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A recent blog post on this site (Don’t Confuse Cost Shifting with Cost Savings) noted opportunities for policymakers to actually reduce (rather than merely shift) health care costs. In addition to the opportunities noted in that post (such as bundled payments for certain episodes of care and value-based payments for prescription drugs), there is a larger trend that also promises...

A recent article in The Economist magazine discussed various theories and principles of “human capital”. As stated in the article, “human capital refers to the abilities and qualities of people that make them productive” and that while knowledge is the most important form of human capital, it is not the only form of human capital. The article went on to...

As Republicans in Congress continue their efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, they keep on looking for new ways to separate portions of the insurance markets' risk pools into different segments. For example, proposals from both the House of Representatives and the Senate would have made it easier for insurance companies to sell barebones plans that would...

More Americans are working past 65 and continue to have employer-sponsored health insurance. However, the intersection of Medicare and employer coverage has a number of traps for the unwary and some of these traps come with real financial consequences. This makes it more important than ever that you (and your employer) understand the complex rules for starting coverage under Medicare....

Senate Republican leaders have released a revised version of the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA II), their efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. BCRA II is identical to the original BCRA, with a handful of key differences: •   BRCA II retains several of the new taxes levied under ACA (most notably the additional 0.9% Medicare tax on joint...

As the debate in Washington rages on over the efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) there is a fundamental truth that is being ignored: there are no provisions of the current ACA replacement bills - either from the House (the American Health Care Act, or AHCA) or the Senate (the Better Care Reconciliation Act, or BCRA)...

On June 22, the Senate Republicans released the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (“BCRA”), their version of a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. The bill repeals some provisions of the ACA. However, in many instances the bill retains the ACA framework, but dramatically reshapes provisions of the ACA. Here are some of the key provisions...

An interesting thing happened in Washington last week. No, not high profile testimony or legislative action on health care. Rather, a working group of economists from the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute issued a report on paid family leave. You might wonder what is so interesting about another report coming from some Washington economists, but stay with me...

For years, experts have warned that Americans will have insufficient savings for retirement and that penury was awaiting a generation of retirees. However, some recent studies indicate that American workers have been paying attention to these warnings – but responding in some different ways. Most significantly, it seems that large numbers of workers are remaining in the workforce beyond the...

In an age when technology disrupts one industry after another, it may be helpful to spend some time thinking about technology and healthcare. Specifically, let’s focus on telemedicine - including telehealth (using electronic communication media to provide clinical services) and remote patient monitoring (using technology to monitor patients with certain chronic conditions). Telemedicine holds great potential •      For individuals who cannot...