Population Health

If there's one point a recent session at America's Health Insurance Plans Institute & Expo 2017 brought home, it's that if providers and payers are going to manage their members as a population, they need to start by knowing them individually.

U.S. minorities tend to receive fewer medical services considered effective like flu shots, aspirin following heart attack, study author says.

Some oppose the law; many others, however, believe patients should have access to aid-in-dying but don't want to be involved themselves.

There have been few payment reform proposals that get at the heart of the problem, the authors said.

In some cases, insurers interrupt treatments that are already underway. In others, they deny it at the outset.

As a result, bridging the health gap between certain groups hasn't been as effective as it could be, authors said.

The study found that receiving federal housing assistance increased people's likelihood of having health insurance and access to regular care

Other groups still lag behind whites when it comes to the quality of their care, at least when it comes to diabetes or hypertension control.

An estimated 1 in 9 Medicare beneficiaries are diagnosed with COPD, the third-leading cause of death in 2014.

Uncertainty remains around what resources states may need and whether they will receive adequate federal support.