http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/21-statistics-on-high-deductible-health-plans.html
Tag Archives: High Deductible Health Plans
Survey: Hospitals saw 10% increase in self-pay dollars in past 5 years
With the rising popularity of high-deductible health plans, hospital and health system executives know they must find effective ways of communicating with patients about their financial responsibility and develop strategies to ensure proper payment. Many executives have made strides in these areas, but there is still room for improvement, according to a Healthcare Financial Management Association survey sponsored by Parallon.
HFMA researchers surveyed 117 senior finance executives and revenue cycle leaders to examine their organizations’ self-pay processes and patient financial engagement efforts.
Here are six survey findings:
Would You Like Some Insurance With Your Insurance?
Gap plans, used to cover out-of-pocket expenses like high deductibles, are becoming increasingly popular among consumers and businesses.
The rising price of insurance is driving the trend, explained insurance broker Ryan Hillenbrand, president of the Missouri Association of Health Underwriters.
“People see the prices of individual insurance and they say, ‘Boy, a $6,000 deductible seems really high. I don’t want something that gives me that much risk,’ ” Hillenbrand said. “That’s why [the gap insurance] market is heating up a little bit more.”
Gap insurance is in a category of insurance known as “limited benefit.” No matter how bad a person’s situation, the plan will pay out only a certain amount of money. “Mini-med” policies, now illegal under the Affordable Care Act, are another example of a limited benefit plan
Now, there’s renewed interest in gap plans. With monthly premiums on health insurance going up, more people are choosing cheaper, high-deductible options. In 2016, more than90 percent of people buying insurance under the ACA chose plans with an average deductible of $3,000 or higher.
Next year, the cost of one of the most popular plans available under the Affordable Care Act could increase by 10 percent on average across the country. That comes on top of a 5 percent jump the year before.
When consumers see those prices, Hillenbrand said, “they get sticker shock.”
“If you don’t qualify for a subsidy, you’re bearing the brunt of all that cost,” Hillenbrand said. “And here come the gap plans.”
AMA: Insurance megamergers ‘threaten healthcare access, quality and affordability’
- The merger of health insurance giants “would significantly compromise market competition in the health insurance industry and threaten health care access, quality and affordability,” the president of the AMA said as the group released new analyses of the mergers.
- In the analysis, the AMA claims the Anthem-Cigna merger would diminish competition in 121 metro areas across 14 states, and that the Aetna-Humana merger would diminish it in 51 metro areas across 15 states.
- The studies also note an “unprecedented lack of competition” that already exists in many states, the AMA says.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/news/2016/2016-09-21-ama-analyses-support-blocking-mergers.page
Skyrocketing Obamacare premiums still lower than employer-sponsored insurance
People who warn that President Obama’s health-care law is in dire straits often point to rising health insurance premiums as proof. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has called premium increases on Affordable Care Act exchanges “astronomically high.” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) says premiums have “skyrocketed.”
But are these growing premiums actually high?
A new analysis from the Urban Institute found that the average unsubsidized premiums in the Affordable Care Act exchanges, commonly known as Obamacare, are actually 10 percent lowerthan the full premiums in the average employer plan nationally in 2016.
Nationally, the average employer-sponsored premium was $516 a month, while the unsubsidized marketplace premium was $464. To make an apples-to-apples comparison, the researchers adjusted marketplace premiums to account for the age of enrollees and the different value of the health coverage provided by the marketplace plans.
The exchanges offer health coverage to people who aren’t insured through their jobs, with subsidies based on income. About 11 million people are insured through the marketplaces, compared with about 155 million Americans who receive insurance coverage through employer-provided plans.
Recent news of large insurance carriers pulling out of some states’ marketplaces and hiking premiums in others has raised concerns that offering health insurance through exchanges isn’t sustainable and the health care offered isn’t affordable.
Candidates Decry High Drug Prices, But They Have Few Options For Voters
In this year’s presidential campaign, health care has taken a back seat. But one issue appears to be breaking through: the rising cost of prescription drugs.
The blockbuster drugs to treat hepatitis C as well as dramatic price increases on older drugs, most recently the EpiPen allergy treatment, have combined to put the issue back on the front burner.
Democrat Hillary Clinton just issued a lengthy proposal to address what her campaign calls “unjustified price hikes for long-available drugs.” That’s in addition to a broader proposal to address high drug prices the campaign put out last fall.
Republican Donald Trump, meanwhile, has said little about health care since announcing his candidacy in 2015, but he has several times called for a change in law to allowMedicare to negotiate drug prices for the population it serves.
Here are five reasons why this issue is back — and why it is so difficult to solve.
The Missing Debate Over Rising Health-Care Deductibles
Progressives push for ‘public option’ health plan
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/09/15/progressives-push-public-option-health-plan/90375964/
Progressive senators and activists are launching a campaign Thursday calling for every American to have the choice of a public health insurance option.
Employers shift costs with 12% surge in deductibles
http://www.healthcaredive.com/news/employers-shift-costs-with-12-surge-in-deductibles/426292/
- The average deductible for employer-sponsored health plans has risen 12% this year to $1,478 annually, and has exceeded $2,000 at small businesses, according to a new Kaiser/HRET survey, which looked at more than 1,900 small and large employers to analyze the trends around employer-sponsored health insurance.
- The rapid increase in deductibles, which puts more healthcare costs on the shoulders of employees, has been a significant factor in helping employer-sponsored plans slow down their premium increases to “historically low rates,” the study found. It noted that since 2011 the average family premium has gone up just 20%, compared to 31% from 2006 and 2011, and 63% from 2001 to 2006.
- The analysis illustrates the shift between plan types, showing 29% of all employees are now in high-deductible plans compared to 20% in 2014, while those employees in higher cost PPO plans have gone down from 58% in 2014 to 48% in 2016.
This is how the presidential election is shaping the ongoing drug price debate
This is how the presidential election is shaping the ongoing drug price debate
In this year’s presidential campaign, health care has taken a back seat. But one issue appears to be breaking through: the rising cost of prescription drugs.
The blockbuster drugs to treat hepatitis C as well as dramatic price increases on older drugs, most recently the EpiPen allergy treatment, have combined to put the issue back on the front burner.
Democrat Hillary Clinton just issued a lengthy proposal to address what her campaign calls “unjustified price hikes for long-available drugs.” That’s in addition to a broader proposal to address high drug prices the campaign put out last fall.
Republican Donald Trump, meanwhile, has said little about health care since announcing his candidacy in 2015, but he has several times called for a change in law to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices for the population it serves.
Here are five reasons why this issue is back — and why it is so difficult to solve.
HENRY KOTULA 