The Potential and Unique Challenges of Pediatric Medicaid ACOs
Much of what we hear about Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) has to do with how well, or poorly, they’re serving the Medicare population. Medicare ACOs have received a great deal of attention, but less discussed is the application of this new health care delivery model to the Medicaid population.
Advancing LGBTQ Health – Hot topics on the national stage
Although Section 1557 of the ACA may not be well known to the public, it took center stage at the recent Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) annual conference in Portland, Oregon. The conference educates practitioners and students about the unique health needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LBGTQ) individuals and families, and reports on the latest research on LGBTQ health. Here are some of the latest research and policy developments emerging from the conference.
Section 1557 of the ACA
Quality of Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Care for Children in Low-Income Families
Amanda Kreider, Benjamin French, Jaya Aysola, Brendan Saloner, Kathleen Noonan, David Rubin
In JAMA Pediatrics, Amanda Kreider and colleagues, including Benjamin French, Jaya Aysola, Brendan Saloner, Kathleen Noonan and David Rubin, compare health care access, quality and cost outcomes by insurance type for children in low or moderate income households. Using family-reported measures from the National Surveys of Children’s Health, the authors examined children’s access to preventive and specialty care and caregiver satisfaction with insurance coverage, and also characterized unmet health needs and out-of-pocket costs over the last decade. The analysis revealed that...
The Growing Importance of Public Insurance to Children in a Shifting Commercial Landscape
[This blog originally appeared on the PolicyLab at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia blog.
Influence of provider mix and regulation on primary care services supplied to US patients
Michael Richards, Daniel Polsky
In Health Economics, Policy and Law, Michael Richards and Daniel Polsky explore the link between provider mix and access for different patient types. The authors use data from a field study spanning 10 states where trained audit callers were randomly assigned an insurance status and then contacted primary care physician practices seeking new patient appointments. Clinics with more non-physician clinicians are associated with better access for Medicaid patients and lower prices for office visits. However, the authors only find this association in states granting full practice...
State Medicaid Spending on Sovaldi
With a price tag of $1,000 per pill and $84,000 for a 12-week course of Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), Gilead Sciences prompted widespread concern about whether its new treatment for hepatitis C (HCV) would bankrupt public and private payers. These concerns were particularly significant for state Medicaid programs, which face both limited state budgets and high HCV prevalence among beneficiaries.
Insurance Expansion, Access and Minority Health – A Complicated Relationship
Expanding health coverage and reducing disparities in uninsured populations is an important part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Will this ensure access to health services as well as improve the health of minority populations? That’s less clear.
Medicare, Medicaid and the Leonard Davis Institute - Intertwined Legacies
Fifty years ago, on July 30, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law. Over the next two years, more than 29 million people gained health coverage through these programs. By 1967, as Alice Rivlin recalls, economists were sounding an alarm about rising Medicare costs and reporting to the President that projected growth would be unsustainable.
Storify: Research to Policy
The Importance of Rural Health Clinics
We have new evidence that the presence of federally-certified Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) is associated with greater primary care appointment availability in rural areas, thanks to a new paper in Health Services Research (early view).
No Place to Call Home — Policies to Reduce ED Use in Medicaid
Ari B. Friedman, Brendan Saloner, Renee Y. Hsia
See the LDI blog post on this study here.
LDI Poster Spotlight at AcademyHealth
Fix Pennsylvania's Medicaid Policy on IUDs
Cross-posted with the Philadelphia Inquirer
Imagine a woman in labor who goes to the hospital with a delivery plan she made in consultation with her obstetrician: yes to antibiotics in labor; no to an epidural for pain control; yes to neonatal circumcision; and yes to having an intrauterine device (IUD) placed immediately after childbirth.
Location Matters – Primary care availability in a major urban center
Depending on your neighborhood in Philadelphia, you may face a 10-fold difference in the supply of primary care practices located close to your home. This is the finding of a new study commissioned by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and conducted by a research team that I headed.
Primary care access – Perspectives from LDI
Primary care is critically important for improving health outcomes and promoting public health. LDI Senior Fellows conduct research on primary care that digs deeper into the different components of access - the related but separate concepts of availability, accessibility, accommodation, affordability and acceptability.