By Jessica L. Roberts While the effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has taken center stage, another health-related bill has been making its way through the House without nearly as much attention. On March 2, 2017, Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) introduced House Resolution (HR) 1313 on behalf of herself and Representative…
By Shailin Thomas Medicare Advantage was introduced as a mechanism for capturing some of the oft-extolled efficiencies of the private health insurance market. Instead of paying providers for services directly, as in traditional Medicare, the government pays Medicare Advantage insurers a predetermined, risk-adjusted amount of money per patient to cover all medical expenses for the year.…
By Erin C. Fuse Brown On the day of his inauguration, President Trump signed an executive order instructing the executive branch agencies to exercise their discretion and authority to “waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of” fees, taxes, or penalties under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The order does not specify which…
Webinar: President-Elect Trump’s Health Policy Agenda: Priorities, Strategies, and Predictions Monday, December 19, 2016, 12:00 – 1:00pm WATCH LIVE ONLINE!: https://petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/events/details/president-elect-trumps-health-policy-agenda Submit your questions to the panelists via Twitter @PetrieFlom. Please join the Petrie-Flom Center for a live webinar to address what health care reform may look like under the new administration. Expert panelists will…
By Shailin Thomas As the health care community waits with bated breath to see what will become of the Affordable Care Act under the Trump administration, Republicans in Congress have set their sites on another health-related initiative that has been on their wish list for years: reforming Medicare. While Trump promised throughout his campaign not to…
By Shailin Thomas Pet ownership is incredibly popular in the United States. There are almost 70 million companion dogs spread across 43 million American households. This isn’t particularly surprising, given that study after study has shown that companion animals promote healthier, happier, longer lives for their owners. Despite pet popularity and prevalence, though, many pet owners don’t…
By Shailin Thomas You go to your local urgent care with a headache and a fever, and the doctor suggests a trip to the hospital for further evaluation — just to make sure there isn’t anything serious causing your symptoms. She offers an ambulance, and you accept. You could probably walk or Uber, but you’re…
By Zack Buck Following news last week that Aetna was pulling out of health care insurance exchange markets in eleven states, Pinal County, Arizona became the epicenter in the rapidly evolving and growing crisis facing the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges. Sandwiched between Phoenix and Tucson, Pinal County is home to about 400,000 residents, but…
By Christopher Robertson With 148,000 members, the American College of Physicians (ACP) is the largest medical-speciality organization. This summer, its board released a new report on the growing financial burdens faced by patients who enjoy health insurance but are nonetheless exposed to unbearably large costs for healthcare. At the end of the day, cost-sharing is just the absence…
By Rachel Sachs Last week, former Pfizer Global R&D head John LaMattina wrote another of his columns for Forbes, this one on the subject of pay-for-performance deals for pharmaceuticals. These deals, in which insurers contract with pharmaceutical companies to pay for drugs based on how well they perform in practice, are becoming more common as…
