Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
In my own research, I have examined the relationship to marriage and weight gain. A study by Jay Bhattacharya, Kate Bundorf, Noemi Pace and Neeraj Sood found that health insurance may actually increase body mass. According to the authors: “We find weak evidence that more generous insurance coverage increases body mass index. We find…
In this blog, I have frequently discussed the concept of Job Lock. Job Lock occurs when you don’t leave a job that you wish to leave (either because it is low paying or you do not like the work) simply because you do not want to lose your health insurance. Leaving your current job for…
The Boston Globe reports that “Overseers of Massachusetts’ trailblazing healthcare program made their first cuts yesterday, trimming $115 million, or 12 percent, from Commonwealth Care, which subsidizes premiums for needy residents and is the centerpiece of the 2006 law.” The reduction in the Commonwealth Care was caused by the bad economy. Not only does a…
Medicare Part D decreased the number of seniors without drug coverage. In 2006 only 7% of seniors lacked drug coverage compared to 24% in 2004.
Consumer Reports writes that “66% of those polled by Consumer Reports said they found out the cost of a drug when they picked it up at the pharmacy counter, while just 4% said they had a conversation with their doctor about the cost of a drug.” Because doctors do not discuss cost with their patients, these…
In the run-up of real estate and stock market prices, demand for labor in the construction, real estate, finance industry was high. With the drastic drop in real estate and stock market prices, the demand for loan officers, construction workers and investment bankers has dropped. Individuals who have been laid must find a new job.…
A recent report from Cover the Insured.org reviews the how health insurance trends have evolved over the last ten to fifteen years. The percent of uninsured individuals has increased from 16.0% of the population in 1995 to 17.5% of the population in 2006. The increase is entirely due to the increase in uninsurance among working…
In 2004, 29% of Medicare enrollees had Medigap coverage. Are these policies priced efficiently? An NBER paper by Maestas, Schroeder and Goldman (2009) argues that the answer is no. Prior to July 1992, Medigap was minimally regulated. With the passage of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 (implemented in July 1992), Medigap plans…
In the Netherlands, the Health Insurance Act of 2006 mandates that all individuals have health insurance. Health insurance is provided by the private sector and these private health insurers can charge any premium they please. The government does provide some risk-adjusted payment to the insurance companies. This means that the state gives insurance company more…
Many policy experts have been proponents of value-based cost sharing. Under value-based cost sharing, medical care that is seen to provide a higher marginal benefit to the patient will have lower coinsurance rates than medical care with lower marginal benefits. If value-based cost sharing would be implemented, preventive care should have low coinsurance rates because…