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What We're Reading: 4-Year High Uninsured Rate; Trump Takes On Surprise Medical Bills; Measles Outbreak
The uninsured rate in the United States rose to a 4-year high of 13.7% in the fourth quarter of 2018; President Trump has instructed administration officials to tackle surprise medical billing; and a measles outbreak has hit Washington State.
Uninsured Rate at Highest Level Since 2014
In the fourth quarter of 2018, the uninsured rate in the United States landed at 13.7%, the highest level since the first quarter of 2014. According to Gallup, while still below the uninsured rate of 18% prior to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, the rate is still well above the 10.9% mark in 2016. The increase represents about 17 million people without health insurance.
Trump Vows to Tackle Surprise Medical Bills
Measles Outbreak in Washington State
As patients and doctors joined President Donald Trump in the White House on Wednesday to share their experiences with surprise medical bills, Trump instructed HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Labor Secretary Alex Acosta to find a solution, reported Kaiser Health News. The 10 guests each shared their stories of unexpected bills, including a retired doctor whose family received a $17,850 bill for a urine test.Washington State has become the latest state to experience a measles outbreak, with 23 people falling ill with the disease this month. The outbreak has mostly affected children under age 10, according to The Wall Street Journal. In response, local officials in Clark County, near Portland, Oregon, declared a public health emergency. The outbreak, along with the one that began in Brooklyn, New York, last year, is largely due to a drop in vaccination rates in some communities.
Urticaria Diagnosis Challenged by Overlapping Pruritic Skin Conditions
April 23rd 2025Urticaria is complicated to diagnose by its symptomatic overlap with other skin conditions and the frequent misclassification in literature of distinct pathologies like vasculitic urticaria and bullous pemphigus.
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New Research Challenges Assumptions About Hospital-Physician Integration, Medicare Patient Mix
April 22nd 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Brady Post, PhD, lead author of a study published in the April 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®, challenges the claim that hospital-employed physicians serve a more complex patient mix.
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Personalized Care Key as Tirzepatide Use Expands Rapidly
April 15th 2025Using commercial insurance claims data and the US launch of tirzepatide as their dividing point, John Ostrominski, MD, Harvard Medical School, and his team studied trends in the use of both glucose-lowering and weight-lowering medications, comparing outcomes between adults with and without type 2 diabetes.
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ACOs’ Focus on Rooting Out Fraud Aligns With CMS Vision Under Oz
April 23rd 2025Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are increasingly playing the role of data sleuths as they identify and report trends of anomalous billing in hopes of salvaging their shared savings. This mission dovetails with that of CMS, which under the new administration plans to prioritize rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse.
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