Gallup Finds Healthcare Affordability Tops Concern List
A new Gallup Poll finds that Americans are more concerned about the availability and cost of healthcare than any other domestic issue. It is now issue number 1 in Americans’ minds. This has not happened since 2020.
About 61% of the 1,000 adults surveyed said they worry a “great deal” about accessing and affording healthcare, while 23% expressed a “fair amount” of concern. About 51% of respondents said they were concerned a “great deal” about the economy and 50% said the same about inflation.
The change comes as premiums surge throughout healthcare and enhanced Exchange subsidies expired.
In other news, healthcare tech company Cedar surveyed 4,150 patients across the U.S. and analyzed 1.5 billion patient interactions. Nearly 40% of healthcare collections now come from uninsured patients, up 54% in the past three years.
Also, states are paying contractors such as Deloitte, Accenture, and Optum millions of dollars to help them comply with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) new mandates, including work requirements in Medicaid.
Additional articles: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/finance/uninsured-patients-drive-nearly-40-healthcare-collections-cedar-survey and https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/states-pay-deloitte-others-millions-comply-trump-law-cut-medicaid-rolls
#healthcare #coverage #uninsured #medicaid #workrequirements
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5808929-healthcare-concerns-top-issue
Not A Doc Fix, But Progress
With Medicare pay for physicians dropping dramatically in real terms over decades and no real reform in sight, a bipartisan House bill soon to be introduced would cap annual Medicare physician reimbursement cuts at 2.5% while giving regulators more leeway to set annual payment updates. Proponents say this would address some underlying aspects of the rate-setting process that continue to pay cuts and modest increases from year to year. At the same time, the bill does not include an increase for FFY 2027.
(Article may require a subscription.)
#medicare #physicians #rates
https://www.modernhealthcare.com/politics-regulation/mh-house-bill-medicare-physician-pay-cuts
KFF Briefers Covers Life Expectancy, Prescription Drug Views
Healthcare policy group KFF published a few briefers today.
- The Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker compares life expectancy in the U.S. against other developed nations. In 2024, U.S. life expectancy reached a record high of 79 years, but that is 3.7 years below the comparable country average of 82.7 years.
- Most adults take at least one prescription and worry about affording medicine. GLP-1 use is up and with that comes worries over cost. Americans want more regulation of drug pricing.
Additional article: https://www.kff.org/health-costs/life-expectancy-in-the-u-s-and-how-it-compares-to-other-countries-slideshow/
#lifeexpectancy #drugpricing
https://www.kff.org/health-costs/public-opinion-on-prescription-drugs-and-their-prices/
— Marc S. Ryan
