According to an analysis conducted by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion disproportionately benefited rural Americans over their urban counterparts. The American Health Care Act’s (AHCA) proposed cuts to Medicaid, rolling it back to below funding levels established by the ACA, would negatively affect millions ofContinue reading “AHCA Medicaid Cuts Would Hit Rural Areas Hardest”
Tag Archives: healthcare
Impact of AHCA Medicaid Cap on Children
A recent analysis by Avalere projected the impact of federal Medicaid cap proposals on overall and state-by- state federal spending on children currently in Medicaid. The report estimated that the House-passed #AHCA would cut Medicaid for kids by $43 billion by 2026. In Colorado, these cuts would amount to $571 million. While this study focused exclusivelyContinue reading “Impact of AHCA Medicaid Cap on Children”
The Affordable Care Act is Good for Colorado (and Repeal is Not)
The effects of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 in each state depend on various factors, such as the number of uninsured individuals in the state and the governor’s receptiveness to the law’s provisions. In this post, I focus on the benefits of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in Colorado, primarily from the perspective of my job as anContinue reading “The Affordable Care Act is Good for Colorado (and Repeal is Not)”
What we miss when we look only at the cost of healthcare coverage
With the Republicans on the verge of dismantling the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, much of their focus has been on how much healthcare insurance “costs”. I thought it would be timely to revisit a 2015 analysis in the American Journal of Public Health, “Considering Whether Medicaid is Worth the Cost: Revisiting the Oregon Health Study.” (fullContinue reading “What we miss when we look only at the cost of healthcare coverage”
2016 Presidential Candidates’ Positions on Child Health Issues
In September, the Pediatric Policy Council (PPC)—a nonpartisan collaboration of the Academic Pediatric Association, the American Pediatric Society, the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs, and the Society for Pediatric Research dedicated to promoting public policies to advance child health and well-being—developed four general questions related to child health to be sent to theContinue reading “2016 Presidential Candidates’ Positions on Child Health Issues”
Paid Sick Leave Lowers Costs
An Upshot column “The High Costs of Not Offering Paid Sick Leave” argues that employees and their co-workers may be better off with an incentive to take time off when sick. About 45 percent of the American work force does not have paid sick leave; that’s about 50 million workers. Families with less ability to afford unpaid time off are moreContinue reading “Paid Sick Leave Lowers Costs”
Obamacare Succeeds in Expanding Insurance Coverage
Amidst news of the increasing premiums and decreasing choice of plans in some healthcare markets, the New York Times‘ Upshot column brings us this visual display of the impressive and varied impact of Obamacare on insurance coverage rates from 2013-2016. States that decided to expand their Medicaid programs saw much larger declines in their uninsured ratesContinue reading “Obamacare Succeeds in Expanding Insurance Coverage”
Two most common pediatric migraine medications no more effective than placebo
Neither of the two drugs used most frequently to prevent migraines in children–amitriptyline and topiramate–is more effective than a placebo, according to results of the Childhood and Adolescent Migraine Prevention (CHAMP) trial published this week in The New England Journal of Medicine. The investigators found no significant differences in reduction in headache frequency or headache-related disability in childhood and adolescent migraineContinue reading “Two most common pediatric migraine medications no more effective than placebo”
The Experts Were Wrong About the Best Places for Better and Cheaper Health Care
A post in the New York Times’ Upshot column today focuses on a study that overturns the conventional wisdom that regions with low Medicare spending per capita have low overall healthcare spending. The study found that places that spend less on Medicare do not necessarily spend less on health care over all. Based on findings ofContinue reading “The Experts Were Wrong About the Best Places for Better and Cheaper Health Care”
Marion R. Sills, MD, MPH 