As the U.S. immigrant population grows it will be necessary to address the vast number of immigrants who do not have access to health insurance coverage, or who face other barriers to accessing health care, the American College of Physicians (ACP) said in a new policy paper released today at Internal Medicine 2011, ACP's annual scientific meeting. National Immigration Policy and Access to Health Care discusses the challenges immigrants face in obtaining health care services.
Physicians call for better access to health care for immigrants
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Study: Lowering cost doesn't increase hearing aid purchases
Lowering the cost of hearing aids isn't enough to motivate adults with mild hearing loss to purchase a device at a younger age or before their hearing worsens, according to researchers at Henry Ford Hospital.
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Two new studies describe likely beneficiaries of health care reform in California
According to two new policy briefs from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, the majority of state residents likely to be eligible for federally mandated health insurance coverage initiatives in California in 2014 are also those who may be least likely to excessively use costly health services: men, singles and those of working age.
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Health reform law will insure nearly all uninsured women by 2014
The new health reform law will expand health insurance coverage to nearly all uninsured women and will make health care more affordable for millions of women through premium subsidies beginning in 2014 and new rules, some already in place, that will protect women from high costs, according to a Commonwealth Fund report released today.
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New report on health reform implementation: How to ensure access to coverage is maintained
Modifications to current policies could help ensure that health insurance coverage and subsidies provided under the Affordable Care Act remain stable even through major life changes, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report released today. At least 34 million people will gain new coverage under the law, and the report's authors say that it will be important to ensure that life changes like fluctuations in income and job transitions don't cause abrupt changes in people's health insurance coverage or financial responsibilities for their premiums or care. Uncertainty about how life changes could affect their health insurance and premium costs might lead people to delay signing up for coverage through the exchanges and Medicaid, and could cause people who have received premium subsidies to have to pay money back if their incomes are higher than expected.
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Health reform essential to young adults: Nearly half can't afford needed health care
Young adults ages 19-29 are struggling to get the health care they need more than almost any other age group, demonstrating the need for Affordable Care Act provisions, some already in place, that will expand health insurance and make it more affordable, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. The report found that in 2010, 45 percent of young adults couldn't afford the care they needed, meaning they didn't fill a prescription, didn't go to the doctor when they were sick, or skipped a test, treatment, or follow-up visit, up from 32 percent who went without needed care because of cost in 2001.
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Two-thirds of newly diagnosed cancer patients unable to obtain oncology appointments
Newly diagnosed cancer patients frequently face hurdles in obtaining an appointment for care with an oncologist, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennnsylvania that will be presented Saturday, June 4 at the 2011 annual meeting of American Society of Clinical Oncology (Abstract #6128). Even callers with private health insurance had difficulty scheduling an appointment, with just 22 percent of them obtaining a slot, compared to 29 percent of uninsured patients and 17 percent of patients on Medicaid, according to results of a study in which research assistants posed as patients seeking an initial evaluation.
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Support for Massachusetts landmark health reform law rises in 2011
A new poll by the Harvard School of Public Health and The Boston Globe finds 63% of Massachusetts residents support the health care reform legislation enacted in 2006, 21% oppose it while 6% are not sure and 9% have not heard or read about the law. The percentage of residents supporting the law has increased since a 2009 poll (53%). Support for the law varied by party affiliation, with 77% of Democrats, 60% of Independents, and 40% of Republicans saying they support the legislation. The poll was conducted May 24-26, 2011.
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Why disparities in dental care persist for African-Americans even when they have insurance coverage
African Americans receive poorer dental care than white Americans, even when they have some dental insurance coverage. To better understand why this is so, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the College of Dental Medicine, surveyed African American adults with recent oral health symptoms, including toothaches and gum disease. Their findings provide insights into why disparities persist even among those with dental insurance and suggest strategies to removing barriers to dental care.
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Medical debt occurs despite insurance, study shows
Health insurance is not protecting Arizonans from having problems paying medical bills, and having bill problems is keeping families from getting needed medical care and prescription medicines, a new study has found.
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Health insurance doesn't always protect people from medical debt
In 2010, about 40 percent of Americans -- or 73 million people -- had trouble paying medical bills, up from 34 percent in 2005. Now, a new study confirms that having health insurance coverage is no guarantee against accumulating medical debt for working-age adults. Not surprisingly, the study likewise finds that both medical debt and lack of insurance coverage lead to reduced access to health care.
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Families shifting from private to public health insurance for children: study
Families are increasingly relying on public health insurance plans to provide coverage for their children, a growing trend that researchers say is tied to job losses, coverage changes to private health insurance plans, and expanded access to public plans, according to new research from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.
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Rising barriers to primary care send many Americans to the emergency department
A shortage in the number and availability of primary care physicians may continue to mean rising numbers of emergency department visits, despite the expanded health insurance coverage required by the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).
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Medical leaders say individual health insurance mandate is important for patients/physicians
(Medical Xpress) -- While the battle over the legality of the Affordable Care Act's mandate requiring most individuals to purchase health insurance continues to be fought, its impact on the quality and cost of care and what it would mean for patients and their physicians has been largely overlooked.
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Most med schools offer students poor mental health coverage, imperiling students, patients
Most U.S. medical schools offer their students poor health insurance coverage for the treatment of mental health and substance abuse disorders, a practice that imperils the well-being of our nation's future doctors and their patients, a group of Boston-area researchers report in JAMA today.
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Uninsured patients in Mass. still mainly the working poor, despite state's health reform
Despite the implementation of the Massachusetts health care reform designed to bolster employer-based insurance and to provide no-cost or low-cost insurance to those unable to afford it, the uninsured in Massachusetts remain predominantly the working poor, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School just published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
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Mammography use up for US immigrants
While mammography rates have improved among foreign-born women residing in the United States, these women are still less likely to have undergone breast cancer screening than native-born U.S. women.
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Link found between percentage of minority trauma patients in a hospital and increased odds of dying
The odds of dying appear to increase for patients treated at hospitals with higher proportions of minority trauma patients, although racial disparities may partly explain differences in outcomes between trauma hospitals, according to a report published Online First by Archives of Surgery.
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US health insurance costs up 9% in year: study
Company-provided health insurance, one of the largest costs of US businesses and households alike, rose nine percent over the past year despite the sluggish economy, according to a new study released Tuesday.
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Efforts to defund or ban infant male circumcision are unfounded and potentially harmful
Johns Hopkins infectious disease experts say the medical benefits for male circumcision are clear and that efforts in an increasing number of states (currently 18) to not provide Medicaid insurance coverage for male circumcision, as well as an attempted ballot initiative in San Francisco earlier this year to ban male circumcision in newborns and young boys, are unwarranted. Moreover, they say these actions ignore the last decade of medical evidence that the procedure can substantially protect men and their female partners from certain sexually transmitted infections.
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