Health System Measurement Project

As of June 2011, an estimated 2.5 million young adults had gained insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act provision that extends dependent coverage up to age 26.  Young adults have historically been more likely than other groups to lose their health insurance as they move between school and employment or change jobs.

Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket drug costs have been declining since 2005, when the introduction of Medicare Part D (passed in 2003 and implemented in 2006) provided beneficiaries with access to a prescription drug benefit.  The design of most Part D plans, however, left beneficiaries with a coverage gap, known as the “donut hole.”  The Affordable Care Act gradually closes this coverage gap, reducing the size of the donut hole beginning in 2012 until the gap is completely eliminated in 2020.

Small businesses pay about 18 percent more than large businesses for the same health insurance policy. [1] The higher cost of coverage for contributes to the lower offer rate in small firms. Under the Affordable Care Act, businesses with fewer than 25 employees may qualify for a tax credit to offset health insurance costs.

Electronic health records (EHR) reduce paperwork and medical errors, and can improve health care efficiency and safety.[2-4] Sophisticated EHR systems that include clinical decision support alerts and reminders can decrease utilization by reducing adverse drug events, offering alternatives to expensive medications, and reducing the use of laboratory and radiology tests. [5] EHR adoption by office-based physicians has steadily increased over the last several years. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, allocated $19 billion to providers to enable the establishment and meaningful use of EHR.