A new study commissioned by an anti-public option organization says the public health insurance option law could exacerbate Nevada’s existing health care provider shortage and reduce access to care. The results of the study — conducted by Wakely Consulting Group, which undertook the actuarial analysis for Colorado’s public option and helped the state implement it — projected that Nevada’s public option law could reduce competition in the Silver State’s health care market, potentially leading some insurers to depart.
The divisions are no longer accepting new patients. Gene Meyer, Boone Health interim president and CEO, declined to specify how much cost savings will come from the closures. However, he confirmed it was not part of an approximately $11 million cost savings plan the hospital implemented this year. Meyer said approximately 50 patients are currently being served by the divisions. Most of those patients are Boone County residents and receive care at home.
Today half of all Medicare beneficiaries are insured by insurance companies and the other half are insured by traditional Medicare. Allina-Aetna’s ad boasted about extra services their “advantage” plan covers that Congress has never allowed the traditional Medicare program to cover. The upper half of the first page of the ad was taken up with these words: “Can I get dental, vision and hearing benefits in a Medicare plan?” Just below the fold were the words, “Yes, yes, and yes!”
Are you willing to pay a small annual fee if it means a faster ambulance response in critical situations? The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP), in its 2023 CCAP EMS Task Force Report stated, "Emergency Medical Services in Pennsylvania are in crisis, affirmed by findings of multiple studies." All these reports contain recommendations to deal with the issues facing EMS and emergency services in Pennsylvania because the current system is failing and not sustainable without significant changes.
If the government hoped Medicare Advantage plans would reduce the costs of care, that has not been the outcome. Medicare pays the plans 6 percent more than it would spend if plan enrollees were covered under regular, fee-for-service Medicare, the MedPAC report found. Medicare payments to the plans will total $27 billion more in 2023 than if patients were enrolled in traditional Medicare, the report projected.