One third of those who enrolled in a health insurance plan on Healthcare.gov this year picked the same plan as last year, according to a new analysis from Avalere. In total, 3.2 million of the 9.6 million exchange shoppers in 2016 kept their previous plan.
Avalere Experts Estimate MedPAC Proposal to Change Calculation of Part D Enrollees' True Out-of-Pocket Spending Would Increase Beneficiary Costs by $4.1 Billion Between 2017-2020
Hospitals should focus on care after discharge, which drives more than 39 percent of spending.
New Avalere report identifies opportunities to refine the risk-adjustment model that could improve the way Affordable Care Act plans are paid
Almost every state has introduced Right-to-Try bills to try to offer patients another avenue to access investigational drugs outside of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) expanded access program. However, it is unclear whether these laws will impact patient access given their questionable legal standing, reduced patient protections due to lack of FDA oversight, and the risks to manufacturers of providing products under Right-to-Try laws.
Percentage of Medicare Advantage enrollees in plans with at least four stars continues to grow.
According to a new analysis by Avalere, total profit margins for freestanding skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in Pennsylvania decreased 28 percent between fiscal years (FY) 2007 and 2014, from 3.2 percent to 2.3 percent.
Percentage of drugs in Part D plans that require coinsurance increased significantly since 2014. Medicare Advantage plans require coinsurance far less often than Part D plans.
Avalere and Mental Health America (MHA) developed a white paper to describe the current state of quality of care for individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD), provide an evidence-based assessment of challenges, and highlight potential opportunities for quality improvement.
User fees are increasingly central to the funding of the drug and device review programs, and in some cases these fees account for a larger proportion of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) budget than congressionally-appropriated monies. For example, user fees account for 68 percent of the FDA's review budget for prescription drugs, while 58 percent of the review budget for generic drugs comes from user fees.
Avalere and Inovalon have entered into a multi-year agreement with Kindred Healthcare, Inc., the nation’s largest provider of post-acute care (PAC) services, to deploy the power of data and analytics to engage payers. The combined solutions will result in a data-driven platform that will support Kindred in improving clinical outcomes and promoting coordinated, efficient care under new value-based payment models.
A new analysis by Avalere finds that, despite efforts by policymakers to encourage broader vaccination rates, Medicare enrollees have limited access to a set of 10 recommended vaccines without having to pay out-of-pocket (e.g., co-payments).
A new analysis by Avalere examines differences in Medicare spending for episodes of care before and after cardiovascular imaging, colonoscopy, and evaluation and management services. Avalere applied a risk adjustment methodology to account for differences in patient demographics and patient severity across settings. The findings suggest when care is initiated in the typically higher-paying HOPD setting than in physicians' offices and ambulatory surgical centers, the services that follow also result in higher spending relative to when care is initiated in the office setting.
The CalPERS Basic Plan Drug List, which is the formulary for all California public employees, includes 222 brand drugs and 287 generic drugs. In contrast, drug coverage in the Veterans Administration (VA) and Medi-Cal (California's Medicaid program) is far more limited than the CalPERS drug list.
With growing out-of-pocket spending for care, patients are increasingly interested in knowing, upfront, how much their care will cost them, and how it relates to the quality and appropriateness of their care. Yet, various barriers often prevent these conversations from occurring during routine clinical encounters.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that 121 new Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) have joined the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) and Next Generation (Next Gen) ACO models. In addition, 147 MSSP ACOs renewed their contracts. The increase in risk-bearing ACOs and the recently released proposed benchmark rule mark CMS' commitment to shifting from volume to value.
President Obama released his budget for the 2017 fiscal year today. Avalere offers the following observations on the healthcare proposals:
In Biosimilars, Avalere's Gillian Woollett shares commentary on future considerations for the role of clinical trials in the development of biosimilars.
Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that 9.6 million individuals selected a health insurance plan on HealthCare.gov during the recent open enrollment season. Avalere estimates that 2016 year-end enrollment will slightly exceed the Obama administration's goal of enrolling 10 million people.
A new analysis by Avalere Health estimates that three proposed policy changes to expand Medicare reimbursement of telehealth and remote patient monitoring (RPM) would collectively decrease federal spending by $1.8 billion between FY2017 and FY2026.
