Empowering patient voices through voter registration
While roughly 83% of adults in the United States will visit a health care provider in the next year, an estimated
News
10-5-12 Affordable Care Act Update
October 5, 2012
Federal Update
Physician networks and hospital systems can play an important role in driving down health care costs and improving quality of care. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently released a report titled "Plan Participation in Health Insurance Exchanges: Implications for Competition and Choice" that looks at how consolidation of hospital systems affects the ability of insurers to negotiate prices. Increased competition among insurers can help decrease costs and improve quality; however, when physician networks and hospital systems are consolidated, insurers have little ability to negotiate. This paper shows how competition among insurers and hospitals varies across states and illustrates opportunities for exchanges to drive competition and use their leverage to improve quality and reduce costs. It also highlights the potential role for Medicaid managed care plans may play in increasing insurer competition in the exchanges.
A link to the paper can be found here.
Media and Polling
Study: Newly Insured Likely to Be in Good Health, But in Need of Health Care Information
Eighty-eight percent of the 12 million Americans expected to enroll in new health insurance exchanges next year will be in relatively good health, which is welcome news to providers, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report. The challenge is that these newly insured will be less educated, slightly older and less likely to speak English than people who currently have health insurance. The report predicts that the newly insured will be unfamiliar with the health system and will require more intensive outreach, more detailed information and stronger customer support than currently insured populations.
The report states that 13 states have chosen to operate their own exchange, and it predicts that a majority of the remaining states will have the federal government directly involved in running their exchanges. Eight states already have chosen to have the federal government facilitate their exchange, and three have decided to go with a state/federal "partnership" exchange.
Still Available! Affordable Care Act Consumer Guide
The public's understanding of the ACA remains low, but the American Cancer Society's consumer guide, "The Affordable Care Act: How It Helps People With Cancer and Their Families" is available to help break through the clutter with accurate information about the law. Available in English and Spanish, the guide can be ordered through SocietyMart (order No. 560000 REV. 05/11.)
As always, thank you for all you do every day to support laws and policies that help cancer patients and their families.
Chris Hansen | President
ACS Cancer Action Network | American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Inc.