Health Affairs

This week’s Health Wonk Review is available at the Disease Management Care Blog, where Jaan Sidorov offers great write-ups of a very interesting collection of posts. Jaan is kind enough to include a Health Affairs Blog piece about a shared savings program started in 2007 by Blue Shield of California, CalPERS, Hill Physicians Medical Group... Read the rest of this entry »

On Tuesday, June 5, Health Affairs will hold a briefing to discuss its June 2012 issue, “Focus On The Care Span For The Elderly And Disabled.” The volume explores a wide range of topics — from avoidable hospital admissions and readmissions, to coordination of care for dual eligibles, to reforming Medicare payment for skilled nursing... Read the rest of this entry »

More than 11 million Americans below the age of 65 are now covered by private individual health insurance plans. A new study, released yesterday by Health Affairs as a Web First, measures the actuarial value (the percentage of medical bills an insurance company pays) for a sample of 2010 health plans offering group and individual... Read the rest of this entry »

Currently, individual health insurance typically has less generous benefits than employment-related insurance. However, under the Affordable Care Act, individual insurance will probably become more generous and more like employment-related insurance. For a Health Affairs May 16 Web First study, Steven Hill of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality compared out-of-pocket spending on health care... Read the rest of this entry »

A belated tip of the hat to Hank Stern’s  Health Wonk Review at Insure Blog. Hank offers a nice collection of posts, including Diane Meier’s Health Affairs Blog post on Amy Berman’s Narrative Matters essay and overcoming barriers to palliative care. Happy reading!  

A new Health Policy Brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation examines trends in workplace wellness programs and the potential impact of provisions of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. About two-thirds of companies that offer health benefits to workers also provide a wellness program, such as health-risk assessments and screenings for... Read the rest of this entry »

Knee osteoarthritis is a common ailment—and treatment is expensive: in 2008 total knee replacement inpatient costs in the United States exceeded $9 billion—the highest among the ten procedures for which demand is growing the fastest. A new study, released today as a Web First by Health Affairs, compares operating times, hospital lengths-of-stay, discharge dispositions, and... Read the rest of this entry »

To calculate physicians’ fees under Medicare—which in turn influence private payers’ decisions on how they will pay doctors—the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) relies on the recommendations of a controversial advisory panel known as the RUC (the Relative Value Update Committee), which mainly represents a broad group of national physicians’ organizations. In recent... Read the rest of this entry »

The most recent Health Wonk Review is available at Wing of Zock, the blog of the American Academy Of Medical Colleges. Jennifer Salopek and Sarah Sonies have compiled a great collection of posts; they were kind enough to include a Health Affairs Blog debate on the fiscal consequences of the Affordable Care Act among Charles... Read the rest of this entry »

A new Health Policy Brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation looks at essential health benefits–the core packages of benefits that so-called “qualified” health insurance plans must provide beginning in 2014. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 requires that health insurance plans sold to individuals and small businesses provide a minimum package... Read the rest of this entry »

In 2011 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began offering incentives to providers who demonstrated “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHRs). With this program well underway, how well is health information technology implementation progressing? What are the differences in adoption rates among health care providers? To address aspects of health information technology adoption... Read the rest of this entry »

There are nearly nine million people in the United States who receive both Medicare and Medicaid benefits. Recent cost estimates show that this group, known as dual eligibles, accounts for a disproportionate share of spending in both programs. Although the Medicare and Medicaid programs were never intended to work together, a provision of the Affordable... Read the rest of this entry »

On Wednesday, April 25, Health Affairs will hold a briefing on the subjects of recent trends in health information technology adoption among US health care providers; eligibility for federal incentives to support that adoption; and demonstration of meaningful use. The forum coincides with the release of three “Web First” papers from Health Affairs, as well... Read the rest of this entry »

At his blog Wright on Health, Brad Wright presents a “Masterful” edition of the Health Wonk Review. Celebrating the triumph of fellow University of Georgia grad Bubba Watson, Brad ties each health policy blog post to a hole on the famed course at Augusta. David Lansky’s Health Affairs Blog post on how to do —... Read the rest of this entry »

Tomorrow, Thursday April 12, Health Affairs will hold a briefing to unveil its April 2012 issue, “Issues In Cancer Care: Value, Costs & Quality.” The volume explores a range of cancer-related topics, with the centerpiece a cluster of articles on assessing the value of high-cost cancer treatments. Please join us for the briefing at the... Read the rest of this entry »

The United States spends more on cancer care than European countries. However, a study published in the newly released April issue of Health Affairs suggests that investment also generates a greater “value” for US patients, who typically live nearly two years longer than their European counterparts. Tomas Philipson, the Daniel Levin Chair in Public Policy... Read the rest of this entry »

Lung cancer screening would save thousands of lives at a relatively low cost if such tests were routinely covered by commercial insurers, according to a first-of-its-kind actuarial study in the April issue of Health Affairs. Lung cancer causes more than 150,000 deaths each year, making it the most lethal cancer in the United States. Yet... Read the rest of this entry »

“It is well established now that one can in fact improve the quality of health care and reduce the costs at the same time.” That was the theme, enunciated by Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Susan Dentzer, of an event that Health Affairs cosponsored last year with the ABIM Foundation and the California HealthCare Foundation. The event... Read the rest of this entry »

Over at the Health Business Blog, David Williams presents a great collection of health policy blogging in the most recent edition of the Health Wonk Review. The posts included range from discussions of last week’s Supreme Court arguments to historical posts harkening back to the era of “Mad Men.” Check out all the great material... Read the rest of this entry »

On Thursday, April 12, Health Affairs will hold a briefing to unveil its April 2012 issue, “Issues In Cancer Care: Value, Costs & Quality.” The volume explores a range of cancer-related topics, with the centerpiece a cluster of articles on assessing the value of high-cost cancer treatments.  The cluster received funding support from Bristol-Myers Squibb;... Read the rest of this entry »