Author's posts
Health Insurance Premiums Are Stabilizing, Despite Attacks on ACA
Despite Republican efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act (ACA), insurance premiums will go up only slightly in most states where carriers have submitted proposed prices for next year. And insurance carriers are entering markets rather than fleei…
Bleak New Estimates in Drug Epidemic: a Record 72,000 Overdose Deaths in 2017
Drug overdoses killed about 72,000 Americans last year, a record number that reflects a rise of around 10 percent, according to new preliminary estimates from the Centers for Disease Control. The death toll is higher than the peak yearly death totals f…
Feds Urge States to Encourage Cheaper Plans Off the Exchanges
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the insurance marketplaces set up by the ACA, is encouraging states to allow the sale of plans outside of those exchanges that don’t incorporate a surcharge insurers started tacking on last…
New Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration’s Support for Medicaid Work Requirements
Opponents of the Trump administration’s changes to Medicaid, who recently persuaded a federal judge to block those changes in Kentucky, have filed a similar lawsuit aimed at Arkansas. In June, Arkansas became the first state to begin phasing in requir…
Feds Urge States to Encourage Cheaper Plans Off the Exchanges
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the insurance marketplaces set up by the ACA, is encouraging states to allow the sale of plans outside of those exchanges that don’t incorporate a surcharge insurers started tacking on last…
The ACA’s Innovation Waiver Program: A State-by-State Look
What is the current status of ACA innovation waivers for each state?
Swedish Report Shows More Elders Taking Multiple Drugs
An annual national report on the quality of care for older adults found that the share of elders who receive multiple medications had increased from the previous year. The March 2018 report, which covers 28 care coordination indicators, found that in 2…
Partnership to Provide Maori Free Health Insurance
A deal between the Ngati Whatua Orakei trust and the Australian insurance company Nib will offer free private health insurance to 4,000 members of the Ngati Whatua Maori subtribe across the country. The insurance will cover surgical and medical hospita…
Clinician-Led Price Matching and Bulk Buying Create Savings for Commonly Used Hospital Products
Clinicians at seven hospitals in Sheffield joined together to create a unique “price-match” scheme that jointly evaluated commonplace items, such as surgical gloves and antiembolism socks, on quality and cost. The hospitals teamed up to buy 11 items in…
During “Senior Week,” 144,000 Elderly Swedish Adults Received Free Medication Review
The Swedish Pharmaceutical Association’s annual “Senior Week” (Seniorveckan) in April aimed to raise awareness of safe medication use among elderly patients taking multiple medications. This year, Electronic Expert Support (EES) checks were offered fre…
