Erin Trish, PhD

Switching Medicare Advantage (MA) plans is increasingly common among MA enrollees, especially those dually eligible for Medicaid, but this varies by demographic group.

In a cross-sectional study of US hospitals, patient financial assistance and billing policy documents averaged 10th-grade readability scores, with variation significantly associated with several attributes.

A cross-sectional study of online financial documents among hospitals in linguistically diverse core-based statistical areas found that nonprofit and system-affiliated hospitals have superior language access.

The authors used medical loss ratio forms to assess trends in premiums, medical claims, administrative costs, quality improvement, and margins in the large group insurer market.

Analysis of 2012-2021 commercial claims demonstrates that spending growth was concentrated among the highest spenders and there was increasing subsidy across enrollees through cost-sharing design.

This cross-sectional analysis of commercially insured delivering mothers suggests that greater out-of-pocket spending is incurred when pregnancy spans 2 years, causing them to face out-of-pocket limits twice.

Under preferred pharmacy networks, unsubsidized Part D beneficiaries faced substantial incentives and moderately switched toward preferred pharmacies, whereas subsidized beneficiaries were insulated and demonstrated little switching.

Hospital price transparency data suggest that health insurance exchange (HIX) plans get lower negotiated rates than commercial group plans and higher negotiated rates than Medicare Advantage plans.

Mean in-network commercial allowed amounts and charges per anesthesia conversion factor are 314% and 659% of traditional Medicare rates, respectively. Medicare Advantage payments align with traditional Medicare prices.

In addition to protecting patients from receiving unexpected bills, policies to address surprise billing could reduce health insurance premiums by 1% to 5%.

Provider-owned insurers sell individual policies in areas that cover 62% of the US population and have premiums similar to policies of traditional insurers.

Enrollment in a consumer-directed health plan increases the financial burden associated with healthcare utilization, especially for those with lower incomes and with chronic conditions.

Provider-owned insurers have the potential to reduce costs, but face challenges building competitive provider networks.