High prescription drug costs are a widespread concern for consumers and policymakers. For patients who need specialty drugs, though, the problem is even worse, with no relief in sight.
If you’re strangled by health care costs, are you really ‘free’?
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In the wake of the New Deal, the business community realized that appealing to widely shared American values could get the public to oppose measures that curbed corporate power.
As more young people drop their private health cover, premiums go up for everyone.
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Young people don’t see the value in private health insurance and are dropping their cover in droves. Allowing under 55s to pay lower premiums, based on their lower risk, could keep them in the system.
Amanda Gershon testifies at a public hearing on Medicaid expansion in Lincoln, Nebraska, Oct. 16, 2018. Gershon had $60,000 worth of medical debt at age 22 because of an autoimmune illness.
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Patients often want the option to be treated at home rather than being admitted to hospital. But it’s much less likely to happen if you’re a private patient.
Employer-sponsored insurance is one of the biggest benefits for U.S. workers, but it may not be best social policy.
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Nearly 160 million Americans get insurance through employers, but that does not mean it’s good social policy. An economist explains some aspects of employer-sponsored insurance that don’t work well.
How do you know if a brace is better versus the patient just believing it is?
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Are more technologically advanced prosthetics and orthotics actually better for improving health? Or do we just think they are better? And most importantly, how do we figure it out?
Insurance companies collect data from fitness trackers to help improve business decisions.
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Selin Ozyurt, Agence française de développement (AFD)
In just five years, the number of mobile-money accounts in Ghana have jumped six-fold, providing fresh perspective on the country’s digital transformation.
Unemployment and a loss of health insurance are two problems not necessarily captured in official poverty measures.
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In the US, poverty is measured by income level. But that measure misses many other aspects of poverty – like unemployment, poor health and a lack of health insurance.
Surprise medical bills are happening more frequently, often from an ER visit.
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A trip to the emergency room can turn expensive fast if the providers are not in your network. That is happening more often, as some doctors choose to opt out of insurance plans. Here’s why.
Many cases of lower back pain are best managed through education, exercise and manual treatment.
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The over-medicalization of back pain is a global concern. New research in Canada shows that people with lower income as well as rural and remote dwellers are less likely to access physiotherapy care.
Tax breaks or exemptions for those working in pharmacy, health insurance and pharmaceutical industries could help bolster support for a national pharmacare plan.
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Two community pharmacists suggest a way for improving the palatability of evidence-based universal pharmacare – for those working in health insurance, pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry.
Many patients are surprised to learn what their health care procedures cost.
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Hospitals are now required to post their prices online. This approach is unlikely to change US health care – but better price transparency tools could actually reduce costs.
The enabling technology for insurers to use AI is the ‘ecosystem’ of sensors known as the internet of things.
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Three-quarters of insurance executives believe artificial intelligence will revolutionise the industry within a few years. It promises lower premiums, but brings ethical risks too.
The biggest problem in the Indonesian universal healthcare program is that members’ contribution is less than the spending to pay claims for hospitals and other health services.
Research among Canadians shows employment to be a critical social determinant of health, partly because those who earn higher wages have more access to safe housing, nutritious foods, social services and medical care.
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No longer can young people invest in their education and work their way into secure employment. The health impacts of this job insecurity are profound.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R.-S.C., left, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pictured Sept. 26, 2017 before the vote on Graham’s bill to gut Obamacare. Like others before it, the bill failed.
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The Trump administration’s latest effort to undermine the Affordable Care Act is the expansion of short-term insurance plans. But these shorter plans are also short on real benefits.
Efforts to undo Obamacare went far beyond grass-roots activities, with new research showing that contributions by businesses were significant. Does this signal a change in the political process?
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne
Quintiles Professor of Pharmaceutical Development and Regulatory Innovation, Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, University of Southern California