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What We're Reading: Cigna Remains Committed to ACA Exchanges
What we're reading, December 8, 2015: Cigna remains committed to participation in Obamacare exchanges; Puerto Rico demands the US fix healthcare funding disparities; and fewer Americans struggle to pay medical bills.
UnitedHealth Group may regret its decision to participate in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces and be ready to jump ship in 2017, but Cigna remains committed. In an interview with Kaiser Health News, Cigna CEO David Cordani explained that the exchanges are a long-term viable market and that the company has been viewing 2014, 2015, and 2016 as Version 1.0 of the marketplace. Currently Cigna is losing money, but Cordani said that Cigna didn’t expect to make money right away.
Puerto Rico may be sending its poor and elderly to the US mainland to get care, according to Bloomberg Business. Although Puerto Ricans are US citizens, the island is a commonwealth, not a state, and as such it gets shortchanged on funding for federal programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare. However, almost 70% of Puerto Ricans get their healthcare through Medicaid, Medicare, and Medicare Advantage. Elected officials are demanding that the US fix healthcare funding disparities.
Finally, data from the CDC found that fewer Americans are struggling to pay their medical bills, and that most progress has come from low-income individuals and those with government coverage. This is the fourth year in a row that has seen improvements and the CDC credits most of the last 2 years to coverage expansion under the ACA, reported the New York Times.
Disparities in Telehealth Access Undermine Adoption Among Patients With Schizophrenia
January 16th 2025The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the widespread adoption of telemental health care, and new research indicates significant racial and ethnic disparities in access to this technology among Medicaid beneficiaries with schizophrenia.
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Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity: Pharmacy Support for Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma
December 19th 2024Rachael Drake, pharmacy technician coordinator, University of Kansas Health System, explains how her team collaborates with insurance companies and providers to support treatment access for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
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Telephone Follow-Up on Medicare Patient Surveys Remains Critical
January 16th 2025Including a telephone component in Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey administration continues to be valuable because telephone responses comprise a substantial portion of responses for several underserved groups.
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Study Suggests Postdischarge Care Needs Targeted, Multifaceted Approaches
January 15th 2025The findings challenge the effectiveness of these widely used transitional care interventions and suggest a need for more targeted, multifaceted approaches to address the needs of higher-risk patients.
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