Grantees in the News

Price Data and Transparency [7]

Former HCFO Grantees Presented at Yale’s Solomon Center Inaugural Conference [9]

Publication Date:

November 13, 2015

The National Academy for Social Insurance co-sponsored a conference to mark the launch of the new Solomon Center for Health Policy and Law at Yale Law School. The Solomon Center will focus on the governance, business, and practice of health care in the United States. The conference [10] brought together experts and practitioners from the health care industry, government, and academia to discuss integration, consolidation, and competition in the wake of the Affordable Care Act.

Topic:

Insurance Coverage [12]

Managed Care [13]

Medicare [14]

HCFO Researcher Quoted on Quality of Care in Retail Clinics [15]

Publication Date:

October 30, 2015

Retail clinics have proliferated over the last 10 years, as patients are drawn by their convenience, walk-in policies, and price transparency.

Topic:

Access [16]

Acute Care [17]

HCFO-Funded Study Featured in New York Times Article on Budget Deal [18]

Publication Date:

October 30, 2015

Congress recently approved a budget agreement that includes a provision to change how Medicare reimburses physicians owned by hospitals—in part a response to the recent increasing trend in physician-hospital integration. The New York Times Upshot [19] reports that the budget deal would prevent future physician practices from receiving higher payments by merging with a hospital.

Topic:

Price Data and Transparency [7]

HCFO-Funded Study on Physician-Hospital Integration Featured by Several Media Outlets [20]

Publication Date:

October 21, 2015

As hospitals acquire more doctor practices, what is the effect on the prices for medical services? In a HCFO-funded study [21], J. Michael McWilliams, Harvard Medical School, and colleagues sought to answer this question. They found that hospital-owned physician practices have been associated with higher outpatient care prices.

Topic:

Price Data and Transparency [7]

Former HCFO Grantee Elected to National Academy of Medicine [22]

Publication Date:

October 21, 2015

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly the Institute of Medicine, announced [23] the election of 70 new regular members and 10 international members, including former HCFO grantee Vincent Mor, Brown University.

Topic:

Behavioral Health [24]

Disparities [25]

Health Information Technology [26]

Preventive Care [27]

Public Health Systems [28]

Quality of Care [29]

HCFO-Funded Work Informs Senate Hearing on Health Insurance Consolidation and Consumers [30]

Publication Date:

September 28, 2015

In response to proposed mergers among major health insurance companies as well as a changing health care landscape under the Affordable Care Act, both the House and the Senate are holding a series of hearings to examine competition in the health care market. At the recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing [31]on health insurance consolidation and its impact on consumers, multiple testimonies cited HCFO-funded work.

Topic:

Insurance Coverage [12]

HCFO Researcher Quoted in LA Times on Health Insurer Mergers & Competition [32]

Publication Date:

August 4, 2015

The LA Times [33] recently reported on proposed mergers among leading U.S. health insurers and the implications for consumers’ premiums. The article quoted HCFO-researcher, Erin Trish, Ph.D., University of Southern California, who stated that, "When insurers merge, there's almost always an increase in premiums," but she added that consolidation among insurers could lead to lower negotiated rates with hospitals.

Topic:

Insurance Coverage [12]

Findings from HCFO-funded Study on Medicare Advantage Rates Featured in The Incidental Economist [34]

Publication Date:

August 4, 2015

In a piece comparing Medicare Advantage (MA) rates to traditional Medicare (TM), Austin Frakt of The Incidental Economist featured [35]findings a HCFO-funded study. Frakt notes that MA seems to follow TM in its prices to hospitals, indicating that MA network contracting is more focused on quality than price.

Topic:

Managed Care [13]

Medicare [14]

HCFO Researcher Quoted in MedPage Today on Choosing Wisely & Low-Value Care [36]

Publication Date:

May 26, 2015

Reducing low-value care is one strategy to avoid harming patients while constraining U.S. health care costs.

Topic:

Medicare [14]