Category Archives: Healthcare costs & financing

The Health Plans of the Democratic Presidential Candidates and How They May Affect Primary Care

By | October 2, 2017
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Nearly halfway through the primaries, the Democratic primary contest between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders continues. And perhaps nothing sets these candidates further apart in the progressiveness of their agenda than their approaches to health care. In this post, let’s take a look at the vastly different approaches to health care proposed by candidates Clinton and Sanders, with a particular focus on primary care.

How Primary Care Might Fare Under The Plans of the Two Leading Republican Presidential Contenders

By | June 14, 2016
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The presidential primaries are in full swing and health care is an issue for both parties. The candidates have left themselves plenty of wiggle room, but there is enough information in the public domain to make some predictions about what the different approaches (and they are different) would mean for the health care system. This… Read More »

Racial and Ethnic Disparities after the ACA: Good News and Bad

By | June 9, 2016
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The major goal of the Affordable Care Act was to expand health insurance coverage. The Department of Health and Human Services will tell you that the Affordable Care Act is working: more Americans are insured. About 16.4 million people gained insurance in the past five years. What do these numbers mean for racial and ethnic minorities who… Read More »

The Use of Clinical Preventive Services under the Affordable Care Act

By | June 9, 2016
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Increased use of recommended clinical preventive services among adults, such as colorectal and breast cancer screening and influenza vaccination, may save up to 100,000 lives per year and vastly improve life expectancy among the US population. Despite these benefits, recommended preventive services have been underused. In this post, I focus on colorectal cancer screening among adults… Read More »

Measuring Cost-related Medication Burden

By | June 9, 2016
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As readers of Medical Care are no doubt aware, prescription drug expenditures for Medicare beneficiaries are high – nearly $90 billion in 2012.  There is some evidence that Medicare Part D has reduced financial burdens, at least among some beneficiaries, but recent surveys suggest that around 4.4% of individuals ages 65 and older (including those not on… Read More »

Breaking the Fee-for-Service Addiction: Don’t Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater

By | September 29, 2016
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“Breaking The Fee-For-Service Addiction: Let’s Move To A Comprehensive Primary Care Payment Model,” a recent Health Affairs blog post by Rushika Fernandopulle of Iora Health, argues for replacing FFS payment with risk-adjusted comprehensive payments for primary care. We agree. However, the post portrays sponsors’ continuing to require submission of “dummy claims” as an unproductive addiction… Read More »