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The term “surprise medical bill” describes charges arising when an insured person inadvertently receives care from an out-of-network provider. Surprise medical bills can arise in an emergency when the patient has no ability to select the emergency room, treating physicians, …
Employer-based health insurance is the most important source of health coverage for the nonelderly, covering about 58% of this population in 2017. The workplace has long been a significant source of coverage for those in working families, although its importance …
Cost-sharing between insurance providers and patients has increasingly become a topic of public discussion. In particular, the increasing proportion that enrollees are paying for healthcare has been an area of concern. For example, in the ten years from 2006 to …
In a given year, a small portion of the population is responsible for a very large percentage of total health spending. We tend to focus on averages when discussing health spending, but individuals’ health status – and thus their need …
An updated version of this brief is available here.
Rising cost-sharing for people with health insurance has drawn a good deal of public attention in recent years. For example, the average deductible for people with employer-provided health coverage rose from …
Health spending is very concentrated among a small portion of the population, with 50% of spending focused on the top 5% of spenders in any one year.
With so much spending concentrated among a few very sick people, efforts to …
The recent slowdown in health spending growth continued through 2013, according to a new report released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Health spending per capita grew at 2.9% in 2013, a continuation of the historically low …
When patients were notified of less expensive MRI options and allowed to switch to lower-cost providers, researchers found an average savings of 18.7% per exam, according to a new study. The study found that patients were responsive to the price …
The U.S. is experiencing the slowest growth in health spending in five decades, which has generated considerable debate about what has led to the slowing. Analysts have pointed to the downturn in the economy and to structural changes to the …
The growth of health costs in the employer-sponsored insurance market is expected to increase in 2015, according to PwC’s Health Research Institute (HRI) annual medical cost trend projection. Though this may mark the end of five years of slowed growth, …