Insurance Clearance for Early-Phase Oncology Clinical Trials Following the Affordable Care Act.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kehl KL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5902668 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Research objectiveTo evaluate one of the first implemented provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which permits young adults up to age 26 to enroll as dependents on a parent's private health plan. Nearly one-in-three young adults lacked coverage before the ACA. STUDY DESIGN, METHODS, AND DATA: Data from the Current Population Survey 2005-2011 are used to estimate linear probability models within a difference-in-differences framework to estimate how the ACA affected coverage of eligible young adults compared to slightly older adults. Multivariate models control for individual characteristics, economic trends, and prior state-dependent coverage laws.Principal findingsThis ACA provision led to a rapid and substantial increase in the share of young adults with dependent coverage and a reduction in their uninsured rate in the early months of implementation. Models accounting for prior state dependent expansions suggest greater policy impact in 2010 among young adults who were also eligible under a state law.Conclusions and implicationsACA-dependent coverage expansion represents a rare public policy success in the effort to cover the uninsured. Still, this policy may have later unintended consequences for premiums for alternative forms of coverage and employer-offered rates for young adult workers.
| S-EPMC3513605 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveTo present a microsimulation model that addresses the methodological challenge of estimating the firm decision to self-insure.MethodologyThe model considers the risk that the firm bears when self-insuring and the opportunity to mitigate that risk by purchasing stop-loss insurance. The model makes use of a structural, utility maximization framework to account for numerous aspects of the firm decision, and a multinomial probit to reproduce the elasticity of the firm's demand for health insurance.Findings and conclusionsOur simulations provide three important conclusions. First, they project significant increases in self-insurance rates among small firms--presumably induced by the desire to avoid ACA's rate-banding and risk adjustment regulations-only if generous stop-loss policies become widely available. Second, they show that this increase would be due to this hypothetical adoption of widespread, generous reinsurance by the market and not by passage of the ACA. Third, even with a substantial increase of self-insurance rates among small firms, they project negligible adverse selection in the exchanges, as indicated by our finding that the increase in exchange premium is less than 0.5% when assuming very generous stop-loss policies after implementation of the ACA.
| S-EPMC3626325 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesTo understand if neighborhood-level social deprivation moderates the association between gaining health insurance and improved hypertension control.MethodsWe used electronic health record (EHR) data from the Accelerating Data Value Across a National Community Health Center Network (ADVANCE) clinical data research network from five states that expanded Medicaid eligibility (CA, OH, OR, WA, WI). We include patients with hypertension aged 19-64. Controlled hypertension was assessed for four groups pre-(1/1/2012-12/31/2013) to post-(1/1/2014-12/31/2017) Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion: (1) newly insured, (2) continuously insured, (3) discontinuously insured, and (4) continuously uninsured. We also used Social Deprivation Index score to derive predicted probability of controlled hypertension using logistic mixed effects.ResultsN = 28,485 patients. All groups experienced improved hypertension control: the newly insured saw a greater increase than the other groups (8.6% vs. 0.9% for the continuously uninsured, 1.3% for the continuously and 3.0% for the discontinuously insured). The likelihood of hypertension control rose more for the newly insured (vs. the other insurance groups) for patients living in the most deprived neighborhoods (16% from pre- to post-ACA).ConclusionsGaining health insurance was related to hypertension control; individuals living in the most disadvantaged communities experienced the greatest benefit.Policy implicationsEnsuring health insurance access is important for cardiovascular health, especially among disadvantaged communities.
| S-EPMC7738386 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The Affordable Care Act (ACA) relies on insurers to offer health plans in the individual health insurance Marketplaces. Since the ACA's implementation, levels of Marketplace competition have varied, reaching a nadir in 2018. We examined the characteristics of counties that experienced changes in insurers' participation in the ACA Marketplaces from 2016 to 2021. Using data from the Kaiser Family Foundation and other sources, we found that 1,968 counties (accounting for 66 percent of the US population younger than age sixty-five) have more insurers in 2021 than in 2018, whereas only twelve counties (comprising 0.4 percent of the US nonelderly population) have fewer insurers. The number of counties with monopolist Marketplace insurers declined from 1,616 in 2018 to 294 in 2021. Recent Marketplace insurer gains were more likely in counties that lost insurers from 2016 to 2018 or had a monopolist insurer in 2018. Increased competition may lead to lower gross premiums in the ACA Marketplaces. Given the Biden administration's support for the ACA Marketplaces, it appears likely that the ACA individual health insurance market will be stable and profitable for the next several years.
| S-EPMC8702244 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Nearly one quarter of trauma patients are uninsured and hospitals recoup less than 20% of inpatient costs for their care. This study examines changes to hospital reimbursement for inpatient trauma care if the full coverage expansion provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) were in effect. METHODS:We abstracted nonelderly adults (ages 18-64 years) admitted for trauma from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample during 2010-the last year before most major ACA coverage expansion policies. We calculated national and facility-level reimbursements and trauma-related contribution margins using Nationwide Inpatient Sample-supplied cost-to-charge ratios and published reimbursement rates for each payer type. Using US census data, we developed a probabilistic microsimulation model to determine the proportion of pre-ACA uninsured trauma patients that would be expected to gain private insurance, Medicaid, or remain uninsured after full implementation of the ACA. We then estimated the impact of these coverage changes on national and facility-level trauma reimbursement for this population. RESULTS:There were 145,849 patients (representing 737,852 patients nationwide) included. National inpatient trauma costs for patients aged 18 years to 64 years totaled US $14.8 billion (95% confidence interval [CI], 12.5,17.1). Preexpansion reimbursements totaled US $13.7 billion (95% CI, 10.8-14.7), yielding a national margin of -7.9% (95% CI, -10.6 to -5.1). Postexpansion projected reimbursements totaled US $15.0 billion (95% CI, 12.7-17.3), increasing the margin by 9.3 absolute percentage points to +1.4% (95% CI, -0.3 to +3.2). Of the 263 eligible facilities, 90 (34.2%) had a positive trauma-related contribution margin in 2010, which increased to 171 (65.0%) using postexpansion projections. Those facilities with the highest proportion of uninsured and racial/ethnic minorities experienced the greatest gains. CONCLUSION:Health insurance coverage expansion for uninsured trauma patients has the potential to increase national reimbursement for inpatient trauma care by over one billion dollars and nearly double the proportion of hospitals with a positive margin for trauma care. These data suggest that insurance coverage expansion has the potential to improve trauma centers' financial viability and their ability to provide care for their communities. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE:Economic analysis, level II.
| S-EPMC5468098 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceMedicaid expansion under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is associated with gains in health insurance coverage, earlier stage diagnosis, and improved survival among patients with cancer.ObjectiveTo examine the association of Medicaid expansion with changes in early mortality among adults undergoing surgical resection of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a setting in which access to care is a major determinant of survival.Design, setting, and participantsThis cohort study used the National Cancer Database to identify 14 984 adults 45 to 64 years of age who underwent surgical resection of NSCLC between 2008 and 2019. Analysis was conducted between March 28, 2021, and September 1, 2023.ExposureState of residence Medicaid expansion status.Main outcomes and measuresDescriptive statistics were used to compare study population characteristics by Medicaid expansion status of patients' state of residence. Difference-in-differences analyses were used to evaluate the association between Medicaid expansion and postoperative mortality before implementation of the ACA (2008-2013) vs after (2014-2019).ResultsAmong 14 984 adults included, the mean (SD) age was 56.3 (5.1) years, 54.6% were women, and 62.1% lived in Medicaid expansion states. Both 30-day (from 0.97% to 0.26%) and 90-day (from 2.63% to 1.32%) postoperative mortality decreased from before the ACA to after among patients residing in Medicaid expansion states (both P < .001) but not in nonexpansion states (30-day mortality before the ACA, 0.75% vs after the ACA, 0.68%; P = .74; and 90-day mortality before the ACA, 2.43% vs after the ACA, 2.20%; P = .57), leading to a difference-in-differences of -0.64 percentage points (95% CI, -1.19 to -0.08; P = .03) for 30-day mortality and -1.08 percentage points (95% CI, -2.08 to -0.08; P = .03) for 90-day mortality. The difference-in-differences for in-hospital mortality was not significant (P = .34) between expansion states (1.41% before the ACA to 0.77% after the ACA; 0.63 percentage point decrease; P = .004) and nonexpansion states (1.49% before the ACA to 1.20% after the ACA; 0.30 percentage point decrease; P = .29).Conclusions and relevanceIn this cohort study of patients with NSCLC, Medicaid expansion was associated with declines in 30- and 90-day postoperative mortality following hospital discharge. These findings suggest that Medicaid expansion may be an effective strategy for improving access to care and cancer outcomes in this population.
| S-EPMC10787311 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe Affordable Care Act established policy mechanisms to increase health insurance coverage in the United States. While insurance coverage has increased, 10%-15% of the US population remains uninsured.ObjectivesTo assess whether health insurance literacy and financial literacy predict being uninsured, covered by Medicaid, or covered by Marketplace insurance, holding demographic characteristics, attitudes toward risk, and political affiliation constant.Research designAnalysis of longitudinal data from fall 2013 and spring 2015 including financial and health insurance literacy and key covariates collected in 2013.SubjectsA total of 2742 US residents ages 18-64, 525 uninsured in fall 2013, participating in the RAND American Life Panel, a nationally representative internet panel.MeasuresSelf-reported health insurance status and type as of spring 2015.ResultsAmong the uninsured in 2013, higher financial and health insurance literacy were associated with greater probability of being insured in 2015. For a typical uninsured individual in 2013, the probability of being insured in 2015 was 8.3 percentage points higher with high compared with low financial literacy, and 9.2 percentage points higher with high compared with low health insurance literacy. For the general population, those with high financial and health insurance literacy were more likely to obtain insurance through Medicaid or the Marketplaces compared with being uninsured. The magnitude of coefficients for these predictors was similar to that of commonly used demographic covariates.ConclusionsA lack of understanding about health insurance concepts and financial illiteracy predict who remains uninsured. Outreach and consumer-education programs should consider these characteristics.
| S-EPMC5352474 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceDental coverage for adults is a state option in Medicaid, and despite significant gains in coverage after the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), dental outcomes among adults in expansion states remain unexplored.ObjectiveTo explore the association of state coverage of dental benefits through Medicaid expansion with clinical dental outcomes.Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional study analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2009 to 2018. Included participants were low-income adults aged 19 to 64 years with income up to 138% of the federal poverty level. The study used a difference-in-differences analysis to compare changes from before to after ACA expansion in expansion states vs in control states. Changes were examined in the full sample and separately in states that did and did not provide Medicaid adult dental benefits. We defined a state as providing Medicaid adult dental benefits if it covered services beyond emergency dental benefits in 2014. Data were analyzed from November 2020 to March 2021.ExposuresMedicaid expansion under the ACA.Main outcomes and measuresRates of health coverage, having a dental visit, affordability of dental care in the past year, poor oral health, and teeth flossing were obtained from self-reported data. Mean number of missing teeth and prevalence of untreated decayed teeth, filled teeth, and functional dentition were obtained from clinical examination data.ResultsAmong 7637 low-income adults, the mean (SD) age was 37.8 (13.4) years and 4153 (weighted percentage, 54.5 %) were women. At baseline, 1732 low-income adults in nonexpansion states compared with 2520 low-income adults in expansion states were more likely, as shown by weighted percentage, to be Black (473 individuals [21.0%] vs 508 individuals [15.1%]) and US born (1281 individuals [76.7%] vs 1613 individuals [69.6%]). In the full sample, Medicaid expansion, compared with nonexpansion, was associated with an increased rate of seeing a dentist in the prior year (12.4 percentage points; 95% CI 4.6 to 20.2 percentage points; P = .003). In expansion states that provided dental benefits, compared with nonexpansion states that provided dental benefits, the expansion was associated with increases in rates of Medicaid coverage (8.2 percentage points; 95%CI 0.5 to 15.8 percentage points; P = .04) and having seen a dentist in the previous year (11.4 percentage points, 95% CI, 3.7 to 19.1 percentage points; P = .006) and decreases in the uninsured rate (-12.6 percentage points, 95% CI -18.9 to -6.4 percentage points; P < .001) and prevalence of untreated decayed teeth (-16.8 percentage points; 95% CI, -25.5 to -8.0 percentage points; P = .001). In states without Medicaid dental benefits, the expansion was associated with an increase in the mean number of missing teeth (1.3 teeth; 95% CI 0.1 to 2.5 percentage points; P = .04) and a decrease in the prevalence of functional dentition (-8.7 percentage points; 95% CI, -14.1 to -3.3 percentage points; P = .003) compared with nonexpansion states.Conclusions and relevanceThis study found that the combination of Medicaid expansion and coverage of Medicaid dental benefits was associated with improved oral health among low-income adults.
| S-EPMC8485174 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cancer survivors may face barriers to accessing health insurance and experience financial hardship because of medical expenditures. We examined potential improvements in access to insurance for cancer survivors through adult Medicaid expansions and premium tax credits in the new insurance marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).Eligibility for Medicaid and premium tax credits was simulated for cancer survivors age 18 to 64 years in the 2008 to 2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey using a detailed deterministic model. Financial hardship was determined as: 1) delays or unmet need for medical, prescription, or dental care because of cost or insurance issues and/or 2) family out-of-pocket medical spending that was 20% or more of gross income. Descriptive analyses were stratified by whether the state of residence chose to expand Medicaid by January 2015. All statistical tests were two-sided.Overall, 14.7% of 9.44 million cancer survivors were uninsured, with 18% reporting financial hardship. Under the ACA, 19% overall, 30% of the uninsured, and 39% of those reporting financial hardship would be Medicaid eligible. An additional 10% would be eligible for premium tax credits, with the remainder able to participate in the Marketplace without tax credits. However, 21% of uninsured cancer survivors in states not expanding Medicaid would be ineligible for assistance with coverage.Under the ACA, many of the uninsured and a larger proportion of survivors facing financial hardship will be eligible for Medicaid or premium tax credits in the Marketplaces. ACA implementation will dramatically enhance insurance availability and is likely to reduce financial hardship for vulnerable cancer survivors.
| S-EPMC4651107 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundAlthough all 11- or 12-year-olds in the US were recommended to receive a 3-dose series of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine within a 12-month period prior to 2016, rates of completion of the HPV vaccine series remained suboptimal. The effects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including private insurance coverage with no cost-sharing and health insurance expansions, on HPV vaccine completion are largely unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the associations between the ACA's 2010 provisions and 2014 insurance expansions with HPV vaccine completion by sex and health insurance type.MethodsUsing 2009-2015 public and private health insurance claims from Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, we identified 9-to-26-year-olds who had at least one HPV vaccine dose. We conducted a logistic regression model to examine the associations between the ACA policy changes with HPV vaccine completion (defined as receiving a 3-dose series within 12 months from the date of initiation) as well as interactions by sex and health insurance type.ResultsOver the study period, among females and males who initiated the HPV vaccine, 27.6 and 28.0%, respectively, completed the series within 12 months. Among females, the 2010 ACA provision was associated with a 4.3 percentage point increases in HPV vaccine completion for the privately-insured (0.043; 95% CI: 0.036-0.061) and a 5.7 percentage point increase for Medicaid enrollees (0.057; 95% CI: 0.032-0.081). The 2014 health insurance expansions were associated with a 9.4 percentage point increase in vaccine completion for females with private insurance (0.094; 95% CI: 0.082-0.107) and a 8.5 percentage point increase for Medicaid enrollees (0.085; 95% CI: 0.068-0.102). Among males, the 2014 ACA reforms were associated with a 5.1 percentage point increase in HPV vaccine completion for the privately-insured (0.051; 95% CI: 0.039-0.063) and a 3.4 percentage point increase for Medicaid enrollees (0.034; 95% CI: 0.017-0.050). In a sensitivity analysis, findings were similar with HPV vaccine completion within 18 months.ConclusionsDespite low HPV vaccine completion overall, both sets of ACA provisions were associated with increases in completion among females and males. Our results suggest that expanding Medicaid across the remaining states could increase HPV vaccine completion among publicly-insured youth and prevent HPV-related cancers.
| S-EPMC7866643 | biostudies-literature