Grantee Publication

Objective: To investigate the degree to which the absence of prescriber identifying information and the absence of pharmacy claims might affect the validity of physicians' economic profiles.

This article presents information on the rates of return obtained by purchasers of U.S. hospitals since the mid 1980s. The key hypothesis tested in this study was whether for-profit acquirers are able to purchase hospitals at below-market prices. The researchers test the hypothesis by comparing internal rates of return to an estimate of the weighted cost of capital for all for-profit hospitals in the year the transaction occurred.

OBJECTIVE: The relationship of depressive symptoms, satisfaction with health care, and 2-year work outcomes was examined in a national cohort of employees.

In 2002, the U.S. Congress enacted a new health insurance tax credit to subsidize the purchase of coverage for certain individuals (trade dislocated workers and early retirees) who might otherwise become uninsured: the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC).  According to the author, the HCTC has proven to be a highly complex and expensive program for the federal government to administer, for health insurers and health plans to participate in, and for consumers to understand and use.

This paper considers how pending proposals to authorize new forms of group purchasing arrangements for health insurance would fit and function within the existing, highly complex market and regulatory landscape and whether these proposals are likely to meet their stated objectives and avoid unintended consequences. Cost savings are more likely to result from increased risk segmentation than through true market efficiencies. Thus, these proposals could erode previous market reforms whose goal is increased risk pooling.

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Management of technology diffusion to improve quality and constrain spending in health care remains an elusive goal. Along with efforts to improve the quality of evidence, providers and payers must ensure that evidence actually effects changes in practice. Medicare coverage policies grant, limit, and condition payment based on evidentiary standards. This paper identifies the sizeable barriers to implementation of evidence-based medicine in Medicare and proposes policy solutions to address them.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether different risk-adjustment methodologies and economic profiling or "practice efficiency" metrics produce differences in practice efficiency rankings for a set of primary care physicians (PCPs). DATA SOURCE: Twelve months of claims records (inpatient, outpatient, professional, and pharmacy) for an independent practice association HMO.

Currently, tax-preferred medical savings accounts (MSAs) are being offered on a trial basis to employees of small companies. This article reports results of a survey investigating the potential impact of adding an MSA to a medium- or large-sized firm's employee benefit offerings. The variables examined fall into the categories of attitudes toward views on employee benefits in general, the MSA option and issues associated with risk segmentation.

View full article [31]...

This article reports on findings from an extensive study of small-group health insurance market reforms in seven states, enacted during the early 1990s. After summarizing the content and purpose of these reforms, this evaluation focuses on the impact these reforms have had on the nature and degree of market competition.