HEALTHCARE SYSTEM REFORM
Spotlight on State: Kentucky
Hannah Park, Student Fellow October 6, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Kentucky page. The Kentucky legislature has consistently pursued legislation aimed at improving access to healthcare price information to help rein in costs. In recent terms, Kentucky has enacted a number of legislation pertaining to prescription drug cost transparency, with particular focus on pharmacy benefit managers, including a law that prohibits PBMs from requiring …
Continue Reading Download PDF
Spotlight on State: Pennsylvania
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor October 5, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Pennsylvania page. Pennsylvania is a leader in antitrust enforcement of its healthcare provider market with a robust set of review protocol for nonprofit hospital transactions. The state attorney general has oversight authority which requires notice of all nonprofit health entity transactions with review and based on consideration of public interest and antitrust implications. …
Continue Reading Download PDF
Spotlight on State: Idaho
Hannah Park, Student Fellow October 4, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Idaho page. Idaho has stepped up its efforts to promote price transparency and control healthcare costs in recent legislative sessions. Signed into law in 2020, the Idaho Patient Act adds transparency to the medical billing process and protects consumers from unfair medical debt collection practices. The state legislature also made a notable effort …
Continue Reading Download PDF
The Source Roundup: October 2021 Edition
Hannah Park, Student Fellow October 1, 2021
This month, we are pleased to highlight two recent publications co-authored by health policy researchers from The Source. We specifically examine articles and reports discussing market consolidation including 1) viable practices state policymakers can implement to address provider market power, 2) a critical look at legislation targeting concentrated markets, 3) statistical reports analyzing health insurance market consolidation, and 4) a study on the quality of care in post-merger rural hospitals. In addition, we cover articles that examine public option health plans recently enacted in some states, proposals to improve compliance …
Continue Reading Download PDF
Spotlight on State: Hawaii
Hannah Park, Student Fellow September 29, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Hawaii page. Hawaii promotes price transparency by maintaining an All-Payer Claims Database, which collects healthcare claims data from commercial payers, Medicaid, and Medicare. Hawaii also continues to use the Hawaii Health Information Exchange, the state’s private sector non-profit designee for the receipt of federal funds to create a statewide health information exchange that will ultimately …
Continue Reading Download PDF
Spotlight on State: Delaware
Hannah Park, Student Fellow and Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor September 21, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Delaware page. Delaware has a long legislative history in healthcare price transparency initiatives. Delaware legislators have authorized the Delaware Health Information Network to develop a centralized health care claims database since 2016. The Delaware Health Care Claims Database collects healthcare claims, enrollment, and provider data from Medicare, Medicaid, and the seven largest commercial health …
Continue Reading Download PDF
The Source Team Co-Authors NEJM Article on State Public Option Plans
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor September 16, 2021
As states like Nevada, Colorado, and Washington push forward with their state public option efforts, a new article in New England Journal of Medicine, co-authored by Erin Fuse Brown and The Source’s Katie Gudiksen and Jaime King, takes a closer look at the key provisions of each of the plans. The article discusses potential challenges to these state public option plans and most importantly, whether they can effectively improve healthcare coverage and affordability. Listen to Erin Fuse Brown discuss lessons from these states in a podcast for NEJM.
Continue Reading Download PDF
Spotlight on State: Tennessee
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor September 11, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Tennessee page. The Tennessee Legislature has been active in promoting price transparency in health care. The state passed the Tennessee Right to Shop Act in 2019 to induce consumer price shopping. An insurance carrier is allowed to provide incentives for enrollees who elect to receive a comparable healthcare service from a network provider, for …
Continue Reading Download PDF
Spotlight on State: Arkansas
Hannah Park, Student Fellow and Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor September 9, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Arkansas page. Arkansas maintains a statewide all-payer claims database, established under the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative Act of 2015 which mandates collection of medical, dental, pharmacy, and other insurance claims information, including enrollment and provider data, from various entities. Arkansas was also among the first states to recognize the benefits of telemedicine when it …
Continue Reading Download PDF
The Source Roundup: September 2021 Edition
Hannah Park, Student Fellow September 1, 2021
This month, our round-up proudly features a new issue brief written by our Source colleagues that discuss what state regulators need to strengthen state antitrust laws and prevent further healthcare provider consolidation. Also highlighted in this month’s round-up are studies on the potential impact of the federal No Surprises Act on health care prices, state-level strategies to reduce health care spending, better methods to assess policy-relevant financial information of hospitals, a grassroots push towards the public option, and industry trends and implications in the pharmacy market. Market Competition/Consolidation In …
Continue Reading Download PDF