Daily Policy Digest
Health Issues
| The State of Health Care Spending The variation in Medicaid spending over a 40-year period, as a percent of state gross domestic product, was from two to three times greater than the variation in private sector spending, according to a new study from the National Center for Policy Analysis... |
| Private Exchanges Grow in Popularity In 2013, 39 percent of Sears and Darden employees chose higher deductible consumer directed health plans, up from 21 percent in 2012... |
| Texas Health Insurance Reforms Allowing Texas' state employees to set up consumer driven health plans would save the state substantial sums of money, as costs and insurance outlays are expected to increase... |
| One in Three Elderly Have Dementia When They Die Medicare costs for seniors with Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia are nearly three times higher than for seniors without any form of dementia... |
| An Economic and Policy Analysis of Florida Medicaid Expansion Florida families between 100 percent and 138 percent of the poverty line would be better off if they enrolled in private coverage or subsidized coverage in the health insurance exchange, say Devon M. Herrick and Linda Gorman, senior fellows at the National Center for Policy Analysis... |
| Physicians Abandon Insurance in Favor of Direct Payments For doctors with private practices, eliminating insurance will reduce the number of patients they care for but allow them to make more money and provide better care... |
| Prescription Drug Costs Dropped in 2012 A drop in sales of prescription drugs happened for the first time since 1957... |
| ObamaCare: Drastic Payment Cuts or Ballooning Deficit The Affordable Care Act is projected to add $6.2 trillion to the federal deficit over the next 75 years... |
| The Death of Physician-Owned Private Practices By next year, an estimated 50 percent of U.S. doctors will be working in hospitals -- a nearly 75 percent increase in the number of doctors employed by hospitals since 2000... |
| States Failing When It Comes to Health Care Price Transparency Laws A report card on price transparency in health care costs gives 29 states an "F" and seven states a "D" for policies that keep patients and their families in the dark on prices... |
