The Daily News
HALF OF AMERICAN ADULTS ARE HEALTH-CARE ILLITERATE
The CDC recently released a study indicating nearly half of US adults are health care illiterate, with that group showing “inadequate skills when it comes to understanding their health care options.” Lead author Stan Hudson said, “We found that low health literacy is a contributing factor for readmission for chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer.” He said CMS “estimates health expenditures will cost the” US “$3.5 trillion in 2017,” adding that “we estimate sufficient health literacy could save $105 to $175 billion each year.” Read more…
Crain’s Health Pulse
HEALTHFIRST’S MEDICAID OPERATING LOSSES TOP $35M
Healthfirst, a nonprofit insurer serving New York City and Long Island, saw operating losses of $35.5 million on Medicaid in 2016, according to a Medicaid managed-care operations report.
The operating deficit ballooned to 25 times its 2015 level. Per-member-per-month costs increased 4.8%, to $457.92, outpacing the rate of capitation, which rose 3%, to $413.15.
Spending increased in several areas, including specialty care and outpatient mental health care.
Per-member-per-month pharmacy-benefit spending dipped slightly to $95.36 last year from $97 the previous year. But a Healthfirst spokesman said prescription drugs are still a major cost driver for Medicaid plans.
“While we saw Medicaid pharmacy costs level off in 2016 when compared to 2015, driven by the availability of lower-cost hepatitis medications entering the market as well as members moving from traditional Medicaid to Health and Recovery Plans [HARP], prescription-drug spending remains a potentially destabilizing force for all health plans under current Medicaid reimbursement models,” the spokesman said in a statement. |
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