Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
From a recent article in NBER by Dunn et al. (2021): Observing the back-and-forth sequences of claims’ denials and resubmissions for past visits, we can estimate physicians’ costs of haggling with insurers to collect payments. Combining these costs with the revenue never collected, we estimate that physicians lose 17% of Medicaid revenue to billing problems,…
Unsurprisingly, high-deductible health plans lead to lower utilization of healthcare services. A study by Sandoval et al. (2021) use data from 2007-2019 from Switzerland to show that this is the case. Participants with high-deductible plans reported forgoing health care more frequently than those with low-deductible plans (331 [13.5%] vs 591 [8.7%]). In adjusted analysis, higher-deductible…
Last fall, ICER published a white paper titled “Cornerstones of ‘Fair’ Drug Coverage: Appropriate Cost-Sharing and Utilization Management Policies for Pharmaceuticals.” To paraphrase, ICER’s goal is to limit access restrictions (e.g., cost sharing, coverage limitations, prescriber restrictions, step therapy) when a drug is deemed to be cost effective. How will they do this? Their Barriers…
In recent decades, drug prices have risen. To offset this cost, pharmacy benefit managers have negotiated increasingly large rebates which drug manufacturers pay health insurers. PBMs argue that rebates help keep net drug prices down. Manufacturers argue that PBMs want higher list prices so they can negotiate larger rebates. Patients may not like rebates if…
How do you get your prescription drugs? For most people, it involves going to your local pharmacy and picking up your pills. But what if the drugs you needs are infused treatments that have to be administered at a physician’s office? Typically, you just show up at a physician’s office and it’ll be ready for…
This is the question posed by a recent article by Lopata et al. (2021). The authors surveyed 26 payers (e.g., leaders of national, regional, local, Medicaid, and Medicare plans; payer components of integrated delivery systems; and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and 11 employers (e.g., large employers, employee benefit consultants, employer coalitions). Respondents were informed that…
A paper by Lurie et al. (2021) provides the answer. They reach four conclusions from their analysis: First, the actual penalty paid per uninsured month is less than half the statutory amount. Second, nonetheless, we find visually clear and statistically significant responses to both extensive margin exposure to the mandate and to marginal increases in…
Why don’t people eligible for health insurance exchange plans (i.e., Obamacare plans) enroll? One reason could be that they value the health insurance benefit at less than the cost. Another reason could be behavioral frictions; informational search costs and psychological frictions are costly and may preclude enrollment even when benefits are more than cost. For…
Getting sick creates risk over two dimensions. First, you risk getting sick which of course decreases your utility. Second, getting sick impacts you financially as (i) medical procedures are often expensive and (ii) if you can’t work due to your illness your income may fall. With respect to financial risk, health insurance may provide a…
University of Virginia Health System (UVA Health) has gone after patients’ homes to pay for medical bills. Kaiser Health News reports: UVA Health and other medical systems rarely force the sale of a home to claim money. Instead, they wait for families to refinance or sell, taking their cut at the settlement table. But with…