Happy New Year, Source Readers! We kick off 2023 with highlights of some reports and articles that you may have missed from December. In surprise billing protection efforts, the implementation of the No Surprises Act is hitting unexpected backlogs in the IDR process, while the loophole of ground ambulance surprise bills also warrants further policy attention. Reports on healthcare spending and out-of-pocket costs suggest that healthcare is becoming less affordable as out-of-pocket costs continued to rise. Lastly, a pair of studies on value-based payment models reveal flaws in the systems …

As the end of the year approaches, there’s no better time to catch up and reflect upon new research and findings from the past year. The articles and reports in this month’s Roundup examine the latest trends in consolidation including (1) the rise of cross-market hospital systems and (2) concentration in the insurance markets. We also highlight articles that explored (3) the current state and future of telehealth regulation and (4) quality impact for hospitals that switch to a value based payment model.   Consolidation and Competition Although 2022 has …

Happy April! This month’s roundup centers on articles and reports that discuss: 1) healthcare markets and competition; 2) payment reform, and 3) healthcare costs, and 4) price transparency.   Healthcare Markets and Competition In a piece published in the Harvard Business Review titled The Pandemic Will Fuel Consolidation in U.S. Health Care, Lovisa Gustafsson and David Blumenthal, researchers at the Commonwealth Fund, predict that mergers of key players in the U.S. healthcare system will continue as a result of provider financial challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Federal Trade …

By: Erin Sclar, Student Fellow Happy February! As we eagerly await this year’s health policy valentines on Twitter, we review recent academic articles that examine a variety of issues related to health care costs, including 1) the effect of vertical integration in health care, 2) health reform and theories of cost control, 3) why the US spends so much on health care, 4) how ACOs use population segmentation to care for high-cost patients, 5) characteristics and spending patterns of high-cost Medicare patients, and 6) an evaluation of bundled payments for joint …

By: Swaja Khanna, Student Fellow Happy November! We hope you are enjoying football season and preparing for turkey! In this edition of the Source Roundup, we cover five academic articles and reports from October. The topics this month include (1) the popularity of telemedicine for employers and employees, (2) an integrated health care system that combines ACO and bundled payment, (3) health spending growth in the coming years, (4) Maryland’s new initiative reduced hospital utilization and costs, and (5) how to remedy recent generic drug price hikes.   Telemedicine Is …

Happy August! In this edition of the Source Roundup, we cover four academic articles and reports from June and July. The topics this month include: (1) price transparency as a means to affordable health care; (2) effect of state-based individual mandates; (3) Trump’s 5-Part Medicare Part D plan; and (4) Medicare’s experiment with bundled payments.   Price Transparency Goals to Achieve Affordable Health Care Skeptics have questioned whether consumer price transparency initiatives are an effective means of driving down healthcare costs. In the NEJM Catalyst article, “Defining the Goals of …