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Breaking News

• Baker Institute: More Texans Insured Thanks To The ACA November 23, 2023
  November 23, 2023 Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy reports that more Texans have health insurance coverage now thanks to the Affordable Care Act. According to the Institute’s November 14 issue brief, entitled Looking at the Numbers: 10 Years of Data on the Affordable Care Act Reveal Benefits for Texans: “When the ACA was enacted in ...
• Update: Medicare Drug Price Negotiations Moving Forward October 19, 2023
  Negotiations between the federal government and the manufacturers of ten prescription drugs over prices for the Medicare program are moving forward. The American Hospital Association reported on Oct. 3, 2023 (“CMS: Makers of selected drugs agree to participate in Medicare price negotiation”): “The companies that make the first 10 Medicare Part D drugs selected to participate ...
• Medicare and Medicare Advantage October 15, 2023
  Medicare is a complicated system that mixes public and private insurance providers. As reported by the Scripps News Service on Oct. 21, 2022 (“Why Is Medicare So Complicated?”): “By the government’s last count in 2021, 64 million adults were enrolled in Medicare. But that doesn’t mean it’s simple to navigate. The Medicare maze is growing more ...
• Medicare Open Enrollment Season Runs October 15 – December 7 October 15, 2023
  Open enrollment season for Medicare is October 15 through December 7. According to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (last accessed Oct. 15, 2023): “Medicare health and drug plans can make changes each year—things like cost, coverage, and what providers and pharmacies are in their networks. October 15 to December 7 is when all ...
• List of Drugs For Which Medicare Will Negotiate Prices Announced September 1, 2023
  September 1, 2023 On August 30, 2023, Kaiser Health News reported (“5 Things to Know About the New Drug Pricing Negotiations”): “The Biden administration has picked the first 10 high-priced prescription drugs subject to federal price negotiations, taking a swipe at the powerful pharmaceutical industry. It marks a major turning point in a long-fought battle to control ...
• Learning From Others June 14, 2023
  June 14, 2023 Professor Aaron E. Carroll, MD, MS, is the Chief Health Officer of Indiana University. In a guest essay comparing the US health care system with the systems of five other nations that was published June 13, 2023 in the New York Times (“I Studied Five Countries’ Health Care Systems. We Need to Get ...
• Practice Consolidation and Access to Quality Care May 14, 2023
  May 14, 2023 The New York Times reports on a growing trend among healthcare organizations in the US, the impact of which may be of concern for patients and taxpayers. The Times reported on May 8, 2023 (“Corporate Giants Buy Up Primary Care Practices at Rapid Pace”) that: “CVS Health, with its sprawling pharmacy business and ownership ...
• Medicaid Re-Enrollment Begins Again April 1, 2023
  US states are restarting yearly Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) eligibility reviews. The Kaiser Family Foundation reported on February 22, 2023 (“10 Things to Know About the Unwinding of the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Provision”): “Primarily due to the continuous enrollment provision, Medicaid enrollment has grown substantially compared to before the pandemic and the uninsured rate has dropped. ...
• The Existential Threat of Greed in US Health Care February 7, 2023
  February 7, 2023 The journal JAMA published a Viewpoint on Jan. 30, 2023 by Donald Berwick, MD, MPP, entitled Salve Lucrum: The Existential Threat of Greed in US Health Care. In it, Dr. Berwick contends: “Profit may have its place in motivating innovation and higher quality in health care, as in any industry. But kleptocapitalist behaviors that raise ...
• Oregon Becomes First US State To Guarantee Its Residents Access To Affordable Healthcare January 20, 2023
  January 20, 2023 In the November 2022 general election, Oregon voters narrowly approved Oregon Measure 111, the Right to Healthcare Amendment. The measure amended the state constitution, adding a guarantee of access to affordable healthcare for all Oregon residents. According to Ballotpedia, last accessed Jan. 20, 2023: “Ballot title “The ballot title was as follows:“Amends Constitution: State must ...
• Massive Savings Possible In US Health System October 21, 2021
  October 21, 2021 The management consulting firm McKinsey & Company has issued a new report estimating that administrative changes and efficiencies could save the US health system more than a quarter trillion dollars. As noted in a Viewpoint article published in JAMA on October 20: “The analysis dissected profit and loss statements of individual health care organizations, estimated ...
• Health Care in the US Compared to Other High-Income Countries August 6, 2021
  On August 4, the Commonwealth Fund issued a new report entitled Mirror, Mirror 2021: Reflecting Poorly / Health Care in the US Compared to Other High-Income Countries. The report compares health care systems in eleven nations: the United States, Canada, Switzerland, France, Sweden, New Zealand, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Netherlands, and Norway. The report’s key ...
• Medical Debt in Collections in the US August 6, 2021
  On July 20, JAMA published an article on medical debt in collections in the US entitled “Medical Debt in the US, 2009-2020.” The researchers found: “In this retrospective analysis of credit reports for a nationally representative 10% panel of individuals, an estimated 17.8% of individuals in the US had medical debt in collections in June 2020 ...

World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated July 17, 2023 by Doug McVay, Editor.