March 2013 - Health Affairs - The Network of Care

Changing The Way Physicians Are Paid: Report Of The National Commission On Physician Payment Reform

The loud cries warning that rising health care costs are going to destroy the nation’s economy have been shouted so often that the will to move firmly in any one direction has almost halted. We’ve all heard them: health care costs are unsustainable, excessive...

Published Mon, Mar 04 2013 5:02 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Prevention, Payment, Physicians, Primary Care, Chronic Care, Health Care Costs, Spending, Medicare, Competition, Quality, Hospitals

EHRs Are A Tool, Not A Solution: The NYC Primary Care Information Project

No one expects a scalpel to perform surgery by itself. Similarly, no one should be surprised by the conclusion of a widely cited article in the January 2013 edition of Health Affairs (“ What It Will Take To Achieve The As-Yet-Unfulfilled Promises Of Health...

Published Wed, Mar 13 2013 8:33 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Public Health, Physicians, Health IT, Primary Care, Chronic Care, Quality, Hospitals, Disparities

No Competition: The Price Of A Highly Concentrated Health Care Market

As health care costs swell, the private insurance system that covers most working Americans is in crisis . Americans are paying higher and higher premiums for increasingly threadbare coverage, and employers are getting out of the business of providing...

Published Wed, Mar 06 2013 10:32 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Insurance, Health Care Costs, States, Spending, Medicare, Competition, Hospitals

Why Do Some States Spend More on Health Care?

One of the interesting features of the Affordable Care Act is that reform basically takes place at the state level. Yet the states are very different. Some spend more than twice as much on health care as others, as a percent of state income. For example...

Published Mon, Mar 25 2013 9:25 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, States, Spending, Medicare, Medicaid

Implementing Health Reform: Waiting Periods And Enforcement Of Market Reforms

On March 18, 2013, Gary Cohen, the Director of the Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, stated on a national stakeholder call that most of the final rules needed to implement the Affordable Care Act 2014 insurance reforms are now in...

Published Tue, Mar 19 2013 10:01 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Consumers, States, Employer-Sponsored Insurance, Hospitals

Payment Reform: A Promising Beginning, But Less Talk And More Action Is Needed

In the late 1990’s, smarting from the collapse of managed care, HCFA’s retreat from the public release of provider performance data, and continued large increases in health costs in the face of evidence of waste and variation in quality, a group of large...

Published Tue, Mar 26 2013 11:50 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Consumers, Payment, Health Care Costs, Employer-Sponsored Insurance, Medicare, Quality

A Primer On Monday’s Supreme Court Rx Drug ‘Pay For Delay’ Case

On Monday, March 25, the Supreme Court will hear arguments concerning the legality under antitrust laws of "pay for delay" or "reverse payment" settlements, in which a brand-name drug manufacturer pays a patent challenger to keep the...

Published Fri, Mar 22 2013 7:43 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Competition, Pharma, Health Law

In New Health Affairs: Mortality Rates, EHRs, Wellness Programs, And Cesareans

The March issue of Health Affairs , released today, includes a variety of articles revolving around health and wellness, including an examination of mortality rates among American men and women by county. The issue also addresses whether physicians will...

Published Mon, Mar 04 2013 12:59 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Nonmedical Determinants, Public Health, Physicians, Health IT, Hospitals, Disparities, Medicaid

Decline In Utilization Rates Signals A Change In The Inpatient Business Model

Use rates for inpatient and certain hospital outpatient services are declining in many areas of the country, reflecting fundamental change brought by the new business model. Importantly, as evidenced by trends in Chicago and Minnesota, there also appears...

Published Fri, Mar 08 2013 7:13 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Prevention, Payment, Physicians, Health IT, Primary Care, Chronic Care, Health Care Costs, Quality, Innovation

Implementing Health Reform: The Benefit And Payment Parameters Final Rule

On March 1, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services released its final Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2014 rule. The rule addresses a grab bag of issues: the risk-adjustment, reinsurance, and risk-corridors premium stabilization...

Published Sun, Mar 03 2013 12:05 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Consumers, Policy, Insurance, Payment, States

Implementing Health Reform: Federally Facilitated And Partnership Exchanges

As I have already noted in several previous posts, March 1, 2103 was a banner day for Affordable Care Act implementation. In the midst of all of the other regulatory issuances publicly released by the implementing agencies on March 1, 2013, one seems...

Published Tue, Mar 05 2013 7:22 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Consumers, Policy, Insurance, States

Implementing Health Reform: The Multi-State Plan Program Final Rule

Perhaps the most controversial issue raised by the entire health reform debate in the fall and winter of 2009 to 2010 was whether the final legislation would include a “public plan.” In part, the issue was whether or not Americans would be denied the...

Published Fri, Mar 01 2013 9:20 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Consumers, Insurance, States

Implementing Health Reform: A Burst Of Regulatory Activity

The final days of February and the first day of March 2013 have seen a landslide of new Affordable Care Act implementation issuances. Perhaps the agencies decided to get all of their work done before sequester furloughs begin, or perhaps they have awakened...

Published Fri, Mar 01 2013 12:51 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Policy, Insurance, Payment, States, Employer-Sponsored Insurance

The Human Face of Hospital Readmissions

The numbers are disturbing and disappointingly familiar. According to the federal government, one in five elderly patients winds up back in the hospital within 30 days of leaving. The cost is troubling, too. The readmission of Medicare patients alone...

Published Thu, Mar 14 2013 9:20 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Consumers, Policy, Chronic Care, Health Care Costs, Medicare, Quality, Hospitals, Patient Safety

Implementing Health Reform: External Review As An Example Of A Nuanced Regulatory Approach

On Marcy 23, 2013, the United States will observe the third anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. On March 15, 2013, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury issued a joint technical release extending until January 1, 2106,...

Published Mon, Mar 18 2013 11:58 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Consumers, Policy, Insurance, States, Employer-Sponsored Insurance

March 2013 - Health Affairs

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