Gregg's Top Two Health Policy Articles

The Top Three Two...

With so much going on, it can be hard to know what to read. If you can only read two things about health policy this week, I suggest...

AP: Boost In People Seeking HealthCare.Gov Coverage, HHS Says The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it’s seeing a big uptick in the number of new customers buying private health insurance for 2023 from the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace. Nearly 3.4 million people have signed up for coverage — an increase of 17% compared to the same time last year. The boost in enrollment comes as the number of uninsured Americans this year reached a historic low of 8%. (Seitz, 11/22)

CBS News: Pediatric ICUs Face Bed Shortage Amid RSV Surge: "It's Not Hyperbole To Call It A Crisis" For every patient discharged from the pediatric intensive care unit at Mass General for Children in Boston, three more are waiting for that bed. A surge in cases of respiratory syncytial virus, also known as RSV, has hospitals nationwide struggling to treat patients. (O'Donnell, Hastey and Paulino, 11/22)

For a Deeper Dive...

Modern Healthcare: Insurance Claim Denial Rates Rising As Health Systems Struggle Health systems across the country have experienced a significant rise in denied claims over the past year, leading to more administrative work for providers, less cash flow for hospitals and, in some cases, postponed patient care. (Devereaux, 11/21)

Axios: How Medical Inflation Is Ensnaring Big Employers A convergence of factors driving up health costs is threatening to make next year a very pricey one for big employers, forcing some to make difficult tradeoffs and eat some of the added expense. (Reed and Gonzalez, 11/21)

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JAMA: Medicare 2.0—A Vision for the Future of America’s Health Insurance Plan.  M Johnson, DM Berwick

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