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Stemming the Rising Costs of Prescription Drugs: Public Health Plans

"The increasing price of prescription drugs is an ongoing concern for Medicare and Medicaid ... Shifts in benefit design, including higher deductibles and a movement away from copayments to coinsurance, have increased patient out-of-pocket costs and put pressure on program budgets. In this paper, the American College of Physicians ... offers additional recommendations to decrease out-of-pocket costs for patients, enhance the government's purchasing power, and address existing policies that add costs to the health care system."

Review: Impact of Health Information Technology on Quality, Efficiency, and Costs of Medical Care

Excerpt: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality asked [the authors] to systematically review evidence on the costs and benefits associated with use of health information technology and to identify gaps in the literature in order to provide organizations, policymakers, clinicians, and consumers an understanding of the effect of health information technology on clinical care ...

Analysis Shows Surgical Treatment of the Severely Obese More Effective than Nonsurgical Treatment

Excerpt: Conclusions: Surgery is more effective than nonsurgical treatment for weight loss and control of some comorbid conditions in patients with a BMI of 40 kg/m2 or greater. More data are needed to determine the efficacy of surgery relative to nonsurgical therapy for less severely obese people. Procedures differ in efficacy and incidence of complications.

Stemming the Rising Costs of Prescription Drugs: Pharmacy Benefit Managers

"In this position paper, the American College of Physicians expands on its position paper from 2016 by offering additional recommendations to improve transparency in the PBM industry and highlighting the need for reliable, timely, and relevant information on prescription drug pricing for physicians and patients."

Comments on a Study Comparing Health Care Quality of Various Health Insurance Sources

Excerpt: It is important to understand this study because it will be used by the opponents of government health insurance programs to 'prove' that private plans provide higher quality care and improved health care outcomes compared to government programs.

Is It Time for the Preventive Task Force to Inform -- But Not Determine -- Health Care Coverage?

"The [ACA] linkage of [U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)] decisions to insurance coverage has brought both benefit and harm. As advocates of preventive services, we are excited that many people who previously had no financial access to preventive services can now benefit from those services for which the balance of benefit and harm has been scientifically established to be favorable. But if such financial access comes at the cost of increased deductibles or copays for equally important services that are not preventive, then we must question whether the link inadvertently discourages other important care."

Primary Care Visit Decline in the United States, 2008-2016

"Commercially insured adults have been visiting [primary care physicians (PCPs)] less often, and nearly one half had no PCP visits in a given year by 2016.... [T]his decline may be explained by decreased real or perceived visit needs, financial deterrents, and use of alternative sources of care."

Support for National Health Insurance Among U.S. Physicians: 5 Years Later (PDF)

2 pages. Excerpt: Reflecting a shift in thinking over the past five years among U.S. physicians, a new study shows a solid majority of doctors -- 59 percent -- now supports national health insurance.