Health Affairs is an ideological mess, a blatantly politicized journal. It nonetheless occasionally has interesting research that avoids the usual whacked leftist politics. In the current issue, we find a couple of articles worth a read. The first article actually bursts a Dem talking point–that Medicaid enrollment reductions will limit access to care. The research shows that in regard to prescription drugs for people who lost Medicaid eligibility, the entire volume was picked up in commercial health plans.
Another study found that hospitals which spent more on facilities and other capital expenditures tended to gain market share and to raise prices. A study finds that in hospitals acquired by private equity firms there was more mortality after the acquisition in regard to the period after emergency surgeries. When PE firms buy an opthamology practice access to retinal detachment surgery declined. When a rural hospital closes, prices go up at nearby hospitals. Doh!
Rhode Island’s use of price caps on hospital services led to hospital price reductions as well as decreases in insurance premiums in the insured segment of the commercial market. Unclear if the reduction in hospital revenue had an impact on quality or access. And that is the latest from Health Affairs. (HA Issue)
