: Health Affairs - May 1, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Bierer, B. E., Barnes, M., Lynch, H. F. Tags: Research And Technology Entry Point Source Type: research
ACA Coverage, Access, Medicaid, And More [From The Editor-in-Chief]
(Source: Health Affairs)
Source: Health Affairs - May 1, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Weil, A. R. Tags: Health Reform From The Editor-in-Chief Source Type: research
Medical Marijuana Laws May Be Associated With A Decline In The Number Of Prescriptions For Medicaid Enrollees [Web First]
In the past twenty years, twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia have passed some form of medical marijuana law. Using quarterly data on all fee-for-service Medicaid prescriptions in the period 2007–14, we tested the association between those laws and the average number of prescriptions filled by Medicaid beneficiaries. We found that the use of prescription drugs in fee-for-service Medicaid was lower in states with medical marijuana laws than in states without such laws in five of the nine broad clinical areas we studied. If all states had had a medical marijuana law in 2014, we estimated that total savings...
Source: Health Affairs - April 19, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Bradford, A. C., Bradford, W. D. Tags: Medicaid, Pharmaceuticals Web First Source Type: research
Federal Funding Insulated State Budgets From Increased Spending Related To Medicaid Expansion [Web First]
As states weigh whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid reform remains a priority for some federal lawmakers, fiscal considerations loom large. As part of the ACA’s expansion of eligibility for Medicaid, the federal government paid for 100 percent of the costs for newly eligible Medicaid enrollees for the period 2014–16. In 2017 states will pay some of the costs for new enrollees, with each participating state’s share rising to 10 percent by 2020. States continue to pay their traditional Medicaid share (roughly 25–50 percent, depending on the state)...
Source: Health Affairs - April 12, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Sommers, B. D., Gruber, J. Tags: Health Reform, Medicaid, State/Local Issues, Health Spending, Affordable Care Act Web First Source Type: research
Navigating A Post-AHCA Landscape [Web First]
With the GOP’s ACA repeal-and-replace plan dead, at least for now, attention shifts to administrative action and other legislation. (Source: Health Affairs)
Source: Health Affairs - April 10, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Jost, T. S. Tags: Health Reform Web First Source Type: research
A Hospitals History [Book Reviews]
(Source: Health Affairs)
Source: Health Affairs - April 3, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Dine, S. Tags: Hospitals Book Reviews Source Type: research
LGBT Experiences With Health Care [Book Reviews]
(Source: Health Affairs)
Source: Health Affairs - April 3, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Cahill, S. Tags: Personal Experience ( Narrative Matters ), Public Health, Consumer Issues Book Reviews Source Type: research
School-Based Health Centers: A Funders View Of Effective Grant Making [GrantWatch]
This article outlines grant-making strategies and effective policies that the foundation has identified as most conducive to creating sustainable school-based health centers. These include identification of the right partners, development of a business plan, and guidelines and policies that support long-term financial sustainability. (Source: Health Affairs)
Source: Health Affairs - April 3, 2017 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Sprigg, S. M., Wolgin, F., Chubinski, J., Keller, K. Tags: Health Philanthropy, Maternal And Child Health, Safety-Net Systems GrantWatch Source Type: research
