Consolidation among health systems and hospitals continues apace, and with it comes higher costs, more utilization, and longer disability durations. Get the details from WCRI’s much-watch webinar on the impact of vertical provider integration on prices, medical utilization and outcomes.
It’s on Thursday May 2 at 2 pm eastern.
You can access the written report (free for members) here.
Another major factor that will greatly affect a state’s health, outcomes and costs is Medicaid expansion. A thorough yet simple discussion of implications of one state’s refusal to expand Medicaid is here.
The benefits of Medicaid expansion are broad, deep, and impactful.
Among the findings…
- A 2020 national study found that expansion was associated with a significant 3.6% decrease in all-cause mortality,
- Two studies found significant declines in maternal mortality
- expansion is associated with improvements in access to care and outcomes related to substance use disorder (SUD) as well as other mental health care.
- hospitals in non-metropolitan areas and small hospitals experienced improved profit margins
- Analyses find effects of expansion on numerous economic outcomes, including state budget savings, revenue gains, and overall economic growth
- rural hospitals experienced particularly substantial improvements in financial performance following expansion
KFF on Texas’ uninsured population [note Texas is just one of 10 states yet to expand Medicaid]…
(a) significant proportion of adults in the coverage gap are employed unless they are elderly or disabled. The most common jobs among adults in the coverage gap are construction laborer, cashier, cook, waiter, house cleaner, retail salesperson, and janitor. These workers usually do not have access to employer-based health insurance and cannot afford plans on the federal insurance exchange. [emphasis added]
Crossover
Most of the non-expansion states:
- have major problems with rural hospital cutbacks and closures
- have significantly worse health outcomes
- have healthcare access challenges
What does this mean for you?
Pay attention to the real drivers of healthcare outcomes and costs – they have more impact on duration and ultimate costs than anything else.
