Center for Studying Health System Change

05/24/13 New York Times California Puts Tentative Price on Health Policies Under New Law While Washington, Vermont and several other states have also announced the details of their respective exchanges, California’s size and previous support for the health care law made it an important test of the law, said Paul B. Ginsburg, the president o 05/17/13 Los Angeles Times Cedars-Sinai stands out for steep pricing "Los Angeles stood out as a relatively low-priced market overall, but there were some individual hospitals that were very high," Ginsburg said. "Cedars-Sinai and UCLA are likely to have more leverage [with insurers] because of their strong rep 05/10/13 MarketWatch How to haggle down your medical bills About 20% of Americans have problems paying their medical bill, according to the nonprofit Center for Studying Health System Change, a figure that has remained relatively consistent over the past few years. 05/08/13 Washington Post One hospital charges $8,000—another, $38,000 “I think a lot of politicians are thinking more about transparency as a principle than actually creating a strategy that would help consumers purchase health care,” said Paul Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change. 05/08/13 ABC News Hospital Prices Vary Dramatically "These charges really don’t have a direct relationship with the price for the average person," said Chapin White of the nonprofit Center for Studying Health System Change. "I think the point is to shame hospitals." 05/07/13 Politico Study: Cuts to Medicare Trim Costs to Insurers When Medicare payment rates for hospital inpatient care are cut, do insurers end up paying more? A new study published Monday in Health Affairs finds they don’t—contradicting the well-known “cost shifting” theory. 05/06/13 Bloomberg Health-Care Cost Slowdown Seen Saving Up to $770 Billion Hospitals with relatively slow growth in Medicare payments from 1995 to 2009 also saw relatively slow growth in payments from private insurers, said Chapin White, a researcher at [HSC]. 05/02/13 Washington Post Ad tries to steer patients away from the emergency room A recent analysis from the Center for Studying Health System Change found that about half of emergency room trips are “emergent” or “semi-emergent,” needing to be treated within an hour. 04/25/13 Stateline New Health Exchanges Unlikely to End Insurance Monopolies in Some States In some markets, dominant insurers are akin to utilities, explained Paul Ginsburg of the Center for Studying Health System Change. “You don’t necessarily need more than one,” he said. 04/16/13 Wall Street Journal Treatment Woes Can Bolster Hospitals’ Profit "You have a situation where it’s clear that if hospitals invest resources to reduce complications, it’s going to hurt them financially," said Paul Ginsburg, president of the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington. 03/18/13 New York Times U.S. Drug Costs Dropped in 2012, but Rises Loom “This is a charmed era that won’t last forever,” said Paul B. Ginsburg, the president of the Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonpartisan research group that studies health care trends.
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Baltimore Health Insurance Market Primed for National Health Reform

With a history of aggressive state oversight of health care and Medicaid coverage expansions, the Baltimore metropolitan area likely faces a smoother transition to national health reform than many other markets across the country, according to a new Community Report released today by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).

Lower Medicare Hospital Payment Rates Lead to Lower Rates for Private Payers

Contrary to the notion that hospitals charge private payers higher payment rates to offset lower Medicare rates, it turns out the opposite is true—lower Medicare payment rates lead to lower private rates for inpatient care, according to a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) published in the May Health Affairs.

Scaling Up Payment Reform Pilots Key to Health Care Cost Containment

Scaling up health care payment reform to control costs and improve quality will require both sticks to prod providers from the sidelines and carrots to guide patients to more-efficient, higher-quality doctors and hospitals, according to an article by Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., president of the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC), in the May Health Affairs.

Hospital Quality Reporting: Separating the Signal from the Noise

Amid the proliferation of quality measures, reporting requirements and transparency efforts, purchasers often find it difficult to separate the signal from the noise when determining what hospital quality measures are important, how to interpret and use quality information in a meaningful way, and how to present useful and actionable information to consumers, according to a new Policy Analysis from the nonprofit, nonpartisan National Institute for Health Care Reform (NIHCR).

Medicare Spending Limits: Issues and Implications

Several major deficit-reduction plans include provisions that would impose an explicit limit on the growth in Medicare spending. A new Kaiser Family Foundation report written by Chapin White, Ph.D., HSC senior health researcher, describes and analyzes various approaches to setting and enforcing limits on Medicare spending.

Primary Care Workforce Shortages: Nurse Practitioner Scope-of-Practice Laws and Payment Policies

While state scope-of practice laws don’t typically restrict what primary care services nurse practitioners (NPs) can provide to patients, the laws do affect practice opportunities for NPs and appear to influence payer policies, according to a new qualitative study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) for the nonpartisan, nonprofit National Institute for Health Care Reform (NIHCR).

Few Americans Switch Employer Health Plans for Better Quality, Lower Costs

Less than 2.5 percent of nonelderly Americans in 2010 with employer coverage—about the same proportion as in 2003—initiated a change in health plans to reduce their health insurance costs or get a better quality plan, according to a new national study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) for the nonpartisan, nonprofit National Institute for Health Care Reform (NIHCR).

Los Angeles and San Diego Regional Market Studies

New market studies of the Los Angeles and San Diego areas conducted by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) offer a look at emerging trends, including preparations for health reform.

17th Annual Wall Street Comes to Washington Conference

HSC's 17th Annual Wall Street Comes to Washington conference was held on Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2012, in Washington, D.C. A transcript and audio podcast of the conference are now available.

Employer-Sponsored Insurance and Health Reform: Doing the Math

Amid concerns that health reform might hasten the ongoing decline of employer health coverage, the calculus of offering coverage will continue to make economic sense for businesses employing most workers (81%) now offered insurance, according to a new national study for the nonpartisan, nonprofit National Institute for Health Care Reform (NIHCR).

Easier Access to After-Hours Care Linked to Less Emergency Department Use

Patients with problems reaching their primary care practice after hours are more likely to report ending up in the emergency department and going without needed medical care, according to a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) published today as a Web First by Health Affairs.

San Francisco and Fresno Regional Market Studies

New market studies of the San Francisco and Fresno areas conducted by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) offer a stark contrast—particularly in preparations for health reform—between one of the most affluent and poorest regions of the state.

Local Public Hospitals: Changing with the Times

In recent years, local public hospitals have stayed afloat financially without abandoning their mission to care for low-income people by expanding access to primary care, attracting privately insured patients and paying closer attention to collection of patient revenues, among other strategies, according to a qualitative study released today by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).

Care Coordination Agreements: Lessons Learned

To improve the quality and coordination of care, some physicians have developed written care coordination agreements that spell out the respective responsibilities of two or more physicians for coordination of patient care. Changes in payment policies likely could encourage further development of these kinds of agreements, according to a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) published as a Web Exclusive by the American Journal of Managed Care.

Emergency Preparedness and Community Coalitions: Opportunities and Challenges

While hospitals and first responders consistently work together to prepare for natural disasters, infectious disease outbreaks and other emergencies likely to result in many injured or ill people, other important groups—primary care clinicians and nursing homes, for example—typically do not participate in local emergency-preparedness coalitions, according to a new qualitative study of 10 U.S. communities by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).

Despite Employer Interest, Americans' Use of Workplace Clinics Remains Low

Despite heightened employer interest in workplace clinics as a cost-containment tool, only 4 percent of American families in 2010 reported visiting a workplace clinic in the previous year—the same proportion as in 2007, according to a new national study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) for the nonpartisan, nonprofit National Institute for Health Care Reform (NIHCR).

Despite Recession, Share of Americans with High Medical Costs Mostly Unchanged

Almost one in five Americans younger than 65—18.8 percent—lived in families with high medical costs in 2009, roughly the same as 2006 despite widespread job losses, more uninsured and declining incomes during the Great Recession, according to a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) published today as a Web First by Health Affairs.

High-Intensity Primary Care: Lessons for Physician and Patient Engagement

If fledgling efforts to improve quality and lower costs by focusing extra primary care attention on patients with complex conditions are to succeed, ensuring physicians and patients are on board will be key, according to a new qualitative study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) for the nonpartisan, nonprofit National Institute for Health Care Reform (NIHCR).

Sacramento and Riverside/San Bernardino Regional Market Studies

Increased pressure on hospitals to contain costs, growing concerns about physician shortages and strained safety nets are among the trends identified in new market studies of the Sacramento and Riverside/San Bernardino regions conducted by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).

Accuracy of Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Key to Broader Reform

Despite growing interest in replacing fee-for-service payments to health care providers, fee for service is likely to remain the core way of paying physicians, so ensuring the accuracy of these payments will be important to the success of broader payment reforms, according to an article by Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., HSC president, published in the September edition of Health Affairs.

Adapting Tools from Other Nations to Slow U.S. Prescription Drug Spending

Tools commonly used in other developed nations to help slow prescription drug spending growth offer potential lessons for the U.S. health system, according to a new Policy Analysis from the nonprofit, nonpartisan National Institute for Health Care Reform (NIHCR).

Health Care Safety Net Coordination Grows in Some Communities

Safety net clinics, hospitals and other providers that care for uninsured and low-income people increasingly are seeking ways to coordinate services to increase access, improve quality and reduce costs, according to a study by HSC published in the August edition of Health Affairs.

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