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Health and Health Care

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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—health care reform—fundamentally changed health insurance and access to health care. Our researchers are unpacking the landmark law, studying the challenges of implementation, and using our Health Insurance Policy Simulation Model to estimate how its proposals will affect children, seniors, and families, as well as doctors, small businesses, and the national debt.

The Urban Institute also studies cost, coverage, and reform options for Medicare and Medicaid and analyzes trends and underlying causes of changes in health insurance coverage, access to care, and Americans’ use of health care services. Read more.

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Policy Options to Improve the Performance of Low Income Subsidy Programs for Medicare Beneficiaries (Research Report)
Stephen Zuckerman, Baoping Shang, Timothy Waidmann

Low-income Medicare beneficiaries are eligible for subsidies to help them pay premiums and cost sharing. However, these subsidies fall short of those contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that help low-income families afford adequate health coverage. In this report we consider policy options to reform Medicare's low-income subsidies to better align with ACA provisions. We estimate that a significant simplification in low-income protection and cost-sharing rules could greatly reduce burdens on the poorest and sickest beneficiaries. Depending on how they are implemented, these reforms could either reduce or only modestly increase total public spending.

Posted to Web: February 02, 2012Publication Date: January 31, 2012

Health Reform’s Tax on Investment: Facts and Myths (Article/Tax Facts)
Donald Marron

To help pay for expanded health insurance coverage, the health reform legislation enacted in 2010 included a new 3.8 percent tax on the net investment income of high-income taxpayers. When it goes into effect in 2013, it will increase the top tax rate on capital gains, dividends, and other investment income, regardless of whether the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts are allowed to expire. Almost all the burden will be borne by taxpayers with extremely high incomes. More than half the burden, for example, falls on taxpayers in the top 0.1 percent of the income distribution.

Posted to Web: January 31, 2012Publication Date: January 30, 2012

Health Reform in Massachusetts as of Fall 2010: Getting Ready for the Affordable Care Act & Addressing Affordability (Research Report)
Sharon K. Long, Karen Stockley, Heather Dahlen

Five years after the enactment of Massachusetts health reform initiative, gains in insurance coverage and access to care have been sustained. This report provides an update on trends in the Bay State since fall 2006, just prior to the implementation of the state's health reform initiative, along with a more in-depth overview of the circumstances of working-age adults in 2010, as the state begins implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Posted to Web: January 27, 2012Publication Date: January 27, 2012

Massachusetts Health Reforms: Uninsurance Remains Low, Self- Reported Health Status Improves As State Prepares To Tackle Costs (Research Report)
Sharon K. Long, Karen Stockley, Heather Dahlen

Massachusetts is in its sixth year of a reform initiative that provided the template for the federal Affordable Care Act of 2010. This Health Affairs article reports on the status of health reform in Massachusetts as of 2010, providing an early indication of potential gains and challenges under national reform.

Posted to Web: January 27, 2012Publication Date: January 27, 2012

Improving the Efficiency of Primary Care in Safety Net Clinics: San Mateo County's System Redesign (Policy Briefs)
Embry M. Howell, Ashley Palmer

San Mateo County is one of a small number of innovative local jurisdictions that is expanding coverage for uninsured adults and at the same time undertaking a reform of its safety net primary care system. We evaluated the impact of the systems redesign by comparing outcomes for a group of people served at the largest county safety net clinic prior to systems redesign (2006) to those served at the clinic after systems redesign (2009). Use of any preventive care services in a year climbed from 25.9 percent to 33.3 percent. Continuity of care also rose significantly, and emergency room use declined. The county's experience provides an example for other communities to follow as they improve the efficiency of health care services for the most vulnerable members of society.

Posted to Web: January 25, 2012Publication Date: January 25, 2012

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