News
The Inflation Reduction Act and Out-of-Pocket Spending by Medicare Enrollees
4+ hour, 13+ min ago (174+ words) The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) increased the generosity of Medicare prescription drug coverage'most notably, introducing a new out-of-pocket (OOP) cap for enrollees and increasing the financial liability plans face. In this piece, we offer early evidence for how this redesign…...
The Macroeconomic Budget and Health Care Projection Dashboard, Revisited: Can You Put the US Back on a Sustainable Path?
4+ week, 2+ hour ago (371+ words) We see that, as expected, ultimate levels of debt and deficits decrease. Further, welfare improves because, in our model, deficits crowd out investment, reduce capital, and slow economic growth, so efforts to reduce the deficit will generally improve welfare. Decreasing…...
Using Competition and Medicare Accountable Care Organizations to Control Costs
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (223+ words) To register for this event, enter the following details: This is for cameras and camera personnel only. If you are a journalist, producer, correspondent, etc. you can register for the event by clicking on the RSVP to Attend button above....
Assessing Duplicative Federal Benefit Programs and Preventing Abuse
1+ mon, 5+ day ago (734+ words) How Many Federal Means-Tested Programs Are There? Figure 1. Displaying 90 Federal Means-Tested Benefit Programs in 2013 State and Local Programs Add to the List due to benefits cliffs and the co-occurring phaseouts of multiple transfer programs, the hypothetical family is as financially…...
Health Care Affordability: A Tale of Two Populations, or Twenty Years Since
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (155+ words) A better approach, for both workers and retirees, would be encouraging improved productivity in the health care sector to lower overall costs through more competition, price sensitivity, and enhanced use of artificial intelligence in diagnosis and treatment. In a voluntary…...
Reforming Health Care
1+ mon, 3+ week ago (575+ words) Health care in the United States is generally excellent, but, in many cases, it is also needlessly expensive. Reform should focus on introducing greater cost discipline to this important sector of the economy so that it imposes less avoidable financial…...
Disability Disappointment
2+ mon, 3+ week ago (168+ words) The actuaries and economists at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently released their annual National Health Expenditure Accounts for 2024. Excluding the unusual years of the COVID pandemic, the 2024 health share represents a historical high and a break from…...
Current Job Requirements in the US Economy and Disability Eligibility Rules
2+ mon, 3+ week ago (225+ words) About four percent, or six million, of jobs require minimal preparation and little strength, and 14 percent, or 21 million, of jobs require minimal preparation and light strength. Clearly this number of jobs would easily meet the disability law's requirement that appropriate…...
Diminishing Returns from the Government's Drug Negotiation Program
2+ mon, 4+ week ago (181+ words) The drugs selected this year are the top 15 from CMS's'list'of 50 potential drugs for selection. Should the 20 drugs announced next year comprise drugs 16-35 on this list, sales will be considerably lower'just $10. 2 billion, based on the most recent data. (Of course, the…...
The Health Care Cost Curve Is Bending up Again
3+ mon, 5+ day ago (220+ words) Medicaid spending, accounting for 18 percent of NHE, increased by 6. 6 percent. Enrollment declined by 8. 6 percent to 84. 3 million as states resumed eligibility redeterminations, and per enrollee spending surged by 16. 6 percent, partly owing to rising provider payment rates and payments to managed care…...