A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that 88 percent of physicians accepted new privately insured patients in 2008, down from 93 percent in 2005.  The authors cited low reimbursement rates and significant administrative burdens as possible reasons for the decline.  The study also notes that rate of acceptance declined less for Medicare beneficiaries, dropping from 96 to 93 percent between 2005 and 2008.

Bishop, Tara F. et. al. (2011). Declines in physician acceptance of Medicare and private Coverage. Archives of Internal Medicine, 171 (12): 1117 - 1119. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.251. http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/171/12/1117

Authors: Tara F. Bishop, Alex D. Federman and Salomeh Keyhani.

On June 23, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released a brief examining health coverage challenges facing unemployed individuals and outlining their options for maintaining coverage.  The brief notes that 13.9 million individuals were unemployed in May 2011, of whom 6.2 million had been uninsured for at least six months.  The authors suggest that individuals’ options to maintain health coverage diminish as they remain unemployed for six months or more, highlighting COBRA, public health coverage, and the individual insurance market as options for unemployed individuals to obtain health coverage.  The authors assert that implementation of the national health care reform law will result in a wider range of affordable coverage options for the unemployed.

From the report:

The Archives of Internal Medicine (AIM) has published a study examining trends in physicians’ acceptance rates for different types of health coverage and self-pay patients.  Employing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS), the authors highlight the need for policymakers to understand health coverage acceptance data to address health care access issues.  The study notes that this is particularly salient in light of the current primary care physician shortage and the upcoming health coverage expansion under the national health care reform law.

Bishop, Tara F. et al. Declines in Physician Acceptance of Medicare and Private Coverage. (2011). Archives of Internal Medicine, 171 (12): 1117-1119. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2011.251. http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/171/12/1117

Authors: Tara F. Bishop, Alex D. Federman, and Salomeh Keyhani.

Published July 28 in Health Affairs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of the Actuary released a report, finding that health care spending will grow an average of 5.8 percent annually through 2020.  The report estimates the increasing growth rate will drive the U.S. to spend $4.6 trillion on health care in 2020, up from $2.6 trillion in 2010 and accounting for nearly 20 percent of the U.S. economy.  The report predicts that the growth rate will increase to 8.3 when health reform’s coverage expansion takes effect in 2014, returning to 6.2 percent between 2015 and 2020.  However, despite the rising growth rate, the report predicts the average yearly health care cost growth will increase only .1 percent more than it would without health care reform.  The authors also estimate the effects of health reform on health care payers, noting that federal, state, and local government spending will increase 4 percent to account for 49 percent of all spending in 2020, while employers’ share declines to 18 percent.  The report notes that federal spending will drive the shift towards public payers, with the federal share of health care spending increasing from 27 percent in 2009 to 31 percent in 2020.  Finally, the report estimates that the number of Americans with employer-sponsored insurance will reach 170 million in 2014 but decline to 168 million by 2020.

Keehan, Sean P., Sisko, Andrea M., Truffer, Christopher J., et. al. (2011). National health spending projections through 2020: economic recovery and reform drive faster spending growth. Health Affairs. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0662. http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/early/2011/07/27/hlthaff.2011.0662.abstract 

Authors: Sean P. Keehan, Andrea M. Sisko, Christopher J. Truffer, John A. Poisal, Gigi A. Cuckler, Andrew J. Madison, Joseph M. Lizonitz, and Sheila D. Smith.

On August 1, Mercer LLC. released a survey finding that only 8 percent of employers are “very likely” or “likely” to stop offering coverage after health reform’s employer-sponsored health coverage mandate takes effect in 2014.  Under the mandate, employers with 50 or more employees must offer health coverage or pay a fine for each employee that purchases subsidized coverage through the law’s health exchanges.  Mercer found that 47 percent of employers are “not at all likely” to stop offering coverage while an additional 46 percent are “not very likely” to do so.  The survey also found that employers have experienced a 2 percent increase in health coverage enrollment attributable to the law’s dependent coverage extension and anticipate an additional 2 percent increase in 2014 when the law requires employers to automatically enroll employees into health coverage.

From the report:

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has released a study, finding that households containing at least one family member with a chronic illness typically have less generous employer-sponsored health coverage than households without such individuals.  Comparing households’ out-of-pocket (OOP) expenses with their total health care spending, the authors assess coverage generosity based on the ratio of OOP spending to total health spending.  The study found that households with a family member with a chronic illness generally had higher proportions of OOP spending to total health spending than their counterparts.  However, the authors assert that this disparity is not due to variations in plan benefits but rather to the use patterns consistent with chronic illnesses, noting that individuals with chronic illnesses typically have higher expenditures in traditionally less generous coverage categories, including prescription drug coverage.  The study suggests that current health plan designs may have a negative financial impact on the chronically ill, which may negatively affect their outcomes if high costs impede their ability to adhere to treatment regimens.

Abraham, Jean M., Royalty, Anne Beeson and DeLeire, Thomas. (2011). Gauging the generosity of employer-sponsored insurance: differences between households with and without a chronic condition. The National Bureau of Economic Research, 17232. http://www.nber.org/papers/w17232

Authors: Jean M. Abraham, Anne B. Royalty, and Thomas DeLeire.