Bankruptcy research has produced varying reports on the role of medical debt in household financial distress. Studies suggest that medical bills are responsible for one-quarter to more than half of bankruptcies.
Now, two separate studies have looked to Massachusetts—the state that mandated individual health insurance ahead of the nation—for more information.
Read more »
Permalink | Post a Comment
The week brought another policymaker with plans to eliminate tax-exempt interest for municipal bonds.
U.S. Rep. John Tierney, a Massachusetts Democrat, unveiled proposed legislation that would do away with nearly 30 tax breaks (known as expenditures to tax policy sticklers) “that serve little or no public purpose, are poorly designed or have not fulfilled their original intent,” according to a two-page layout of the plan.
Read more »
Permalink | Post a Comment
President Barack Obama, as he argued for his plan to reduce the nation's deficit, briefly noted a proposal released last December to all but eliminate tax breaks (known by policy-makers as tax expenditures).
The president did not mention tax-free interest for municipal bonds, a routine source of financing for not-for-profit hospitals. But his loose endorsement of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform plan—which recommended an end to tax exemptions and deductions, with some “smaller and more-targeted” exceptions—comes at a time of heated debate over federal finances and growing scrutiny of the municipal market.
Read more »
Permalink | Post a Comment
Here's research to consider as House Republicans push for policies widely expected to reduce Medicaid benefits and enrollment:
Economists who analyzed court and demographic data from 1992 through 2004 found as Medicaid expanded, personal bankruptcies declined.
Tal Gross and Matthew Notowidigdo, in research to be published by the Journal of Public Economics (PDF), found that when households eligible for Medicaid increased by 10 percentage points, consumer bankruptcies dropped by 8%.
Members of Congress, with support from Republican governors, have introduced legislation in recent weeks that would cut Medicaid financing by $771 billion over a decade.
Read more »
Permalink | Post a Comment
Safety net, academic and children's hospitals would be hardest hit should federal financing for Medicare and Medicaid change as proposed by the House Budget Committee, but other not-for-profit hospitals would experience credit stress as well, one major ratings agency says.
In a new comment on the proposal, Moody's Investors Service says pressure on not-for-profit hospital credit would follow the significant funding cuts to Medicare and Medicaid under the plan forwarded under Rep. Paul Ryan's Budget Committee, which would eliminate the mandate for health insurance as of 2014 that was enacted roughly one year ago.
Read more »
Permalink | Post a Comment
When medical care causes harm that could be avoided, the price is dear and too often those errors cost patients their lives. Now actuaries have put the price of avoidable harm at $17.1 billion in 2008, according to a study published April 7 in the policy journal Health Affairs. On average, the cost per medical error was $11,366. The study abstract (subscription required) identified more than 1.5 million avoidable errors that year.
Read more »
Permalink | Post a Comment
Top federal health, legal and tax officials have released the long-awaited proposed rules for accountable care organizations. Actuaries put potential savings to Medicare as high as $960 million over three years, and officials who unveiled the rules attributed those gains to more efficient coordination that is often stymied by current pay policies.
But the potential for price collusion or incentives to deny treatment under accountable care—which allows independent providers to jointly earn bonuses based on quality and cost-control—has raised concerns about the largely untested payment model among patients advocates and private insurers.
Read more »
Permalink | Post a Comment
