Proposed Mental Health Parity Rule Signals New Focus on Outcome Data as Tool to Assess Compliance September 29, 2023 Issue Brief Proposed updates to federal mental health parity rules would make wide ranging changes to current standards that apply to private insurance and coverage provided by most employers. This issue brief focuses on one aspect of the new proposal—a requirement that plans perform an “outcome analysis” before they can place certain restrictions on behavioral health coverage. This would require that plans evaluate specific data to determine the impact of certain restrictions on behavioral health access, such as prior authorization rules or limited provider network access. The use of data analysis as an oversight tool would be new for federal insurance regulators. The brief discusses this new proposed tool and the key policy questions that it triggers.
Understanding the Role of the FTC, DOJ, and States in Challenging Anticompetitive Practices Of Hospitals and Other Health Care Providers August 7, 2023 Issue Brief This brief explains the role of federal and state antitrust agencies in challenging anticompetitive practices among hospitals and other health care providers, including the legal authority of federal and state agencies, the role that they play in enforcing antitrust laws, and proposed options for strengthening their authority.
New KFF National Survey of OBGYNs Finds Dobbs Decision Has Made It Harder to Treat Miscarriages and Other Pregnancy-Related Emergencies in Affected States; In States with Bans, Half Report Patients Who Were Unable to Obtain an Abortion They Sought June 21, 2023 News Release A new KFF survey of office-based OBGYNs finds widespread effects on their practices and patients since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization one year ago. In states with abortion bans, half say that they have patients who have been unable to obtain an abortion, about…
Climate-Related Health Risks Among Workers: Who is at Increased Risk? June 26, 2023 Issue Brief Adults of color, noncitizens, and adults with lower educational attainment and incomes are disproportionately employed in occupations with increased climate-related health risks. Moreover, workers in occupations with increased climate-related health risks are more likely to be uninsured, contributing to challenges accessing health care.
What Do We Know About People with HIV Who Are Not Engaged In Regular HIV Care? June 22, 2023 Issue Brief This analysis uses nationally representative data to assess the characteristics and experiences of people with HIV who are out of regular HIV care. Reaching and engaging people with HIV who are not in care involves addressing the complex and systemic barriers they face, which impede both their health and wellbeing and also the HIV response in the U.S. more broadly.
Employment Among Immigrants and Implications for Health and Health Care June 12, 2023 Issue Brief This brief examines socioeconomic characteristics and employment patterns among immigrant workers and examines how they compare to U.S.-born workers, including differences among college-educated workers.
Health Care Disparities Among Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) People May 24, 2023 Issue Brief In this data note, we use 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) data to examine how demographic characteristics as well as measures of health coverage and other social and economic factors that drive health and health care vary for Asian and NHOPI people overall and by subgroups.
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, People of Color Were More Likely to Die at Younger Ages April 24, 2023 News Release The Nation Overall Also Experienced Higher Rates of Premature Deaths than Peer Countries During the COVID-19 pandemic, people of color on average died at younger ages than White adults, resulting in substantial racial disparities in premature death and years of life lost, a new analysis finds. The analysis examines the…
Nearly Half of Young Women Report Negative Interactions with Health Care Providers February 22, 2023 News Release Among women ages 18-35 with a clinical visit in the past two years, more than four in 10 (46%) report experiencing a negative interaction with a health care provider, according to a new analysis of 2022 KFF Women’s Health Survey (WHS) data. These interactions included a provider either dismissing patients’…
Enrollment and Spending Patterns Among Medicare-Medicaid Enrollees (Dual Eligibles) January 31, 2023 Issue Brief This brief examines national and state-level data on enrollment and spending for Medicare-Medicaid enrollees using the 2019 and 2020 Medicare Beneficiary Summary Files and the 2019 Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS). Spending data for Medicare includes beneficiaries in traditional Medicare only, since spending data for beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans are unavailable. State-level data on Medicare-Medicaid enrollment and spending are available through KFF’s State Health Facts.