Since the mid-2000s, the Medicare system has dramatically transformed. Enrollment in Medicare Advantage – the private alternative to the traditional Medicare program administered by the government – has more than…
Tag: US health care
Lowering the cost of insurance in Colorado – a new analysis of the Peak Health Alliance
A community-led partnership in Colorado designed to negotiate health care prices lowered health care premiums in 2020 and 2021, we find in our new paper in the Journal of Risk…
GOP lawmakers commit to big spending cuts, putting Medicaid under a spotlight – but trimming the low-income health insurance program would be hard
Efforts by Republicans in Congress to make steep spending cuts have stirred widespread concerns that the federal government may trim expenditures on Medicaid even though President Donald Trump has previously…
Taxpayers spend 22% more per patient to support Medicare Advantage – the private alternative to Medicare that promised to cost less
Medicare Advantage – the commercial alternative to traditional Medicare – is drawing down federal health care funds, costing taxpayers an extra 22% per enrollee to the tune of US$83 billion…
Hospice care for those with dementia falls far short of meeting people’s needs at the end of life
Jimmy Carter, who chose to forgo aggressive medical care for complications of cancer and frailty in February 2023, recently reached his one-year anniversary since enrolling in hospice care. During this…
Buyouts can bring relief from medical debt, but they’re far from a cure
One in 10 Americans carry medical debt, while 2 in 5 are underinsured and at risk of not being able to pay their medical bills. This burden crushes millions of…
Vaccine-skeptical mothers say bad health care experiences made them distrust the medical system
Why would a mother reject safe, potentially lifesaving vaccines for her child? Popular writing on vaccine skepticism often denigrates white and middle-class mothers who reject some or all recommended vaccines…
Asthma meds have become shockingly unaffordable − but relief may be on the way
The price of asthma medication has soared in the U.S. over the past decade and a half. The jump – in some cases from around a little over US$10 to…
What does ending the emergency status of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US mean in practice? 4 questions answered
The COVID-19 pandemic’s public health emergency status in the U.S. expires on May 11, 2023. And on May 5, the World Health Organization declared an end to the COVID-19 public…
