All Articles In 'Access to Care'
Medicare Hospital Payment: MedPAC Recommends One Percent Rate Increase for FY 2014
Hospitals face another year of tight Medicare reimbursement, with rates for FY 2014 falling farther behind cost increases and margins declining as a result. Most hospitals already lose money on caring for Medicare and Medicaid patients. [...]
Medicaid Expansion Through Health Insurance Marketplaces: Unresolved Questions
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has answered some questions about how Arkansas’s creative plan to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The plan, which Gov. Mike Beebe put forward, would use [...]
Impact of ACA on Employer-Sponsored Insurance: Costs, Taxes, and Enrollment Effects
Employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) has been central to the U.S. health care system. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) adds many requirements and imposes many costs on employers that could change how – and if – they offer [...]
Impact of ACA on Health Premiums and Enrollment: Society of Actuaries Estimates of Health Reform Law
Love it or hate it, the Affordable Care Act is unprecedented in size, scope, complexity, and uncertainty. To project its impact, numerous policy, economic, competitive, and behavioral factors must be considered and assumptions made. From an [...]
Women’s Health Spending: Expenditures on Common Conditions for Young Women
One of the most talked-about aspects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is how it will affect women’s health care. The biggest After 2014, health plans will no longer be allowed to charge different premiums based [...]
Medicaid Expansion and Hospitals: Hospital Medicaid Revenue to Outpace Crowd-Out Losses
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) created a trade-off for providers, particularly hospitals: On the one hand, Medicare fee-for-service hospital payments will be cut by $260 billion over 10 years. Some people newly eligible for Medicaid will [...]
Medicaid Expansion Via Health Insurance Exchanges: CMS Answers on Premium Assistance and Waivers
Some states have expressed interest in using premium assistance to expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Instead of serving the new ACA Medicaid expansion population through the Medicaid delivery system (through Medicaid health [...]
Health Insurance Exchange Implementation: Timeline and CMS Progress Report
In recent testimony to the Senate Finance Committee, Gary Cohen of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) gave an update of progress on Health Insurance Exchanges (HIX) implementation, now called Health Insurance Marketplaces. There [...]
Health Care Benefits for Members of Congress: Today and Changes in 2014 under ACA
The subject of health benefits for Members of Congress often surfaces in political debates, with some implying that Members of Congress enjoy lavish healthcare benefits. Many citizens would be surprised to learn that the health insurance [...]
Opportunity for Health Plans to Improve Quality and Reduce Costs by Embracing Primary Care Medical Homes
Primary care delivery through patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) and other coordinated-care models have improved care and reduced costs. Health plans have a strategic opportunity to promote better care at a lower cost by embracing medical homes [...]
Stay Connected
Managing Editor
