Low Income Workers Spend a Higher % of Income on Insurance for Less Coverage than Middle and High Income Workers “..But compared to middle and upper-income employees, low-income workers are often offered less robust coverage, get less employer help with their premiums, and must pay a greater share of their income toward health care costs. […]
Continue readingHealth Insurance Reduces Mid-life Mortality
Health Insurance Reduces Mid-life Mortality “…We evaluate a randomized pilot study in which the IRS sent informational letters to 3.9 million taxpayers who paid a tax penalty for lacking health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act. Drawing on administrative data, we study the effect of the intervention on taxpayers’ subsequent health insurance enrollment and […]
Continue readingPatients Want Healthcare not Choice of Health Insurance
Patients Want Healthcare not Choice of Health Insurance “Americans rarely switch to new health plans when the annual insurance-shopping season comes around, even if they could have gotten a better deal. The bottom line: People loathe shopping for health plans, and many are bad at it, for one major reason: “It’s just too hard,” Tricia Neuman, […]
Continue readingNumber Uninsured Increased by 1 million for Second Year in a Row, Reaching 30.7 million in 2018
Number Uninsured Increased by 1 million for Second Year in a Row, Reaching 30.7 million in 2018 “US health care spending increased 4.6 percent to reach $3.6 trillion in 2018, a faster growth rate than the rate of 4.2 percent in 2017 but the same rate as in 2016. The share of the economy devoted to health care […]
Continue readingWithout Medicare for All the Health Expenditures GDP will Rise from 17.9% in 2017 to 19.4% by 2027
Without Medicare for All the Health Expenditures GDP will Rise from 17.9% in 2017 to 19.4% by 2027 NHE Fact Sheet Historical NHE, 2018: NHE grew 4.6% to $3.6 trillion in 2018, or $11,172 per person, and accounted for 17.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Medicare spending grew 6.4% to $750.2 billion in 2018, or […]
Continue readingLife Expectancy Decreasing in US while Increasing in Other Wealthy Nations
Life Expectancy Decreasing in US while Increasing in Other Wealthy Nations “Potential ExplanationsThe increase in midlife mortality after 1999 was greatly influenced by the increase in fatal drug overdoses. Heroin use increased substantially in the 1960s and 1970s, as did crack cocaine abuse in the 1980s, disproportionately affecting (and criminalizing) the black population.74,75 Mortality from drug […]
Continue readingCost of Insurance Outpaced Increase in Incomes 2008-2018
Cost of Insurance Outpaced Increase in Incomes 2008-2018 “Added together, the total cost of premiums and potential spending on deductibles across single and family policies climbed to $7,388 in 2018 (Table 5). This ranged from a low of $5,815 in D.C. to a high of more than $8,000 in Arizona, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New […]
Continue readingTreatment Adherence Improves when Prescription Medications are Free
Treatment Adherence Improves when Prescription Medications are Free Importance Nonadherence to treatment with medicines is common globally, even for life-saving treatments. Cost is one important barrier to access, and only some jurisdictions provide medicines at no charge to patients. Objective To determine whether providing essential medicines at no charge to outpatients who reported not being […]
Continue readingHealth Insurance Reduces All-Cause Mortality Rates
Health Insurance Reduces All-Cause Mortality Rates “At present, about 28 million Americans are uninsured. Repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) would probably increase this number, whereas enactment of proposed single-payer legislation (1) would reduce it. The public spotlight on how policy changes affect the number of uninsured reflects a widespread assumption […]
Continue reading25% of Healthcare Spending is Wasteful– $760-$935 Billion Annually
25% of Healthcare Spending is Wasteful– $760-$935 Billion Annually “Findings The review yielded 71 estimates from 54 unique peer-reviewed publications, government-based reports, and reports from the gray literature. Computations yielded the following estimated ranges of total annual cost of waste: failure of care delivery, $102.4 billion to $165.7 billion; failure of care coordination, $27.2 billion to […]
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