Health Affairs

Adding Seats: The RUC’s Sleight Of Hand

On February 1, the American Medical Association’s Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC), Medicare’s primary advisor on physician payment, announced the addition of two seats: a permanent one for geriatrics and a rotating one for primary...

Published Wed, Mar 14 2012 10:55 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Payment, Physicians, Primary Care, Health Care Costs, Spending, Medicare, Aging

A Saint Patrick’s Day Health Wonk Review

Tinker Ready offers a great Saint Patrick’s Day Health Wonk Review at — where else? — Boston Health News. Tinker provides a nice selection of health policy blogging, including a Health Affairs Blog post by Danny McCormick and colleagues...

Published Fri, Mar 16 2012 10:47 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Blog, Health IT

Why Aren’t State Exchanges Embracing Prudent Purchasing Strategies?

In the design of health insurance exchanges, one key issue is whether exchanges will offer improved value to people buying insurance in the individual and small group markets. A lot depends on whether the exchanges act as prudent purchasers – making design...

Published Mon, Mar 19 2012 12:20 PM by Health Affairs Blog

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

Implementing Health Reform: Little-Noticed But Important Guidances

Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series of posts by Timothy Jost on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Earlier posts analyze provisions governing premium review, medical loss ratios, insurance exchanges, coverage for pre-existing...

Published Thu, Dec 30 2010 8:19 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Prevention, Policy, Politics, Employer-Sponsored Insurance, Children

Trends In The Adoption Of Health Information Technology

In 2011 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began offering incentives to providers who demonstrated “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHRs). With this program well underway, how well is health information technology implementation...

Published Tue, Apr 24 2012 1:45 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Payment, Physicians, Health IT, Hospitals

The Untold Story Of 2013: Governors Lead In Health Care Transformation

As 2013 winds to a close, it is a good time for the health policy community to reflect on a historic year for our nation. The most talked about health care issues have centered on the rollout of new health insurance and Medicaid coverage as part of the...

Published Tue, Dec 17 2013 10:00 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Nonmedical Determinants, Policy, Payment, Health IT, Chronic Care, Health Care Costs, States, Competition, Workforce, Access, Quality, Medicaid, Children

Implementing Health Reform: CMS Affordable Care Act Guidance

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services appears to have cleared its Affordable Care Act regulatory agenda for 2013—at least no proposed or final rules implementing Title I remain pending at the Office of Management and Budget . Nonetheless, guidance...

Published Wed, Dec 18 2013 12:06 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Consumers, Insurance, Payment, Employer-Sponsored Insurance, Medicare, Medicaid

Implementing Health Reform: Allowing Consumers With Nonrenewed Policies To Buy Catastrophic Coverage And Other Developments

Very late in the day on December 19, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a new approach to the problem of “cancelled” policies. CMS issued guidance permitting individuals whose insurance policies are “cancelled” and who consider...

Published Fri, Dec 20 2013 6:25 AM by Health Affairs Blog

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

Slowed ACO Growth Leads Health Affairs Blog November Top Ten

With the success or failure of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) having significant implications for the U.S. health care system, David Muhlestein 's post on the slowed growth of ACOs was the most-read post on Health Affairs Blog in November....

Published Tue, Dec 24 2013 10:40 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Consumers, Policy, Insurance, Payment, Physicians, Medicare, Health Law, Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Business of Health Care

Health Care Preparedness Funding: Are We Inviting Disaster?

Editor’s note: This post expands on the theme of the December issue of Health Affairs , The Future of Emergency Medicine: Challenges And Opportunities . Disasters always make the big headlines. In large part, this is because they can take away lives in...

Published Tue, Dec 31 2013 6:16 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Public Health, Policy, Payment, Medicare, Workforce, Hospitals, Medicaid, Emergency Medicine

A Standard Model For Evaluating Return On Investment From Electronic Health Record Implementation

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Roundtable on Value and Science-Driven Healthcare views electronic health information as a pillar for the improved effectiveness, efficiency and safety of health care. Information is also fundamental to the concept of a...

Published Mon, Jan 06 2014 8:17 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health IT, Business of Health Care

The Moral Imperative To Disclose Medical Error: Doing The Right Thing

Editor's note: For more on Ascension Health's initiative to disclose unexpected events to patients, see Ascension Health’s Demonstration Of Full Disclosure Protocol For Unexpected Events During Labor And Delivery Shows Promise , part of a cluster...

Published Tue, Jan 07 2014 10:05 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Malpractice Liability Reform, Physicians, Quality, Hospitals, Health Law, Children, Patient Safety

Health Affairs Entry Point Looks at Affordable Care Act Four Years Later

With the full implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), January 1, 2014 was supposed to be a day of triumph when millions of Americans would newly have access to health insurance, says Timothy Jost, Washington and Lee University professor of law...

Published Fri, Jan 10 2014 10:25 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Consumers, Policy, Politics, States, Coverage, Medicaid, Health Law

The Insurance Exchange In Health Reform: Essential Characteristics

Insurance exchanges, or “Gateways” as they are called in the Senate HELP bill, are a key element in all of the congressional health reform proposals, as well as the proposal outlined by President Obama in his speech to Congress. The exchange is not some...

Published Wed, Oct 14 2009 7:46 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Consumers, Policy, Politics, Insurance, Competition

Some Mental Health Lessons From The Tucson Tragedy

We may never know the motivations behind the horrific acts in Tucson and whether they could have been prevented. Mental illness, however, has been tentatively identified as a “suspect” in the shootings. If we are to learn anything from this tragedy, we...

Published Tue, Jan 11 2011 5:34 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Prevention, Access, Children, Mental Health

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