ABSTRACT
In public health insurance programs, federal and state regulators use network adequacy standards to ensure that health plans provide enrollees with adequate access to care. These standards are based on provider availability, anticipated enrollment, and patterns of care delivery. We anticipate that the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic will have 3 main effects on provider networks and their regulation: enrollment changes, changes to the provider landscape, and changes to care delivery. Regulators will need to ensure that plans adjust their network size should there be increased enrollment or increased utilization caused by forgone care. Regulators will also require updated monitoring data and plan network data that reflect postpandemic provider availability. Telehealth will have a larger role in care delivery than in the prepandemic period, and regulators will need to adapt network standards to accommodate in-person and virtual care delivery.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Health Planning , Health Services Accessibility/standards , Insurance Coverage/standards , Insurance, Health/standards , Public Sector , Health Insurance Exchanges , Humans , Insurance Coverage/legislation & jurisprudence , Insurance Coverage/organization & administration , Insurance, Health/legislation & jurisprudence , Insurance, Health/organization & administration , Medicaid/legislation & jurisprudence , Medicare/legislation & jurisprudence , United StatesSubject(s)
COVID-19/prevention & control , Dermatology/methods , Pandemics/prevention & control , Personnel Selection/methods , Telemedicine/organization & administration , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/transmission , Dermatology/economics , Dermatology/education , Dermatology/trends , Healthcare Disparities/economics , Healthcare Disparities/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , Insurance Coverage/economics , Insurance Coverage/legislation & jurisprudence , Internship and Residency/organization & administration , Internship and Residency/trends , Medicaid/economics , Medicaid/legislation & jurisprudence , Personnel Selection/organization & administration , Personnel Selection/trends , Physical Distancing , Telemedicine/economics , Telemedicine/trends , United StatesABSTRACT
In 2010, the US health insurance system underwent one of its most substantial transformations with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which increased coverage for millions of people in the USA, including those with and at risk of HIV. Even so, the system of HIV care and prevention services in the USA is a complex patchwork of payers, providers, and financing mechanisms. People with HIV are primarily covered by Medicaid, Medicare, private insurance, or a combination of these; many get care through other programmes, particularly the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which serves as the nation's safety net for people with HIV who remain uninsured or underinsured but offers modest to no support for prevention services. While uninsurance has drastically declined over the past decade, the USA trails other high-income countries in key HIV-specific metrics, including rates of viral suppression. In this paper in the Series, we provide an overview of the coverage and financing landscape for HIV treatment and prevention in the USA, discuss how the Affordable Care Act has changed the domestic health-care system, examine the major programmes that provide coverage and services, and identify remaining challenges.
Subject(s)
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/epidemiology , COVID-19/economics , HIV Infections/drug therapy , HIV Infections/prevention & control , Insurance Coverage/legislation & jurisprudence , Insurance, Health/legislation & jurisprudence , Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/drug therapy , Adult , Aged , Anti-Retroviral Agents/therapeutic use , COVID-19/diagnosis , COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/virology , Female , Gender Identity , HIV Infections/economics , HIV Infections/epidemiology , Humans , Incidence , Male , Medicaid/statistics & numerical data , Medically Uninsured/statistics & numerical data , Medicare/statistics & numerical data , Middle Aged , Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , Risk Assessment , SARS-CoV-2/genetics , United States/epidemiologySubject(s)
Clinical Trials as Topic/economics , Health Services Accessibility/economics , Medicaid , Clinical Trials as Topic/legislation & jurisprudence , Health Services Accessibility/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , Insurance Coverage/legislation & jurisprudence , Medicaid/legislation & jurisprudence , Reimbursement Mechanisms , United StatesSubject(s)
Health Care Reform/trends , Health Equity , Health Policy/trends , Insurance Coverage/trends , Forecasting , Health Care Reform/legislation & jurisprudence , Health Policy/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , Insurance Coverage/legislation & jurisprudence , Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , United StatesABSTRACT
The United States is facing a maternal health crisis with rising rates of maternal mortality and morbidity and stark disparities in maternal outcomes by race and socioeconomic status. Among the efforts to address this issue, one policy proposal is gaining particular traction: extending the period of Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women beyond 60 days after childbirth. The authors examine the legislative and regulatory pathways most readily available for extending postpartum Medicaid, including their relative political, economic, and public health trade-offs. They also review the state and federal policy activity to date and discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prospects for policy change.
Subject(s)
Insurance Coverage/legislation & jurisprudence , Maternal Health , Medicaid/legislation & jurisprudence , Policy , Postpartum Period , COVID-19 , Female , Humans , Pregnancy , United States/epidemiologyABSTRACT
In January 2021, the incoming Biden administration inherited urgent priorities for curbing health care spending and expanding health care coverage to millions of Americans while also addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic downturn. Among these competing priorities is the issue of access to and affordability of prescription drugs. Here, the authors outline Biden's plan for directly lowering prescription drug spending for payers and patients and for expanding access to prescription medications through improved health insurance coverage. These policies could provide important financial protections for Americans against high prescription drug prices. Despite widespread public support for addressing prescription drug prices, many of Biden's plans rely on congressional action, which will be complicated by the narrow majority held by Democrats in the House and an evenly divided Senate. However, there may be other opportunities for reducing prescription drug spending and improving health insurance enrollment among the uninsured. While directly lowering drug prices would provide the most widespread savings for payers and patients alike, any successful effort for increasing the number of Americans enrolled in health insurance or rendering it more affordable will still likely effectively lower patients' out-of-pocket costs and improve access to prescription drugs.
Subject(s)
Health Expenditures , Health Services Accessibility , Insurance Coverage/economics , Insurance, Health/economics , Prescription Drugs/economics , Humans , Insurance Coverage/legislation & jurisprudence , Insurance, Health/legislation & jurisprudence , Politics , United StatesSubject(s)
Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Health Services Accessibility/standards , Insurance Coverage/legislation & jurisprudence , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Betacoronavirus/isolation & purification , COVID-19 , Coronavirus Infections/mortality , Coronavirus Infections/virology , Healthcare Disparities/ethnology , Humans , Insurance Coverage/trends , Life Expectancy/trends , Middle Aged , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral/mortality , Pneumonia, Viral/virology , Politics , SARS-CoV-2 , Social Class , United States/epidemiologySubject(s)
Health Services Accessibility/legislation & jurisprudence , Insurance Coverage/legislation & jurisprudence , Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act/legislation & jurisprudence , Reproductive Rights/legislation & jurisprudence , Supreme Court Decisions , Female , Humans , Male , Medically Uninsured/legislation & jurisprudence , United StatesSubject(s)
Forecasting , Health Policy/trends , Economic Competition , Health Policy/legislation & jurisprudence , Insurance Coverage/legislation & jurisprudence , Medically Uninsured/statistics & numerical data , Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act/trends , Single-Payer System/legislation & jurisprudence , United StatesABSTRACT
The Supreme Court upheld broad exemptions to the Affordable Care Act contraceptive mandate; new ACA rules were finalized.