Happy February!  Here at The Source, we are grateful for the extra day in February to give our readers time to catch up with the latest health policy analysis and literature.  This edition of the Source Roundup looks at articles and reports on 1) how monopolies have hurt consumers and what states can do to combat hospital acquisitions and mergers, 2) how well states are doing to make health care affordable; 3) why a single-payer system is financially feasible; and 4) what the United States can learn from other countries’ …

On January 10, California Governor Gavin Newsom released his 2020-2021 State Budget proposal. While the state budget process will not begin in earnest until after the Governor’s May Revise, the state budget provides a glimpse of likely California health care reforms. The Governor’s January Budget Proposal proposes the following: Proposal Goals Office of Health Care Affordability Increase price and quality transparency Develop cost targets for health care industry Address hospital cost trends by region, with focus on cost increases driven by delivery system consolidation Establish standards for advance evidence-based and …

Happy December! The holiday season is upon us and it is time to cozy up with a warm cup of tea to the latest health policy news.  This edition of the Source Roundup looks at articles on 1) healthcare market consolidation and provider network access, 2) increases in insurance premium contributions and deductibles, and 3) lessons from healthcare system reforms abroad.   Healthcare Markets Accountable care organizations (ACOs) have been lauded for providing higher quality medical care at lower costs.  In a recent Health Affairs research article, Changes in Physician Consolidation …

Last month, we recapped the appropriations allocated to healthcare reform in the 2019 California Budget. These budget allocations, however, do not provide much guidance on how the money should be spent. Trailer bills provide the statutory language to implement the budget. With the enacted 2019 budget, the Governor signed two healthcare trailer bills passed by the Legislature, SB 78 and SB 104. In this post, we dissect these trailers bills which create and implement various programs impacting healthcare access and costs.   What are Trailer Bills? SB 78 and SB …

By: Hayden Soria, Student Fellow Happy July! Hope everyone is staying cool in the summer heat. In this month’s Source Roundup, we take a dive into academic articles and studies that look at 1) healthcare system reform on a national and state level 2) health care markets concentration and competition, and 3) developing trends in prescription drug pricing.   Healthcare System Reform Ever since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation nine years ago, it has become one of the most polarizing topics in American political culture, spawning debates both in support …

By: Hayden Soria, Student Fellow Happy June! Summer is just around the corner and healthcare policy discussion is heating up. In this month’s Source Roundup, we highlight academic articles and studies that look at 1) the high costs of employer-sponsored insurance, 2) how much private insurers are paying hospitals compared to Medicare, and 3) implications of single payer system reform.   Increasing Employer-based Insurance Costs Present Difficulties to Many Americans In the last twelve years, annual deductibles in employer-based health plans have sky-rocketed and now average more than $1,300 annually. A …

*Update: On May 13, 2019, Governor Jay Inslee signed SB 5526 into law making Washington the first state public option plan. Washington now takes the first difficult steps toward implementing the law.  In the current political climate, debate continues at the state and federal level over the role of government in containing health care costs and ensuring coverage for all Americans. Specifically, in a survey done in March 2019 by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a majority of Americans (56%) supported a national health plan.[1] Little consensus, however, exists on how …

By: Erin Sclar, Student Fellow Spring is finally here! With it, we review articles and reports about 1) single payer health plans and universal health care, 2) the causes, effects, and possible solutions to rising prescription drug pricing, and 3) health care costs and price transparency.   Single Payer Health Plans and Universal Health Care The terms “single payer health plans” and “universal health care” are becoming increasingly familiar as the 2020 elections approach. But the meanings of these terms, and the specific policies and proposals associated with them, are often …

By: Leah S. Gray, Student Fellow On his first day as the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom made his first steps towards carrying out his health care campaign promise of universal health care.  Additionally, two parts of his plan look like a direct rebuke of the Trump administration, as Newsom hopes to ensure health coverage for undocumented young people and impose the individual mandate, which Congress attempted to repeal, in California.  He also used his first executive orders to work towards lowering the cost of prescription drugs and to create California’s …

After considering 5,617 bills and resolutions, the two year California legislative cycle has come to a conclusion. As health care costs become more scrutinized, more bills than ever have emerged to target these costs. While not all of those bills passed, a significant amount of bills that did pass as well as the notable bills that failed coalesce around four themes: targeting high costs of prescription drugs, working towards a single payer system, regulating competition, and limiting high health costs. This post will focus on the first two themes: high …