Disparities

Families USA analyzes how the Basic Health Program can work for low-income consumers

Posted on July 29, 2011

Families USA’s paper, “The Basic Health Option: Will It Work for Low-Income Consumers in Your State?” reviews the concept of the Basic Health Program (BHP), discusses some potential program pitfalls, and raises key issues that can influence the direction that a BHP might take in states with varying financial and political constraints. Some key challenges highlighted in the paper of the BHP include the provision of seamless coverage and provider payment rates.

Continue Reading "Families USA analyzes how the Basic Health Program can work for low-income consumers" »

• Permalink
• No Public Comments

New Commonwealth report examines health center collaboration

Posted on July 21, 2011

A new report published by the Commonwealth Fund examines the complex laws and policies governing clinical integration in community health centers and other community providers. The report, “Assessing and Addressing Legal Barriers to the Clinical Integration of Community Health Centers and Other Community Providers,” notes that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides $11 billion for community health center expansion, and partnerships involving clinical integration are expeceted to increase. Failure to comply with federal laws related to clinical integration may jeopardize health centers’ expansion funding.

Continue Reading "New Commonwealth report examines health center collaboration" »

• Permalink
• No Public Comments

New NBER paper highlights importance of being covered by insurance

Posted on July 11, 2011

A new study released by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) compares care seeking behavior and health outcomes of individuals covered by insurance with those who are uniunsured, and found better self-reported physical and mental health among those with insurance. The study, “The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment: Evidence from the First Year,” offered Oregon Medicaid on a randomly-assigned, lottery basis to an experimental group of uninsured individuals, while the control group received no coverage. Lower out of pocket medical costs were also noted among the group receiving coverage.

Continue Reading "New NBER paper highlights importance of being covered by insurance" »

• Permalink
• No Public Comments

The Basic Health Program

Posted on June 29, 2011

An important issue in implementing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is how to address the needs of uninsured low-income individuals and families whose incomes exceed Medicaid eligibility levels but are less than twice the federal poverty level (about $37,000 for a family of 3 in 2011). Under the ACA, the basic approach to assisting such individuals and families is the state health insurance Exchange, which enables qualified individuals to secure coverage and provides access to premium assistance and cost-sharing subsidies aimed at making coverage and care affordable.

Continue Reading "The Basic Health Program" »

• Permalink
• No Public Comments

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health and Health Care

Posted on April 15, 2010

Requires federally conducted or supported health programs to collect and report data related to race, ethnicity, and other indicators sufficient to generate statistically reliable estimates of health disparities.

Continue Reading "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health and Health Care" »

• Permalink
• Public Comments (3)