Medical Debt Among Insured Consumers: The Role of Cost Sharing, Transparency, and Consumer Assistance January 8, 2015 Perspective This policy insight examines medical debt among insured consumers, exploring how high cost sharing in health insurance plans can contribute, and explaining how greater transparency could help consumers avoid some financial pitfalls. It also provides an update on provisions of the Affordable Care Act meant to increase health plan transparency and bolster consumer assistance.
The Health-Care Enrollment Story Is in the States February 19, 2015 Perspective In this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman examines the variation among states beneath the national Affordable Care Act’s Marketplace enrollment numbers released by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Insurance Markets in a Post-King World February 25, 2015 Perspective This perspective addresses how insurance markets might respond if the US Supreme Court sides with the plaintiffs in the King v. Burwell case. The case challenges the legality of premium and cost-sharing subsidies for low- and middle-income people buying insurance in states where the federal government rather than the state is operating the marketplace under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
JAMA Forum: Of SCOTUS and Chicken March 11, 2015 Perspective Larry Levitt’s March 2015 post explores what could happen if the U.S. Supreme Court rules for the plaintiffs in the King v. Burwell case, the lawsuit that challenges the federal government’s authority to provide financial assistance to people who buy insurance in federally-operated marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act.
After Five Years, Public Opinion on Health Law Remains Divided March 19, 2015 Perspective On the Affordable Care Act’s fifth anniversary, Drew Altman’s column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank discusses two views of public opinion on the law.
At Tax Time, No Public Backlash Over Obamacare’s Individual Mandate April 21, 2015 Perspective This was published as a Wall Street Journal Think Tank column on April 21, 2015. Tax season has come and gone with no great outbreak of protest about the Affordable Care Act’s least popular provision: the individual mandate. This central element of the ACA was included to help ensure that the individual…
Americans’ Health Priorities Diverge From Washington’s Focus on Obamacare May 4, 2015 Perspective In this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman finds the public’s healthcare priorities have more to do with drug costs and other real world issues people deal with using the health care system than the ongoing partisan wrangling over the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Are More Americans Benefiting From Obamacare Than Realize It? May 20, 2015 Perspective In this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman discusses why many people may not know whether or not they are benefiting from the Affordable Care Act.
How Have Insurers Fared Under the Affordable Care Act? June 1, 2015 Perspective This analysis tracks the financial performance of insurers in the individual market by evaluating trends in the medical loss ratio (MLR) in the pre-ACA landscape from 2010 to 2013 and estimates the MLR for the first full year of Affordable Care Act implementation in 2014. Findings suggest that although performance varied among insurers, insurers overall had roughly comparable financial performance in 2014 as in recent prior years.
King v. Burwell and Media Coverage June 2, 2015 Perspective In this column for The Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank, Drew Altman lays out the news media’s challenge covering the upcoming Supreme Court King v. Burwell decision about the ACA.
