Healthcare Finance Staff
Predicting anything in healthcare is difficult, but one factor is a fairly good indicator of whether providers joined a Medicare accountable care organization: integration.
The growth in Medicare per capita spending is slower as a result of fewer hospital readmissions and a shift to generic prescription medications, and Medicare Advantage plans are also beginning to contribute to the moderating trend.
Even as access to behavioral and mental healthcare expands under health reform, there may still be gaps in both public and private insurance, researchers said in a new Health Affairs study.
After almost a year of preparation, 450 healthcare organizations begin taking part in Medicare's Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative this month. The goal is to evaluate if paying for care by episodes really can improve quality and reduce Medicare's costs.
Most patient consumers set to become newly insured under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will see a decrease in out-of-pocket expenses, a new study from the RAND Corporation found.
Cigna is partnering with SocialWellth, a Las Vegas-based digital health company, to offer a platform to connect with members and deliver appropriate health and wellness digital content to them.
Although private exchanges exist today, the Affordable Care Act shines a greater spotlight on the "healthcare exchange" model. Many commercial payers are considering private exchanges as part of their channel strategy. Private exchange requirements continue to evolve alongside public exchanges, particularly on plan pricing.
Insurance cooperatives and provider-owned health plans are vying heavily for small business customers in federally-run insurance exchanges, appearing alongside (or in the absence of) Blues and national firms.
Once individuals learn about the health insurance exchanges, a majority lean toward using them. The challenge is that so many consumers still are unaware of them.
S&P Dow Jones Indices has launched a new indicator that measures claims data from 33 leading health insurance companies and other organizations to calculate the growth in commercial healthcare costs.