The 2015 Health Care Cost and Utilization Report shows that spending per privately insured averaged $5,141 in 2015, up $226 from the year before. Key Findings Health care spending averaged $5,141 per individual in 2015, up $226 from the year before.Out-of-pocket spending rose 3.0 percent in 2015, to an average of $813 per capita.Spending on prescription drugs grew faster than spending on an...
This data brief, reports on five readmission rate measures for the Medicare Advantage (MA) population: 30-day all-cause hospital-wide readmissions and 30-day all-cause readmissions following acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and pneumonia. The results show that MA readmission rates have been declining over the past five years. &nb...
ABSTRACT One of the key terms in contracts between hospitals and insurers is how the parties apportion the financial risk of treating unexpectedly costly patients. "Prospective" payment contracts give hospitals a lump-sum amount, depending on the medical condition of the patient, with limited adjustment for the level of services provided. We use data from the Medicare Prospective Payment System an...
By: Carolyn Johnson While politicians have been embroiled in a fiery debate over President Obama's signature health-care law, a quiet but profound shift is fundamentally reshaping how health insurance works for the roughly 155 million Americans who receive coverage through their employers. A national survey of employer health benefits released Wednesday shows how much deductibles — the healt...
By: Dan Mangan Your less expensive health insurance plan could cost you — even if you use less health care. People in so-called consumer-driven health plans tend to use fewer medical services than people with other types of coverage, a new study finds. But they also tend to spend substantially more out of their own pocket at the same time, both in dollar terms and as a share of their overall healt...
