New on the Web May 2012
From the Alliance for Health Reform: “Health Care Costs: The Role of Prices and Volume”
From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: “Out of Balance: Cuts in Services Have Been States’ Primary Response to Budget Gaps, Harming the Nation’s Economy,” “Top Ten Tax Charts,” “What If Chairman Ryan’s Medicaid Block Grant Had Taken Effect in 2001?”
From the Commonwealth Fund: “Estimating the Impact of the Medical Loss Ratio Rule: A State-by-State Analysis,” “Gaps in Health Insurance: Why So Many Americans Experience Breaks in Coverage and How the Affordable Care Act Will Help”
From the Employee Benefit Research Institute: “Employment-Based Health Benefits: Trends in Access and Coverage, 1997—2010”
From Health Affairs: “The Affordable Care Act’s Coverage Expansions Will Reduce Differences in Uninsurance Rates by Race and Ethnicity”
From the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured: “Enrollment-Driven Expenditure Growth: Medicaid Spending during the Economic Downturn, FY2007—2010,” “Five Key Questions about Medicaid and Its Role in State/Federal Budgets and Health Reform,” “The Diversity of Dual Eligibles: An Examination of Services and Spending for People Eligible for Both Medicaid and Medicare”
From the Kaiser Family Foundation: “ACA Federal Funds Tracker,” “How Does the Benefit Value of Medicare Compare to the Benefit Value of Typical Large Employer Plans?,” “Insurer Rebates under the Medical Loss Ratio: 2012 Estimates”
From the Urban Institute: “Addressing Barriers to Health Insurance Coverage among Children: New Estimates for the Nation, California, New York, and Texas,” “Medicare, Medicaid, and the Deficit Debate,” “States and the Affordable Care Act”
From the Alliance for Health Reform:
Health Care Costs: The Role of Prices and Volume discusses what makes costs go up, innovations that are underway to rein in cost growth, and policy options for solving the problem. It also focuses on how prices and the volume of services affect spending. (April 2012)
From the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:
Out of Balance: Cuts in Services Have Been States’ Primary Response to Budget Gaps, Harming the Nation’s Economy explains that states that have used spending cuts more than tax and fee increases have actually lengthened the recession, delayed the recovery, and cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. (April 2012)
Top Ten Tax Charts is a compilation of charts related to federal taxes that provide a useful context for the coming debates about how to reduce budget deficits and reform the tax code. (April 2012)
What If Chairman Ryan’s Medicaid Block Grant Had Taken Effect in 2001? finds that federal Medicaid funds would have fallen by 35 percent or more in most states. To offset this reduction in funding, states would have had to make deep cuts to eligibility, health and long-term care services, and provider reimbursement rates. (April 2012)
From the Commonwealth Fund:
Estimating the Impact of the Medical Loss Ratio Rule: A State-by-State Analysis estimates that consumers would have received almost $2 billion in rebates this year if the medical loss ratio rules had been in effect in 2010. It also breaks down the rebates consumers would have received by state and by insurance market. (April 2012)
Gaps in Health Insurance: Why So Many Americans Experience Breaks in Coverage and How the Affordable Care Act Will Help finds that one-quarter of adults aged 19 to 64 experienced a gap in their health insurance in 2011, with a majority remaining uninsured for one year or more. It also explains how the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion and exchanges will help people maintain coverage. (April 2012)
From the Employee Benefit Research Institute:
Employment-Based Health Benefits: Trends in Access and Coverage, 1997—2010 provides data on the offer, coverage, and take-up rates among workers. It also examines why many workers are not covered, and it includes breakdowns by age, gender, and race/ethnicity. (April 2012)
From Health Affairs:
The Affordable Care Act’s Coverage Expansions Will Reduce Differences in Uninsurance Rates by Race and Ethnicity estimates that the health care law could cut the gap in insurance rates between black and white Americans by more than half and the gap between Hispanic and white Americans by nearly one-quarter. These results will depend on states effectively implementing policies designed to enroll people in Medicaid and the exchanges. (May 2012)
From the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured:
Enrollment-Driven Expenditure Growth: Medicaid Spending during the Economic Downturn, FY2007—2010 concludes that overall spending growth was driven largely by the enrollment growth that resulted from many people losing their jobs and their health coverage during the recession. From June 2007 to June 2010, 8 million new people enrolled in Medicaid, which is the largest increase since the program’s early days. It also finds that, on a per-enrollee basis, Medicaid spending has grown more slowly than other sectors of the health system. (May 2012)
Five Key Questions about Medicaid and Its Role in State/Federal Budgets and Health Reform highlights key issues in Medicaid, including the structure, financing, and purpose of the program; its role for low-income beneficiaries; and the implications of the coverage expansion in the Affordable Care Act. (May 2012)
The Diversity of Dual Eligibles: An Examination of Services and Spending for People Eligible for Both Medicaid and Medicare discusses the characteristics, health status, and spending for dual eligibles, all of which have implications for efforts to integrate benefits and align financing for this group. (April 2012)
From the Kaiser Family Foundation:
ACA Federal Funds Tracker is an interactive tool that tracks funds received by the states, local governments, employers, community organizations, and other entities to implement the Affordable Care Act. (April 2012)
How Does the Benefit Value of Medicare Compare to the Benefit Value of Typical Large Employer Plans? finds that, although Medicare is less generous (on average) than plans offered by large employers, the Affordable Care Act’s discounts on brand-name drugs purchased in the doughnut hole have improved Medicare’s value relative to employer plans. (April 2012)
Insurer Rebates under the Medical Loss Ratio: 2012 Estimates finds that consumers and businesses are expected to receive an estimated $1.3 billion in rebates from health insurers who spent more on advertising, administrative expenses, and profits than allowed by the Affordable Care Act. (April 2012)
From the Urban Institute:
Addressing Barriers to Health Insurance Coverage among Children: New Estimates for the Nation, California, New York, and Texas explains scenarios that can make it harder for children to get health coverage, such as when children are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP but their parents are not. It also provides national and state-level data for California, New York, and Texas on the number of children facing these scenarios, and it discusses how the Affordable Care Act will affect these children. (May 2012)
Medicare, Medicaid, and the Deficit Debate explains that spending in both programs has been significantly affected by growth in enrollment. It also finds that projected spending growth per enrollee in these two programs is less than projected spending growth per enrollee in private insurance, and it uses graphs to illustrate these findings. (April 2012)
States and the Affordable Care Act is a series of state reports that analyze the effects of the Affordable Care Act on coverage, health expenditures, affordability, access, and premiums. It also assesses state’s progress with implementation of the law. The reports examine the following states: CO, MD, NY, OR, and RI. (April 2012)
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