Beating A Cancer Death Sentence.
Published in Health affairs (Project Hope)
A melanoma survivor describes his arduous-and costly-path to successful treatment and hope.
ACA Coverage, Health Spending, And More.
Published in Health affairs (Project Hope)
Share Of Specialty Drugs In Commercial Plans Nearly Quadrupled, 2003-14.
Published in Health affairs (Project Hope)
From 2003 to 2014 the proportion of specialty prescription drugs (defined as those reimbursed at $600 or more per thirty-day fill) nearly quadrupled. Over this time period, fills for specialty drugs increased by 198 percent and spending for the drugs increased by 292 percent, as percentages of total drug fills and spending. Median out-of-pocket spe...
Contrary To Conventional Wisdom, Physicians Abandoned A Breast Cancer Treatment After A Trial Concluded It Was Ineffecti...
Published in Health affairs (Project Hope)
Conventional wisdom holds that physicians are slow to abandon ineffective medical practices. We evaluated this theory in the case of axillary lymph node dissection, a procedure to remove the lymph nodes near the breast to prevent the spread of breast cancer following breast-conserving surgery. A major trial conducted from 1999 to 2004, with results...
Private Sector An Important But Not Dominant Provider Of Key Health Services In Low- And Middle-Income Countries.
Published in Health affairs (Project Hope)
There is debate about the role of the private sector in providing services in the health systems of low- and middle-income countries and about how the private sector could help achieve the goal of universal health coverage. Yet the role that the private sector plays in the delivery of health services is poorly understood. Using data for the period ...
Ten-Year Trends In Treatment Services For Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Enrolled In Medicaid.
Published in Health affairs (Project Hope)
Closing the gap between evidence-based clinical practice standards and their inclusion in routine practice continues to be a major goal of health policy reforms. This gap is especially large for the care of children with psychiatric disorders-especially those from low-income families, many of whom are insured through Medicaid. To address this gap, ...
Changes In Health Status And Care Use After ACA Expansions Among The Insured And Uninsured.
Published in Health affairs (Project Hope)
Following the Affordable Care Act's insurance expansion provisions in 2014, the average health status and use of health care within coverage groups has likely changed. Medicaid enrollees and the uninsured were both healthier in 2014 than those respective groups were in 2013. By contrast, those with individual private insurance coverage appeared les...
As Zika Reaches US Shores, States And Cities Struggle To Respond.
Published in Health affairs (Project Hope)
Local health officials have been forced to make do with public health resources stretched thin.
Population Of US Practicing Psychiatrists Declined, 2003-13, Which May Help Explain Poor Access To Mental Health Care.
Published in Health affairs (Project Hope)
A large proportion of the US population suffers from mental illness. Limited access to psychiatrists may be a contributor to the underuse of mental health services. We studied changes in the supply of psychiatrists from 2003 to 2013, compared to changes in the supply of primary care physicians and neurologists. During this period the number of prac...
Medical Marijuana Laws Reduce Prescription Medication Use In Medicare Part D.
Published in Health affairs (Project Hope)
Legalization of medical marijuana has been one of the most controversial areas of state policy change over the past twenty years. However, little is known about whether medical marijuana is being used clinically to any significant degree. Using data on all prescriptions filled by Medicare Part D enrollees from 2010 to 2013, we found that the use of...
