Catastrophic Health Expenditures Across Insurance Types and Incomes Before and After the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Liu C
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7516626 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Catastrophic Health Expenditures Across Insurance Types and Incomes Before and After the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Liu Charles C Chhabra Karan R KR Scott John W JW
JAMA network open 20200901 9
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Project description:ImportanceHealth insurance coverage is dynamic in the United States, potentially changing from month to month. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) aimed to stabilize markets and reduce financial burden, particularly among those with preexisting conditions.ObjectiveTo describe the risks of insurance churn (ie, gain, loss, or change in coverage) and catastrophic health expenditures among nonelderly patients with cancer in the United States, assessing for changes associated with ACA implementation.Design, setting, and participantsThis retrospective, cross-sectional study uses data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a representative sample of the US population from 2005 to 2018. Respondents included were younger than 65 years, identified by health care use associated with a cancer diagnosis code in the given year. Statistical analysis was conducted from July 30, 2020, to January 5, 2021.ExposuresThe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.Main outcomes and measuresSurvey weights were applied to generate estimates for the US population. Annual risks of insurance churn (ie, any uninsurance or insurance change or loss) and catastrophic health expenditures (spending >10% income) were calculated, comparing subgroups with the adjusted Wald test. Weighted multivariable linear regression was used to assess for changes associated with ACA implementation.ResultsFrom 6069 respondents, we estimated a weighted mean of 4.78 million nonelderly patients (95% CI, 4.55-5.01 million; female patients: weighted mean, 63.9% [95% CI, 62.2%-65.7%]; mean age, 50.3 years [95% CI, 49.7-50.8 years]) with cancer annually in the United States. Patients with cancer experienced lower annual risks of insurance loss (5.3% [95% CI, 4.5%-6.1%] vs 7.6% [95% CI, 7.4%-7.8%]) and any uninsurance (14.6% [95% CI, 13.3%-16.0%] vs 24.1% [95% CI, 23.5%-24.7%]) but increased risk of catastrophic health expenditures (expenses alone: 12.4% [95% CI, 11.2%-13.6%] vs 6.3% [95% CI, 6.2%-6.5%]; including premiums: 26.6% [95% CI, 25.0%-28.1%] vs 16.5% [95% CI, 16.1%-16.8%]; P < .001) relative to the population without cancer. Patients with cancer from low-income families and with full-year private coverage were at particularly high risk of catastrophic health expenditures (including premiums: 81.7% [95% CI, 74.6%-88.9%]). After adjustment, low income was the factor most strongly associated with both insurance churn and catastrophic spending, associated with annual risk increases of 6.5% (95% CI, 4.2%-8.8%) for insurance loss, 17.3% (95% CI, 13.4%-21.2%) for any uninsurance, and 37.4% (95% CI, 33.3%-41.6%) for catastrophic expenditures excluding premiums (P < .001). In adjusted models relative to 2005-2009, full ACA implementation (2014-2018) was associated with a decreased annual risk of any uninsurance (-4.2%; 95% CI, -7.4% to -1.0%; P = .01) and catastrophic spending by expenses alone (-3.0%; 95% CI, -5.3% to -0.8%; P = .008) but not including premiums (0.4%; 95% CI, -2.8% to 4.5%; P = .82).Conclusions and relevanceIn this cross-sectional study, US patients with cancer faced significant annual risks of insurance churn and catastrophic health spending. Despite some improvements with ACA implementation, large burdens remained, and further reform is needed to protect this population from excessive hardship.
| S-EPMC8427370 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceHaving health insurance is a strong determinant of cancer outcomes in the United States, and Medicaid expansion under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) may have reduced the prevalence of uninsured patients. Prior research has only assessed the aggregate effects of expansions, and little is known about changes in uninsured patients by state and key sociodemographic groups, including sex, race/ethnicity, census tract-level poverty, and rurality.ObjectiveTo examine changes in the percentage of uninsured patients and stage at diagnosis among nonelderly patients with cancer by state and key sociodemographic groups after implementation of the ACA.Design, setting, and participantsThis study used difference-in-differences analysis to determine the percentage of uninsured patients and early-stage cancer diagnoses among patients aged 18 to 64 years from the population-based cancer registries of 40 states before (January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2013) and after (January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2014) the ACA Medicaid expansion. Data analysis was performed from November 2017 to April 2018.Main outcomes and measuresChanges in the percentage of uninsured patients and early-stage diagnoses.ResultsA total of 2 471 154 patients (mean age, 52.7 years; age range, 18-64 years; 51.4% female; 70.9% non-Hispanic white) were included from Medicaid expansion (n = 1 234 156) and nonexpansion (n = 1 236 998) states. In 2014, the percentage of uninsured patients decreased in almost all states. However, decreases were greater in expansion than nonexpansion states and were greatest in expansion states with high baseline uninsured rates. For example, the percentage of uninsured patients decreased from 8.3% before implementation of the ACA to 2.1% (-6.2 difference) after implementation of the ACA in the expansion state of Kentucky compared with 9.1% to 7.5% (-1.5 difference) in the nonexpansion state of Tennessee. In expansion states, the decreases in the percentage of uninsured patients were higher among minorities and patients in high-poverty or rural areas, diminishing or eliminating disparities. In contrast, sociodemographic disparities in the percentage of uninsured patients remained high in nonexpansion states. Stage at diagnosis shifted slightly to earlier stage for most cancer types in Medicaid expansion states.Conclusions and relevanceThis study found state variation in reductions in the percentage of uninsured patients among nonelderly patients with cancer after implementation of the ACA, with larger decreases in expansion than nonexpansion states. Disparities in the percentage of uninsured patients by race/ethnicity, census tract-level poverty, and rurality were diminished or eliminated in Medicaid expansion states but remained high in nonexpansion states, highlighting the promising role of Medicaid expansion in reducing disparities among sociodemographic subpopulations. Future studies should monitor changes in cancer presentation, treatment, and outcomes after implementation of the ACA.
| S-EPMC6440711 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC9857749 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceRheumatoid arthritis (RA) has severe functional and economic consequences. The implications of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and demographic factors for access to surgical treatment are unclear.ObjectiveTo investigate factors associated with time to RA hand surgery, surgical incidence, and cost after implementation of the ACA.Design, setting, and participantsThis cross-sectional study used insurance data from the IBM MarketScan Research Databases from 2009 through 2020 to compare time to surgery, surgical incidence, and treatment cost for RA of the hand before and after ACA implementations. Included patients were 18 years or older with a new diagnosis for RA of the hand and at least 1 procedural code for arthroplasty, arthrodesis, tenolysis, tendon repair, or tendon transfer. Patients with coexisting inflammatory arthritis diagnoses were excluded. Demographic variables analyzed included patient sex, age at index date, residence within or outside a metropolitan statistical area (MSA; hereafter urban or nonurban), insurance and health plan type, Social Deprivation Index, Elixhauser Comorbidity Index score, and Rheumatic Disease Comorbidity Index. Data analysis occurred from October 2022 to April 2023.ExposuresSurgery for RA of the hand during the pre-ACA (before 2014) vs post-ACA (2014 or later) periods.Main outcomes and measuresTime to surgery, surgical incidence, and cost of treating RA in patients undergoing hand surgery for RA.ResultsAmong 3643 patients (mean [SD] age, 57.6 [12.3] years) who underwent hand surgery for RA, 3046 (83.6%) were women. Post-ACA passage, 595 (86.2%) patients who resided in urban areas had a significantly lower time to surgery than those who did not (-70.5 [95% CI, -112.6 to -28.3] days; P < .001). Among urban patients, the least socially disadvantaged patients experienced the greatest decrease in time to surgery after ACA but the change was not statistically significant. For all patients, greater social disadvantage (ie, a higher SDI score) was associated with a longer time to surgery in the post-ACA period; for example, compared with the least socially disadvantaged group (SDI decile, 0-10), patients in SDI decile 10 to 20 waited an additional 254.0 days (95% CI, 65.2 to 442.9 days; P = .009) before undergoing surgery. Compared with the pre-ACA period, the mean surgical incidence in the post-ACA period was 83.4% lower (162.3 vs 26.9 surgeries per 1000 person-years; P < .001), and surgical incidence was 86.3% lower in nonurban populations (27.2 vs 3.7 surgeries per 1000 person-years; P < .001) but only 82.8% lower in urban populations (135.1 vs 23.2 surgeries per 1000 person-years; P < .001). Per capita total costs of all treatment related to RA of the hand decreased in the post-ACA period but the change was not statistically significant. Insurer-paid costs were lower in the post-ACA period but the change was not statistically significant. Out-of-pocket expenses did not change.Conclusions and relevanceFindings of this cross-sectional study suggest that after ACA passage, disparities exist in access to timely, cost-effective hand surgery for RA. Increased access to surgical hand specialists is needed for nonurban residents and those with greater social deprivation, along with insurance policy reforms to further decrease out-of-pocket spending for RA hand surgery.
| S-EPMC10831625 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Importance:Trauma is an expensive and unpredictable source of out-of-pocket spending for American families. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) sought to improve financial protection by expanding health insurance coverage, but its association with health care spending for patients with traumatic injury remains largely unknown. Objective:To evaluate the association of ACA implementation with out-of-pocket spending, premiums, and catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) among adult patients with traumatic injury. Design, Setting, and Participants:Data from a nationally representative sample of US adults aged 19 to 64 years who had a hospital stay or emergency department visit for a traumatic injury from January 2010 to December 2017 were analyzed using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Multivariable generalized linear models were used to evaluate changes in spending after ACA implementation. Additionally, 4 income subgroups were evaluated based on ACA thresholds for program eligibility: lowest-income patients (earning 138% or less of the federal poverty level [FPL]), low-income patients (earning 139% to 250% of the FPL), middle-income patients (earning 251% to 400% of the FPL), and high-income patients (earning more than 400% of the FPL). Data were analyzed from February to December 2019. Exposures:Implementation of the ACA, beginning January 1, 2014. Main Outcomes and Measures:Out-of-pocket spending, premium spending, out-of-pocket plus premium spending, and likelihood of experiencing CHE, defined as out-of-pocket plus premium spending exceeding 19.5% of family income. Results:Of the 6288 included patients, 2995 (weighted percentage, 51.3%) were male, and the mean (SD) age was 41.4 (12.8) years. Implementation of the ACA was associated with 31% lower odds of CHE (adjusted odds ratio, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.87; P = .002). Changes were greatest in lowest-income patients, who experienced 30% lower out-of-pocket spending (adjusted percentage change, -30.4%; 95% CI, -46.6% to -9.4%; P = .01), 26% lower out-of-pocket plus premium spending (adjusted percentage change, -26.3%; 95% CI, -41.0% to -8.1%; P = .01), and 39% lower odds of CHE (adjusted odds ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.84; P = .002). Low-income patients experienced decreased out-of-pocket spending and out-of-pocket plus premium spending but no changes in CHE, while middle-income and high-income patients experienced no significant changes in any spending outcome. In the post-ACA period, 1 in 11 of all patients with traumatic injury and 1 in 5 with the lowest incomes continued to experience CHE each year. Conclusions and Relevance:Implementation of the ACA was associated with improved financial protection for US adults with traumatic injury, especially lowest-income individuals targeted by the law's Medicaid expansions. Despite these gains, injured patients remain at risk of financial strain.
| S-EPMC7049078 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceGeographic variation in Medicare spending is often used as a measure of wasteful spending. A 2013 Institute of Medicine report found that postacute care was a key contributor of geographic variation from 2007 to 2009. However, payment reforms and antifraud efforts implemented after the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may have reduced geographic variation in spending, especially postacute care spending.ObjectiveTo investigate how geographic variation in Medicare fee-for-service per-beneficiary spending changed from 2007 to 2018 before and after passage of the ACA.Design setting and participantsThis cross-sectional study included all fee-for-service Medicare enrollees 65 years or older from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2018. The fee-for-service Medicare Geographic Variation Public Use File was used to group hospital referral regions (HRRs) in each year into deciles (10 equal groups) based on per-beneficiary total spending. The difference between the per-beneficiary monthly spending in each decile and the national mean, as well as the ratio of per-beneficiary total spending in the top deciles to that of the bottom decile, were reported. Data analysis occurred from July 22, 2019, to October 21, 2021.Main outcomes and measuresPer-beneficiary spending on hospital inpatient, hospital outpatient, physician, and postacute care (and type of postacute care).ResultsThere were 27.2 million fee-for-service beneficiaries in 2007 (58.0% women) and 28.3 million beneficiaries in 2018 (55.9% women). Per-beneficiary Medicare spending was $9691 in 2007 and $9847 in 2018 (using inflation-adjusted 2018 dollars). Geographic variation in Medicare spending was stable from 2007 to 2011 and then declined steadily from 2012 to 2018. The ratio of per-beneficiary total Medicare spending in the HRRs in the top decile to the bottom decile was 1.68 in 2007 ($415 monthly difference in spending) but only 1.56 ($361 monthly difference in spending) in 2018 (estimated change, -0.12 [95% CI, -0.21 to -0.02]; P = .01). Focusing on specific spending categories, the only statistically significant reductions in geographic variation were found for home health; the ratio of home health spending among HRRs in the top to bottom deciles of total Medicare spending fell from 5.14 in 2007 to 3.45 in 2018 (change, -1.69 [95% CI, -3.30 to -0.09]; P = .04).Conclusions and relevanceGeographic variation in total per-beneficiary Medicare spending fell from 2007 to 2018, with home health spending being a key factor associated with geographic variation. The ACA's value-based payment programs and enhanced integrity efforts in home health provide a possible explanation for the decrease.
| S-EPMC8796890 | 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:PurposeThe Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) offers avenues to increase insurance options and access to care; however, it is unknown whether populations with pre-existing conditions, such as cancer survivors, will benefit from the expanded coverage options. We explored childhood cancer survivors' familiarity with and opinion of the ACA to understand how survivors' insurance coverage may be affected.Materials and methodsFrom April to July 2012 we conducted in-depth, semistructured telephone interviews with 53 adult survivors recruited from the Utah Cancer SEER Registry. Participants were randomly selected from sex, age, and rural/urban strata and were younger than 21 years at time of diagnosis. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed with NVivo 9 by two coders (kappa=0.94). We report on the 49 participants who had heard of the ACA.ResultsMost survivors were unaware of ACA provisions beyond the insurance mandate. Few knew about coverage for children up to age 26 or pre-existing insurance options. Although one third believed the ACA could potentially benefit them via expanded insurance coverage, many were concerned that the ACA would lead to rising health care costs and decreasing quality of care. Survivors had concerns specific to their cancer history, including fears of future health care rationing if they developed subsequent health problems.ConclusionChildhood cancer survivors have a low level of familiarity with the ACA and are unaware of how it may affect them given their cancer history. These survivors require targeted education to increase knowledge about the ACA.
| S-EPMC3770506 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceFluoride varnish reduces children's tooth decay, yet few clinicians provide it. Most state Medicaid programs have covered this service during medical visits for children aged 1 to 5 years, but private insurers began covering it only in 2015 due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandate that they cover a set of recommended preventive services without cost-sharing. Evidence on clinicians' behavior change postmandate is limited.ObjectiveTo examine monthly changes in fluoride varnish applications among pediatric clinicians following the ACA mandate.Design, setting, and participantsUsing all-payer claims data from Massachusetts, this cohort study applied an interrupted time-series approach with linear regression models comparing changes in monthly clinician-level outcomes before and after the mandate. Participants included clinicians who billed at least 5 well-child visits for patients aged 1 to 5 years and were observed at least once premandate. Adjusted for clinician fixed effects, models were assessed overall and separately for clinicians categorized by their monthly share of well-child visits paid by private insurers before the mandate: mostly private (>66% of visits paid by private insurers), mostly public (<33% of visits paid by private insurers), or mixed (33%-66% of visits paid by private insurers) insurance types. Analysis was performed from June 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023.ExposurePreenactment and postenactment of the ACA mandate for private insurers to cover fluoride varnish applications without cost-sharing.Main outcomes and measuresClinician-month measures of whether fluoride varnish was provided during at least 1 well-child visit and the share of such visits, analyzed separately for clinicians who did and did not apply fluoride varnish premandate.ResultsThe sample included 2405 clinicians, with 107 841 clinician-months. Premandate, 10.48% of the visits included fluoride varnish applications. Two years postmandate, the likelihood of ever applying fluoride varnish was 13.64 (95% CI, 10.97-16.32) percentage points higher. For clinicians providing fluoride varnish premandate, the share of visits with fluoride varnish increased by 9.22 (95% CI, 5.41-13.02) percentage points. This increase was observed in clinicians who treated children with insurance that was mostly mixed and mostly private; no substantial change was observed among those treating children with mostly public insurance.Conclusions and relevanceIn this cohort study of pediatric primary care clinicians, an association between the ACA mandate and an increase in fluoride varnish application was observed, especially among clinicians primarily treating privately insured patients and those applying it premandate. However, application remains infrequent, suggesting persistent barriers.
| S-EPMC10646725 | biostudies-literature
Project description:China has been piloting the catastrophic medical insurance (CMI) program since 2012 and rolled it out nationally in 2016 to reduce the incidence of catastrophic health expenditure among Chinese residents. Few studies have been conducted to determine its effect on healthcare expenditures, particularly among the elderly. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of CMI on healthcare expenditures among China's elderly population. The data for this study were derived from 4 waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, which included 344 and 1199 individuals in the treatment and control groups, respectively. To examine the effect of CMI on healthcare expenditures among the elderly, we used difference-in-differences and fixed-effects models. Additionally, a heterogeneity analysis was used to examine the differences in the impact of CMI on different groups. Finally, we confirmed the robustness of the results using robustness and placebo tests. CMI increased total health and out-of-pocket expenditures significantly, as well as inpatient and corresponding out-of-pocket expenditures. The reassults of the heterogeneity analysis indicated that CMI had a greater impact on elderly residents of rural areas. Economic burden protection has been enhanced for low-income groups and patients with serious diseases over the last two years. Our research indicated that CMI can promote the use of inpatient medical services for the elderly to a certain extent. Targeted measures such as expanding the CMI compensation list, establishing a more precise compensation scheme, and specific diseases associated with high healthcare expenditures can be considered in the practice of CMI implementation.
| S-EPMC9656772 | biostudies-literature