Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
What happens when consumers have have fewer health plan choices? In single payer markets, this may just result in less satisfied individuals. In the U.S., however, individuals can opt of of one type of insurance (e.g., health insurance exchanges) and into others (e.g., Medicaid, private insurance). One interesting question is empirically, how does the number…
According to the N.Y. Times: Despite the Trump administration’s efforts to scale back the health law, about 300,000 more people have signed up for health insurance in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces in the first weeks of this enrollment period than last year. This is about a 25% increase from last year at this time. However,…
The premise is simple. Create markets, let consumers choose the products that fit them best, and the competition will lead to higher quality and lower prices. That is the premise behind the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchanges. A necessary condition for this to work, however, is that patients have visibility into the quality and…
Today is the last day to sign up for Obamacare for 2017. If President Trump has his way, it could be the last day to sign up for Obamacare ever. In fact, Marketplace reports that Trump administration decided to pull ads promoting last-minute sign-ups, although it reversed that decision shortly after. The media put forth mixed estimates…
Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt things so. In an interview with Vox he states: The natural business model of a private commercial insurer is to price on health status and have the flexibility to raise prices year after year. What we’ve tried to do, instead, is do community rating [where insurers can’t price on how sick…
Consumers in 30 states (60%) will have the option of at least one plan operating as both a qualified health plan (QHP) in the health insurance exchange (HIX) and as a Medicaid managed care organization (MMCO), according to an Avalere analysis. In these states, Medicaid beneficiaries may be able to enroll in a plan offered…
As describe in this recent Health Affairs article, as of 2011, your likelihood of being offered health insurance looked like this: Courtesy of Health Affairs. How will the ACA affect the share of individuals who receive coverage (and what type of insurance coverage they receive). This table describes some of the consequences. Courtesy…
The answer depends on the state. Today, I examine an Urban Institute research paper that looks at this progress in more detail. Dividing States into 3 Group The most advance States fall into Group 1 (CA, CO, CT, DC, HI, IN, MA, MD, NV, OR, RI, UT, VT, WA, WV). These states have either enacted…
One of the provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (a.k.a ACA, a.k.a. Health Reform, a.k.a. Obamacare) is that it limits the profits of health insurance companies. The ACA imposes a minimum medical loss ratio (MLR) on all insurers. The MLR is the amount of money spent on covered person medical care divided…
The California Healthcare Foundation (CHCF) notes that States face a number of challenges when determining how to design their Health Exchanges mandated by health reform. Today, I briefly highlight some of the requirements State Exchanges must fulfill.