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What We're Reading: Uninsured Rate in 2015 Essentially Unchanged
What we're reading, January 7, 2016: the uninsured rate at the end of 2015 was essentially unchanged from the beginning of the year; CMS may start paying for some rehab for drug or alcohol addiction; and follow-up care plans after hospital discharge are often too difficult for patients to understand.
Rates of uninsured in the last 3 months of 2015 were essentially unchanged from the beginning of the year, according to new results from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. In the fourth quarter of 2015, 11.9% adults in the US did not have health insurance, which was up from 11.6% in the third quarter. Despite the fact that the uninsured rate was unchanged over the course of 2015, each quarter the rate was lower than the same quarter a year earlier. The uninsured rate in the fourth quarter of 2014 was 12.9% and in the fourth quarter of 2013 it was 17.1%.
The federal government is considering helping to pay for treatment for drug or alcohol addiction for Medicaid beneficiaries. According to Kaiser Health News, CMS is proposing to cover 15 days of inpatient rehab per month for enrollees in a Medicaid managed care plan. However, experts in Pennsylvania believe the 15 days isn’t nearly enough for many addicted people to get clean and stay clean.
Follow-up care plans for patients leaving the hospital after surgery are too difficult for many people to understand due to low health literacy. While the American Medical Association recommends health information is written at a sixth grade level, a recent study found that of nearly 500 instructions given to patients being discharged, only one-fourth were written so that the patients could understand them, reported Reuters. The study’s authors found that the notes are written for doctors, who understand medical jargon, and patients and families, who need simplified instructions.
What We’re Reading: Abortion Privacy Rules; Alzheimer Drug Hurdles; Nursing Home Staffing Overhaul
April 23rd 2024New health privacy rules aim to protect patients and providers in an evolving abortion landscape; some physicians express concerns about efficacy, risks, and entrenched beliefs in treating Alzheimer disease; CMS addresses longstanding staffing deficits in nursing homes.
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Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
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Survey Results Reveal Potential Factors Slowing the Decline in Cardiovascular Mortality Rate
April 23rd 2024Research indicated that worsened glycemic, blood pressure, and obesity control, as well as increased alcohol consumption, leveled lipid control, and persistent socioeconomic disparities may have contributed to the decelerated cardiovascular mortality decline in recent years.
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Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
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