PHAR 738 Final Exam (Comprehensive) Flashcards
How much does the United States spend on healthcare? What is the insurance type breakdown? Medical expenditures breakdown?
The United States currently spends approximately 17% of its national gross domestic product (GDP) on health care (growing from 5.2% in 1960)
Private health insurance (33%), Medicare (20%), Medicaid (15%), Out of Pocket (12%), Other Third Party Payers and Programs (7%), Other government insurance (4%), Public health activity (3%)
Hospital care (31%), Physician/Clinical Services (20%), Prescription Drugs (10%), Health Insurance Administration Costs (7%), Nursing Homes and Long-Term Care (6%), Dental (4%), Medical Products (3%), Public Health Activity (3%), Home Health Care (3%), Research (2%), Other 11%)
Describe the Iron Triangle
A triple aim to optimize health system performance:
>Improving the patience experience of care (quality)
>Improving the health of populations (access)
>Reducing the per capita cost of healthcare (cost)
Outline the basic history of health insurance
> Accident insurance for railroad or steamboat travel during civil war
Accidental plans led to more expansive plans in the later 1800s
Early supplementary income plans
How was health insurance founded in America?
> Baylor Hospital Partnership in 1929 (teachers paid preset amount for number of hospital days)
American Hospital Association encourage hospitals to develop similar plans
Kaiser shipyard began supplying employee insurance during WWII
When as Medicare/Medicaid Passed?
1965
Describe the HMO act
Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1975
> requires employers with more than 25 employees and an offered health plan to include 1 HMO
Which act expanded psychiatric coverage?
Mental Health Parity Act (1996)
Describe the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
1996
> Expanded was to obtain individual health insurance
created framework for federal government to collaborate with state governments to regulate insurance markets
Difference between subscriber and dependents
Subscriber purchases the policy; Dependent refers to any other members of the same policy
What is a community rating?
When all subscribers pay the same monthly premium
Describe medical underwriting
Charging different monthly premiums based on how much medical care an individual is likely to require
What forms of cost-sharing are there?
Deductible - specified amount a patient must pay in a given time period before the insurer begins to pay
Copayment - requires patients to pay a specified dollar amount each time a service is received
Coinsurance - required percentage of the cost of covered services that the patient must pay
What is the out-of-pocket max?
Out-of-Pocket Max = deductibles + copayments + coinsurances
What are some potential risk management problems?
Catastrophic Hazard – widespread, catastrophic event that would exceed a company’s ability to pay
Adverse selection – low risk individuals less likely to purchase insurance than high risk
Incentives to create losses – individuals gain from an apparent loss (i.e. physicians making more money from a fee-for-service plan)
Supplier-induced Demand – demand does not come solely from provider
Primary Agent Problem – when one person or entity is able to make decision on behalf of or that impact another person
Moral Hazard – overconsumption; when the price of a product or service decreases, the quantity demanded increases
What was concluded from the Rand Healthcare Experiment?
Participants with cost sharing model made fewer medical trips
Once patients entered the health care system, cost sharing only modestly affected the intensity or cost of an episode of care
No adverse health effects but poorest and sickest patients had better health outcomes under a free plan
Participants in cost sharing plans worries less about their health and had fewer restricted activity days
What is the breakdown of insurance coverage, by type, in the United States?
Employer Sponsored (57%)
Medicaid/Other Public (19%)
Uninsured (19%)
Private Non-group (5%)
What does the employer determine in employer sponsored insurance models?
Coverage benefits, premiums, any cost sharing components, who is eligible for coverage
What are the two types of Employer group health plans (EGHP)?
Fully-insured - the insurance company assumes risks, acts as the payer and gets any profits; this model is regulated by the state
Self-Insured - employer is the payer, assumes risks and the company gets any profits; regulated by the federal government
Besides Medicaid, list other public programs
State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP and CHIP), Indian Health Services for Native Americans and Alaskan Natives, Veteran Health Administration, TRICARE for current members of the military as well as some retirees and their dependents
Describe COBRA
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act - allows individuals to keep their EGHP for up to 18 months post-employment, making the subscriber responsible for full monthly premium
Describe Staff Model HMO
> Characterized by direct ownership of healthcare facilities and employment of physicians under a fixed salary
PROS - control over physicians actions with little risk and competition to physicians, patients also have access to everything
CONS - extremely costly for organization with less independence for physicians, physicians risk termination based on performance and patients have limited choices
Describe Group Model HMO
> Contracts with physician groups who offer services to HMO patients on a capitated basis
Same pros and cons as staff model HMO but not quite as expensive and organizations have a little less control over physicians
Kaiser Permanente is an example
Describe Network Model HMO
> Contracts with physician groups who non-exclusively offer services to HMO patients on capitated basis
Less costly with limited control over physicians
Physicians bear more risk and competition for patients is higher
Describe Independent Practice Association Model HMO
> Physicians form a separate legal organization contract with an HMO at a negotiated fee
patients have options, physicians have independence and bargaining power and the organization is typically low cost