Current Status of Healthcare in the US – Page 3

Chronic Illness Associated with Greater Odds of Medical Debt and Out-of-Pocket Costs

Chronic Illness Associated with Greater Odds of Medical Debt and Out-of-Pocket Costs “Findings showed that 1 to 3 chronic health conditions were associated with higher odds of having any OOPC [out-of-pocket costs] and 1 to 3 and 4 or more chronic health conditions were associated with higher odds of having any medical debt. For households […]

In 2009, Practices Spent $68,274 Per Physician Interacting With Insurance Plans

In 2009, Practices Spent $68,274 Per Physician Interacting With Insurance Plans. “..When time is converted to dollars, practices spent an average of $68,274 per physician per year interacting with health plans (Exhibit 3). The median value was $51,043. Although per physician costs are lower in practices of ten or more physicians, there was not a […]

costs for doctors costs for physicians insurance costs

Fewer Adults Have Difficulty Paying Their Medical Bills, but the Improvement Has Stalled

Fewer Adults Have Difficulty Paying Their Medical Bills, but the Improvement Has Stalled “There was modest but significant improvement following the ACA’s coverage expansions in the proportion of all U.S. adults who reported having difficulty paying their medical bills or said they were paying off medical debt over time (Table 4). Federal surveys have found […]

medical bills medical debt

Inadequate Coverage Is Associated with More Cost-Related Problems Getting Needed Care

Inadequate Coverage Is Associated with More Cost-Related Problems Getting Needed Care The lack of continued improvement in overall access to care nationally reflects the fact that coverage gains have plateaued, and underinsured rates have climbed. People who experience any time uninsured are more likely than any other group to delay getting care because of cost […]

underinsurance underinsured

Since the ACA, Fewer Adults Are Uninsured, but More Are Underinsured

Since the ACA, Fewer Adults Are Uninsured, but More Are Underinsured “Compared to 2010, when the ACA became law, fewer people today are uninsured, but more people are underinsured. Of the 194 million U.S. adults ages 19 to 64 in 2018, an estimated 87 million, or 45 percent, were inadequately insured (see Tables 1 and 2). […]

affordable care act underinsurance underinsured uninsured

Multiple Insurers are Intrinsically More Costly than Single-payer Systems such as Canada’s

Multiple insurers are intrinsically more costly than single-payer systems such as Canada’s “A system with multiple insurers is also intrinsically costlier than a single-payer system. For insurers it means multiple duplicative claims-processing facilities and smaller insured groups, both of which increase overhead. Fragmentation also raises costs for providers who must deal with multiple insurance products […]

medicare for all multi-payer single-payer single-payer saves money

1 in 4 People in the U.S. Report Difficulty Paying for Prescriptions

1 in 4 People in the U.S. Report Difficulty Paying for Prescriptions “This Visualizing Health Policy infographic spotlights national spending on prescription drugs and the public’s views on pharmaceutical prices. Prescription drug spending rose sharply in 2014, driven by growth in expenditures on specialty drugs, including medications to treat cancer and hepatitis C. Medicare’s spending […]

cost of medication prescription drugs prescriptions

The U. S. Spends More on Healthcare Than Any Other Nation, but Gets Less

The U.S. Spends More on Healthcare Than Any Other Nation, but Gets Less “In the U.S. health system, for example, money flows from households to the providers of health care through a vast network of relatively uncoordinated pipes and capillaries of various sizes. Although the huge federal Medicare program and the federal-state Medicaid programs do […]

cost of multi-payer healthcare system for-profit healthcare healthcare costs healthcare spending inflated healthcare costs

50 Million Adults are Uninsured Each Year

50 Million Adults are Uninsured Each Year “…In prior posts, I have tried to produce some figures that help illuminate the immense degree of “churn” in our system (I, II). In this post, I do the same thing, but with a new data source. What this source reveals is that, in a given 12 month […]

lack of health insurance uninsured

The Wealthy Benefit from Hundreds of Billions in Tax Subsidies that Could Go Towards Healthcare

The Wealthy Benefit from Hundreds of Billions in Tax Subsidies that Could Go Towards Healthcare “…Public funds help the vast majority of Americans pay for care, but these funds flow through many different spigots. The funding streams for the poor, the elderly, veterans, family planning, and public sector workers are visible and hotly debated. Meanwhile, the hundreds of billions in […]

tax subsidies taxes