Effect of unmet social health needs on surgical outcomes
Editor's Note This study, led by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, examines opportunities to improve inequitable postoperative outcomes by evaluating unmet social health needs by race, ethnicity, and insurance type. Outcomes included poor health status (self-reported), socioeconomic status (income, education, employment), and unmet social health needs (food,…
Price transparency in surgical settings
Takeaways • Healthcare consumers are not aware that they can ask how much something costs. • There is disconnect between the law and common knowledge, and patients generally are confused about what they receive as good faith estimates. • In addition to incorrect CPT codes and OON allowable charges, the…
Study: Race, income, insurance associated with delayed appendicitis diagnosis, long hospital stays
Editor's Note A study led by researchers at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in Chicago finds non-Hispanic Black, low income, and publicly insured patients received higher rates of delayed appendicitis diagnoses and long postoperative hospital stays. The cohort study included 80,312 patients who underwent open or laparoscopic appendectomy in…
House passes mental health parity bill to boost worker protection, impose fines
Editor's Note On Thursday, September 29, the House of Representatives voted 220-205 to pass legislation to impose new fines on insures that do not follow federal mental health pay parity requirements, in order to "hold employer-based health plans more accountable for improper denials of mental health and substance use benefits,"…
Senate passes healthcare bill including drug price reforms
Editor's Note On Sunday, August 7, the Senate passed a spending bill allocating billions of dollars to climate reform and healthcare focused programs, including provisions that give “Medicare the power to negotiate drug prices for a small subset of drugs” and extend “enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies” for 3 years,…
US uninsured rate reaches all-time low
Editor's Note The number of Americans without health insurance coverage has hit a record low of 8% this year, exceeding the previous low of 9% in 2016, the Department of Health and Human Services July 3 reports. Since 2020, 5.2 million people have gained coverage, including 4 million adults and…
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