Health Care Delivery

Providers and insurers across the country are partnering to launch narrow-network plans even as controversy continues over whether these plans offer adequate provider access for consumers.

Despite continued Republican opposition to the Affordable Care Act, sentiment is shifting from repeal to replace. Still, the fact that open enrollment on HealthCare.gov begins after the midterm elections does not seem like a coincidence to the GOP.

A majority of Americans covered by the Affordable Care Act are expecting to change plans for 2015, which may be a smart move, according to industry experts. People who simply re-enroll may not realize they are no longer among the lowest costing plans, which will affect how much their subsidies pay for.

In states that chose not to expand Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act, residents with a median income of less than $800 a month are now ineligible for coverage assistance while those with more than $2000 a month are eligible for subsidies, according to a report from the Urban Institute.

A survey by Kaiser Family Foundation projects 13.2% overall growth in Medicaid through fiscal year 2015, but the difference between states that expanded the program and those that did not will be stark. The survey of state Medicaid directors also finds 23 states plan expansion of managed care in the next year.

Those planning to purchase health insurance on the Obamacare exchange will soon find out how much rates have increased-after the November 4 election.

Without much fanfare, Massachusetts launched a new era of healthcare shopping last week. Anyone with private health insurance in the state can now go to his or her health insurer's website and find the price of everything from an office visit to an MRI to a Cesarean section. For the first time, healthcare prices are public.

The majority of low-income adults in 3 states favored Medicaid expansion, but knowledge about their states' plans for the program under the Affordable Care Act was low, according to a report from the Commonwealth Fund.

Even though roughly 9 million Americans have gained healthcare coverage, other forces related to the "anemic recovery" will keep healthcare spending under control, at least in the short term, writes Charles Roehrig, PhD, in a commentary published online yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A study of Colorado's own health insurance exchange for individuals identified 11 commonly cited barriers that have prevented eligible individuals from not enrolling in coverage.

Amid yesterday's good news from the CDC that Americans are living longer than ever was a sobering fact. Rates for the top 10 causes of death all fell from 2011 to 2012, save one: suicide. The death rate increased from 12.3 to 12.6 deaths per 100,000 people.

As the 2014 midterm elections near, healthcare could have an impact on voter decisions and campaign efforts, Avik Roy, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said at the American Health Insurance Plans' National Conferences on Medicare and Medicaid, and Dual Eligibles Summit.

Nationwide, Pioneer ACOs saved the government $96 million last year, compared with $87.6 million in 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said last month.

No state-run exchange, no subsidy for health coverage. That's what a federal judge in Oklahoma ruled yesterday, marking the second such ruling against a key component of the Affordable Care Act and setting up a potential return trip to the US Supreme Court to decide the fate of a key piece of the law.

Medicaid enrollment under the Affordable Care Act grew even in states that chose not to expand eligibility, making access to care a more pressing issue, according to a new report issued by HHS' Office of the Inspector General.

For most of the spring, news on the Affordable Care Act was all about the numbers, and to much surprise enrollment surpassed the magical 7 million mark. Now, Patricia Salber, MD, and Christobel Selecky report in The American Journal of Accountable Care what having coverage means, whether it makes a difference, and what are the unanswered questions.

Managed care has an answer to what happens when previously uninsured patients suddenly gain coverage: the cost of uncompensated care falls substantially, and so do the numbers of patients showing up at hospitals and emergency rooms without insurance.

The uninsured rate among Latinos dropped sharply under the Affordable Care Act, but there were stark differences between states that have expanded Medicaid and those that have not.

Five years after the implementation of the first provisions of the Affordable Care Act and 5 months after the close of the first open enrollment period for the Health Insurance Marketplaces, we are starting to be able to measure the impact of the law.

The Affordable Care Act will save hospitals a projected $5.7 billion in uncompensated care this year, according to a report released by HHS. Roughly three-quarters of those savings are coming from Medicaid expansion states.

To optimize the impact of delivery system and payment reforms, healthcare system leaders may need to align organizational incentives with those facing frontline providers while also considering a wide range of factors that influence providers' choices.

The health insurance Marketplace will have 77 new insurers offering coverage in 2015, according to a report released by HHS. Overall, there will be a net 25% increase in the number of insurers that consumers will be able to choose from.

In 2013, lower health insurance rates saved consumers a total of $1 billion. States that enhanced their rate review programs will receive $25 million in rate review grant awards.

Since 2000, small-group health insurance premiums averaged annual increases of 5.5% nationally; however, double-digit increases were not uncommon, according to a report from the Urban Institute.

Although a majority of adults with health insurance purchased through the Affordable Care Act's marketplace said they find it easy to afford the care they need, the number of people still enrolled has dipped to 7.3 million, according to recent numbers.

Putting various branded drugs in "non-preferred" tiers and charging higher copays for them has been used for a number of years to steer consumers to use less costly medicines by giving them "skin in the game." But authors writing for The American Journal of Managed Care are alarmed by the policies of some insurers that now have designated entire classes of widely used generic drugs "non-preferred," leaving many patients without any low-cost treatment options for their diseases.

The federal government will terminate health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act for 115,000 individuals who failed to prove they were United States citizens or legal immigrants. Furthermore, another 363,000 people could lose their financial aid because of income reporting discrepancies.

More than 1,000 health centers in every US state and territory will receive Affordable Care Act funds to expand their primary care services, according to an announcement from Health and Human Services' Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell.

Open enrollment season is almost upon us. That will bring a test of whether the website for the federal exchange, HealthCare.gov can perform better in its second year than in its disastrous debut.