A survey and report from Rand gives estimates on who has recently enrolled in what forms of health insurance, which suggests that most of the new enrollment is actually due to employer-based health plans, not the insurance exchanges.
Several articles and a commentary in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association focus on treatment guidelines for hypertension and lipid level issues, indicating that the consensus and evidence may not be as firm as could be desired.
A paper from the Bureau of Economic Analysis finds that consolidation in the physician marketplace leads to higher service prices for commercial health plans, but unlike most markets, these higher prices do not always reduce demand and utilization.
Time for another brief review of the “progress” of the federal health “reform” law, as the initial period of implementation has supposedly passed.
The second employee survey of the week comes from Towers Watson. It also focuses on retirement and health care issues.
A brief from the Employee Benefits Research Institute examines use of prescription drugs by enrollees in a high-deductible insurance plan, finding a greater percentage of generic prescriptions but in the context of an overall decline in prescription filling.
Research published in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that continuity of care for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries seems to reduce utilization and spending.
It is employee survey week!! First we look at results from a survey Mercer did of workers regarding retirement, health benefit and other matters.
An article in Health Services Research examines how hospitals respond to Medicare’s lowering of reimbursement, finding that generally they lower their costs of providing service over time.
A Statistical Brief from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality describes characteristics of employment-based health insurance in 2012, based on Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data.
A new report from the Government Accounting Office gives details on the spread of Medicaid spending across all its beneficiaries, finding that, as for other payers, a relatively small set of people account for a large amount of spending.
An Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality brief details inpatient hospital use in 2011 and trends since 1997.
The Rand Corporation surveyed physicians on behalf of the American Medical Association to ascertain issues relating to job satisfaction, with quality of care and health information technology at the top of the list of concerns.
A Journal of the American Medical Association article summarizing a Cochrane review of home palliative care finds that it increases the likelihood of dying at home and having fewer symptoms but cost-effectiveness is unclear.
An article from Sherlock Company describes favorable characteristics of independent or provider-sponsored health plans.