Publications
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Prices in Hospital Outpatient Departments are Consistently Higher than Physician Offices among Site-Neutral Services
Read more: Prices in Hospital Outpatient Departments are Consistently Higher than Physician Offices among Site-Neutral ServicesAs federal and state policymakers pursue policies to lower health care costs, “site neutral payment” has emerged as a potential tool with bipartisan support to bring down spending. Adopting “site neutral payments” would mean that a given service would cost the same amount regardless of where the care was received (i.e., the site of service)….
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Rates of Blood Cancer Diagnosis Among Private and Public Insurers
Read more: Rates of Blood Cancer Diagnosis Among Private and Public InsurersBlood cancers represent a range of diseases that can affect blood cells, bone marrow, lymph nodes, and other parts of the lymphatic system. Health care claims data can provide insights into how many people are dealing with blood cancers. Using claims data from people enrolled in Medicaid, employer-sponsored insurance (ESI), and Traditional Medicare, this data…
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Outpatient Hospital Prices are Higher Among System-Affiliated, For-Profit, and Urban Hospitals
Read more: Outpatient Hospital Prices are Higher Among System-Affiliated, For-Profit, and Urban HospitalsSpending on hospital (inpatient and outpatient) services accounts for more than half of per-person health care spending in the employer-sponsored insured (ESI) population. In 2022, hospital outpatient facility spending per person accounted for nearly a third of total per person spending. Per-person outpatient spending increased 18% from 2018 to 2022, which was driven by a…
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From Prenatal to Postpartum Care, Total Spending on Childbirth Averaged over $25,000 among ESI Enrollees
Read more: From Prenatal to Postpartum Care, Total Spending on Childbirth Averaged over $25,000 among ESI EnrolleesThe high and rising costs of childbirth pose a financial challenge to many families. One study found that 60% of pregnant and postpartum women reported having difficulty affording care, with women enrolled in commercial insurance more likely to report affordability challenges than those with public insurance. To understand the average total spending on childbirth related…
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Facility Fees: What are they and how do they impact health care prices?
Read more: Facility Fees: What are they and how do they impact health care prices?Research has shown that the price of a single service provided in a hospital outpatient department is consistently higher than the same service provided in a physician office. An earlier HCCI analysis examined 46 services that could be provided in either setting and found higher prices in outpatient departments for all services in all years…
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Off-label use of Semaglutides Continued to Grow in 2022 for those with Employer-Sponsored Insurance
Read more: Off-label use of Semaglutides Continued to Grow in 2022 for those with Employer-Sponsored InsurancePreviously, HCCI analyzed Ozempic medication use in the ESI population and found that the percentage of patients using Ozempic that had a diabetes diagnosis, the condition Ozempic is clinically indicated to treat, had decreased from 92% in 2018 to 77% 2021. This indicated a growing trend of off-label use of Ozempic. Our findings aligned with…
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Women Diagnosed with Obesity Receive Treatment at Twice the Rate of Men
Read more: Women Diagnosed with Obesity Receive Treatment at Twice the Rate of MenPrior HCCI research has shown that women are more likely to use health care services than men. Among people who receive health insurance through their employer, we find that women are, on average, 1.4 times more likely to receive any health care services than men, and this trend has remained consistent over time. As shown…
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Mental Health Service Use Among People with Employer-Sponsored Insurance
Read more: Mental Health Service Use Among People with Employer-Sponsored InsuranceThe Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), in collaboration with West Health, conducted an analysis on the use of office-based mental health services among people with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI). We found that use of mental health services has increased from 2018-2022, and that therapy was the most commonly used service. We found an increase in spending…
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Telehealth Access is Crucial to Mental Health Care for People with Employer-Sponsored Insurance
Read more: Telehealth Access is Crucial to Mental Health Care for People with Employer-Sponsored InsuranceThe Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), in collaboration with West Health, conducted an analysis on the use of telehealth mental health services among people with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI). We found that telehealth played an outsized role in the delivery of mental health services starting in 2020, with over 40% of mental health visits occurring via telehealth from…
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International Comparisons of Health Care Prices from the 2024 iFHP Study
Tags: Drug Spending, HCCUR, Inpatient Spending, Out-of-Pocket, Outpatient Spending, Physician Spending, Prices, Utilization
Read more: International Comparisons of Health Care Prices from the 2024 iFHP StudyThe International Federation of Health Plans (iFHP) has published its 2024 International Healthcare Cost Comparison Report, marking its latest biennial analysis of global healthcare costs. Compiled in collaboration with the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI), the report compares costs for inpatient and outpatient treatments, as well as prescription drugs, across nine countries using data from…
