Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Competition matters for markets…even health care markets. A paper by Van Parys (2018) relies on a database of plan premium and market characteristics among states with federally-facilitated health insurance exchange Marketplaces. In this analysis, she finds that: In 2018, Marketplace premiums were 50 percent ($180) higher, on average, in rating areas with monopolist insurers, compared…
According to one study by Martin Anderson presented at the NBER’s Program on Health Economics meeting May 4, the answer is yes. Dr. Anderson examines the changes in insurance coverage, health care utilization, and mortality after the expansion of Medicare coverage to all patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). The study finds that: …the expansions…
In econ-speak, we are looking to measure the elasticity of plan switching with respect to premium increases. This elasticity is in essence how much would a 10% change in premium affect the likelihood of plan choice change. If the answer is 10%, the elasticity is -1. If the answer is a 5% increase in plan…
When you buy a typical product, the vendor does its best to make the purchasing process as easy as possible. There is a reason for this, clearly; they want your business. State and federal governments, however, have no such incentive. In fact, oftentimes reducing the number of people using government services saves money. Thus, it…
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) aimed to increase health insurance coverage largely through two pathways: (i) raising the income limits for individuals to qualify for Medicaid, (ii) creating new health insurance exchanges and health insurance subsidies to encourage the purchase of private health insurance among individuals that were not eligible for Medicaid. Other provisions, such…
UnitedHealthcare, Anthem, Aetna, Cigna and Humana are the five largest health insurers in America. To learn more about them, check out a recent paper by Schoen and Collins (2017) in Health Affairs. The five largest US commercial health insurance companies together enroll 125 million members, or 43 percent of the country’s insured population…In 2016 Medicare and Medicaid…
Cost effectiveness analyses (CEA) typically analyses the value of a new treatment relative to its cost. If the value of the additional health benefits outweigh the additional cost, then they should be covered; if the additional cost outweighs the additional benefit, then it should not be covered, right? There are a few issues with this…
Much of the news has claimed that the Affordable Care Act is a failure because individuals in many counties have few or even no health insurance options. However, how many counties truly will have zero Obamacare exchange insurance options in 2018 ? The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that there are only 17 counties covering 9,595…
Drug prices are in the spotlight of late. From Pharma bro to EpiPen price hikes to Trump’s most recent press conference high drug prices are getting a lot of attention. One solution is to have a single payer system whereby the government negotiates drug prices directly with pharmaceutical firms. Michael Cannon proposes an alternative, the 300…
The Affordable Care Act provides a lifeline for individuals previously “too rich” for Medicaid, but who did not have access to employer-provided insurance. First, making Medicaid eligibility rules more generous lead to more people just above the poverty line getting access to health insurance. Second, the “Obamacare” health insurance exchanges offered community-rated, income-subsidized health insurance coverage for people…