Trump vowed to overhaul the health care system, notably saying in one of his first post-election speeches that pharmaceutical companies were “getting away with murder” over their pricing tactics. Four years later, not a lot has changed. If anything, the health care industry has become more financially and politically powerful. “Most of the bigger ideas have…
Health care stocks skyrocketed after Tuesday’s election results indicated Republicans likely will maintain control of the Senate, all but assuring continued gridlock in both chambers of Congress. A Republican Senate means “the public option and direct government negotiation on drug prices are dead for at least the next two years,” Spencer Perlman, an analyst at…
The likelihood of a Biden presidency and a closely divided Senate means that nothing big is likely to happen in health care for at least the next two years. For all the time Democrats spent debating Medicare for All, competing public insurance options and sweeping federal controls over drug prices, the near-term future for health…
Analyzes Medicaid enrollment and spending trends for FY 2020 and FY 2021 based on data provided by state Medicaid directors as part of the 20th annual survey of Medicaid directors in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Overall, 43 states2 responded to the survey by mid-August 2020, although response rates for specific questions varied.…
8 in 10 adults (79%) say they do not want to see the Supreme Court overturn the protections for people with pre-existing conditions established by the Affordable Care Act and a majority of U.S. adults (58%) also say they do not want to see the Supreme Court overturn the entire 2010 law. Majorities of Republicans…
Outpatient visits have returned to their pre-pandemic levels after declining by nearly 60%, according to a Commonwealth Fund new analysis. The huge drop in people seeking care was bad both for providers and for patients, many of whom delayed care for conditions that may have worsened. Telemedicine visits initially surged, but have since dropped off.…
U.S. Supreme Court decisions shape health policy in important ways. The nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, if confirmed, is expected to establish a solid 6:3 conservative majority that could affect case outcomes in several areas. This issue brief considers the potential implications of a reconfigured Court for health policy issues, including those already on…
Even though voters care a lot about drug prices, they’re NOT the main reason the U.S. spends so much on health care. The primary culprits are the twice as much per person spent on hospital and physician payments than comparable wealthy nations. And yet, according to a new Peterson-Kaiser Tracker analysis, the U.S. has worse health…
