Subject(s)
Cost Control/legislation & jurisprudence , Government Regulation , Health Care Costs/legislation & jurisprudence , Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Insurance Carriers/legislation & jurisprudence , Insurance, Health/economics , Health Expenditures/statistics & numerical data , Health Policy , Insurance Carriers/economics , Insurance, Health/legislation & jurisprudence , Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , United StatesSubject(s)
Fees and Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Fees, Medical/legislation & jurisprudence , Insurance, Health/legislation & jurisprudence , Emergency Medical Services/economics , Emergency Medical Services/legislation & jurisprudence , Financing, Personal/legislation & jurisprudence , Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Insurance Coverage/legislation & jurisprudence , Insurance, Health/economics , United StatesSubject(s)
COVID-19 Testing/economics , Disclosure/statistics & numerical data , Hospital Charges/statistics & numerical data , COVID-19/diagnosis , Cross-Sectional Studies , Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , Information Dissemination , Pandemics/legislation & jurisprudence , SARS-CoV-2 , United StatesABSTRACT
This article explains and gives examples of the importance of political advocacy for hand surgeons at the federal and state levels. Two health care leaders who are also hand surgeons, one now serving as a state Senator and one a former President of the American Medical Association, give their perspective on participation in the political process. The article covers avenues for advocacy for hand surgeons as individuals and as members of medical organizations, including suggestions about effective communication with legislators. There is discussion of the unique role of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand in representing hand surgeons.
Subject(s)
Legislation, Medical , Lobbying , Orthopedics , Physician's Role , Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , Insurance Coverage , Politics , Surgeons , United StatesSubject(s)
Budgets , Health Care Costs/legislation & jurisprudence , Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S. , Cost Control , Emergency Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Emergency Service, Hospital/trends , Health Care Costs/trends , Hospitalization/trends , Maryland , United StatesABSTRACT
Many states don't regulate hospital chargemasters, but rising prices on the itemized lists are lading to higher healthcare costs.
Subject(s)
Government Regulation , Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Hospital Charges/trends , United StatesSubject(s)
Dermatology/economics , Dermatology/legislation & jurisprudence , Fees and Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Private Practice/legislation & jurisprudence , Reimbursement Mechanisms/economics , Reimbursement Mechanisms/legislation & jurisprudence , Germany , Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Physicians/economics , Physicians/legislation & jurisprudence , Private Practice/economicsSubject(s)
Government Regulation , Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Hospitals, Voluntary/legislation & jurisprudence , Organizational Policy , Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , Uncompensated Care/legislation & jurisprudence , Charities/legislation & jurisprudence , Emergency Medical Services/economics , Hospitals, Voluntary/economics , Hospitals, Voluntary/organization & administration , Humans , Patient Credit and Collection , Tax Exemption , Uncompensated Care/economics , United StatesSubject(s)
Economics, Hospital , Government Agencies , Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Patient Credit and Collection , Hospital Charges/ethics , Humans , Legislation, Hospital , Patient Credit and Collection/ethics , Patient Credit and Collection/legislation & jurisprudence , Patient Credit and Collection/standards , Patient Credit and Collection/trends , Taxes , United StatesSubject(s)
Contract Services/economics , Contract Services/legislation & jurisprudence , Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , National Health Programs/economics , National Health Programs/legislation & jurisprudence , Neurosurgery/economics , Neurosurgery/legislation & jurisprudence , Private Practice/economics , Private Practice/legislation & jurisprudence , Reimbursement Mechanisms/economics , Reimbursement Mechanisms/legislation & jurisprudence , Female , Germany , HumansABSTRACT
California's Hospital Fair Pricing Act, passed in 2006, aims to protect uninsured patients from paying hospital gross charges: the full, undiscounted prices based on each hospital's chargemaster. In this study I examined how the law affects the net price actually paid by uninsured patients--a question critical for evaluating the law's impact. I found that from 2004 to 2012 the net price actually paid by uninsured patients shrank from 6 percent higher than Medicare prices to 68 percent lower than Medicare prices; the adjusted collection ratio, essentially the amount the hospital actually collected for every dollar in gross price charged, for uninsured patients dropped from 32 percent to 11 percent; and although hospitals have been increasingly less able to generate revenues from uninsured patients, they have raised the proportion of services provided to them in relation to total services provided to all patients. The substantial protection provided to uninsured patients by the California Hospital Fair Pricing Act has important implications for federal and state policy makers seeking to achieve a similar goal. States or Congress could legislate criteria determining the eligibility for discounted charges, mandate a lower price ceiling, and regulate for-profit hospitals in regard to uninsured patients.
Subject(s)
Financial Management, Hospital/economics , Financial Management, Hospital/legislation & jurisprudence , Health Care Costs/legislation & jurisprudence , Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Medically Uninsured/legislation & jurisprudence , Medicare/economics , Medicare/legislation & jurisprudence , Aged , California , Eligibility Determination/economics , Eligibility Determination/legislation & jurisprudence , Hospital Costs/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , United StatesSubject(s)
Delivery of Health Care/economics , Health Expenditures/legislation & jurisprudence , Marketing of Health Services/economics , Quality of Health Care/economics , Access to Information/legislation & jurisprudence , Choice Behavior , Delivery of Health Care/standards , Economic Competition , Fees, Medical/legislation & jurisprudence , Fees, Medical/standards , Fees, Medical/trends , Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Hospital Charges/standards , Hospital Charges/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Marketing of Health Services/methods , Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act/economics , Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act/standards , Quality of Health Care/standards , United States , Value-Based Purchasing/standards , Value-Based Purchasing/trendsSubject(s)
Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Hospitals , Connecticut , Economics, Hospital , Fees and Charges , Patients , WorkforceSubject(s)
Consumer Health Information/legislation & jurisprudence , Hospital Charges/legislation & jurisprudence , Hospital Costs/legislation & jurisprudence , Insurance, Health, Reimbursement/legislation & jurisprudence , Consumer Health Information/economics , Cost Control/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , Insurance, Health, Reimbursement/economics , Interinstitutional Relations , North Carolina , State Government , United StatesABSTRACT
Key findings. (1) Between 1995 and 2009, growth in Medicare inpatient prices varied widely across hospital markets. Faster growth typically occurred in less urban areas that had a large market share of for-profit hospitals. (2) By 2008-2009, elderly patients were going to the hospital at the same rate as in the mid-1990s, but their stays were much shorter, and they received much more intensive services. (3) Medicare price cuts, largely attributable to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, were associated with a decrease in the number of elderly discharges and a decrease in the number of staffed hospital beds, highlighting possible effects of hospital price cuts under health reform.