New on the Web 59 (August 2009)
From the Access Project: “2007 Health Insurance Survey of Farm and Ranch Operators”
From the Center for American Progress: “Health Care Premiums Run Amok: The Cost of Doing Nothing about the Health Care Crisis,” “Too Sick for Health Care: How Insurers Limit and Deny Care in the Individual Insurance Market”
From the Commonwealth Fund: “Failure to Protect: Why the Individual Insurance Market Is Not a Viable Option for Most U.S. Families”
From the Journal of the National Medical Association: “Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities in TRICARE”
From the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured: “Rising Health Pressures in an Economic Recession: A 360-Degree Look at Four Communities,” “On the Edge: Health Care in a Recession,” “Health Care and the Middle Class: More Costs and Less Coverage”
From the Kaiser Family Foundation: “State Variation and Health Reform,” “Strategies for Simplifying the Medicare Advantage Market”
From Mathematica: “Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care: Partnerships between Employers and Health Plans”
From the New England Journal of Medicine: “Medicare Part D Update—Lessons Learned and Unfinished Business”
From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: “Coverage for Low-Income People: Should the Medicaid Program Be Expanded to Cover More of the Uninsured? Should There Be Changes in the Children’s Health Insurance Program?”
From the Access Project
2007 Health Insurance Survey of Farm and Ranch Operators finds that, although family farmers and ranchers were insured at a rate higher than the general population, 10 percent were uninsured or had an uninsured family member. In addition, farmers and ranchers often cannot afford to offer their employees health coverage. (June 2009)
From the Center for American Progress
Health Care Premiums Run Amok: The Cost of Doing Nothing about the Health Care Crisis shows that, without health reform, average family premiums will grow to more than $22,000 by 2019, up from $13,000 today. And once copayments and other out-of-pocket expenses are factored into the total, overall family health care costs will be even higher.. This memo includes the forecasted premium increases for each state. (July 2009)
Too Sick for Health Care: How Insurers Limit and Deny Care in the Individual Insurance Market reveals the practices insurers use against the roughly one in four Americans who either purchase their insurance in the individual market or have considered doing so. This memo, and the accompanying 50 state fact sheets, examine how insurers in this market offer weak benefits, exclude benefits, cancel coverage, and limit coverage. (July 2009)
From the Commonwealth Fund
Failure to Protect: Why the Individual Insurance Market Is Not a Viable Option for Most U.S. Families finds that, over the last three years, nearly three-quarters of people who tried to buy coverage in this market never purchased a plan, primarily due to high premiums. More than two out of five adults with coverage through the individual market reported not getting needed health care because of cost. People with such coverage also spend far more out of pocket than those with job-based coverage and are more vulnerable to catastrophic health care costs. (July 2009)
From the Journal of the National Medical Association
Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities in TRICARE examines disparities in TRICARE, the Department of Defense health coverage program for members of the uniformed service and their dependents. Although disparities exist among TRICARE beneficiaries, black non-Hispanics and Hispanics appear to receive more equitable care under TRICARE than they do in other types of health plans. (July 2009)
From the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured:
Rising Health Pressures in an Economic Recession: A 360-Degree Look at Four Communities explores the financial and personal struggles of families who have suffered economic reversals and lost health coverage. The report and accompanying video, On the Edge: Health Care in a Recession, reveal that many people who have lost jobs are exhausting their savings and collecting limited unemployment benefits, yet they still do not qualify for public safety net programs such as Medicaid. (August 2009)
Health Care and the Middle Class: More Costs and Less Coverage examines the availability, affordability, and stability of health coverage of families with incomes of $44,000 to $88,000 for a family of four. Overall, health insurance and medical care have become less affordable for the middle class, and one in 10 middle-class, working-age adults have lost health insurance. (July 2009)
From the Kaiser Family Foundation:
State Variation and Health Reform discusses how the impact of reform on individual states will vary based on their economic situation, current health coverage, and health care expenditures. This analysis pulls together key information related to state variation, including their economic profiles, Medicaid and CHIP eligibility and enrollment levels, coverage of the non-elderly population, and their individual and small-group markets. (July 2009)
Strategies for Simplifying the Medicare Advantage Market argues that fewer plan offerings, or more transparent differences across plans, would help beneficiaries choose the plans that are most likely to meet their individual needs. Research shows that individuals faced with a large number of alternatives often avoid making a decision, or they choose options that may not be best for them economically. This report outlines nine ways to simplify the process of choosing a plan. (July 2009)
From Mathematica
Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care: Partnerships between Employers and Health Plans looks at barriers that prevent such partnerships from forming and discusses strategies to encourage increased employer involvement in the future. Recent evidence suggests that employers are only moderately aware of disparities. Educating employers and employees on the causes and consequences of disparities, and promoting the business case for reducing disparities, may elevate disparities reduction as a priority. (July 2009)
From the New England Journal of Medicine
Medicare Part D Update—Lessons Learned and Unfinished Business examines the effects of Part D on drug coverage, access to medications, out-of-pocket spending, and overall Medicare spending. More seniors are now covered by a Medicare drug plan and report greater savings, but gaps in coverage and other problems still persist. Seniors now have dozens of Medicare drug plans to chose from, but they do not always pick the cheapest plan. (July 2009)
From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Coverage for Low-Income People: Should the Medicaid Program Be Expanded to Cover More of the Uninsured? Should There Be Changes in the Children’s Health Insurance Program? examines the options being debated by key congressional committees and summarizes arguments for and against expansion of these public programs. The proposed changes could raise income eligibility levels, allow low-income individuals to buy private insurance with help from subsidies, or even enroll in a public option. (July 2009)
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