Dear John,

Join us on December 5 for our issue briefing on Global Lessons From COVID-19 at which authors from around the world will present their work, engage in discussions, and answer questions on these important lessons.

Register below!

Expanding Plan Choice In Texas

Texas recently revised its Affordable Care Act (ACA) rating areas to integrate rural areas into urban markets for rating purposes.

In the November issue of Health Affairs, Simon Haeder and his colleagues at Texas A&M University examine the impact of this initiative on carrier and plan choices for rural areas, areas that typically face challenges in accessing care.

The authors find that “bundling urban and rural ACA rating areas in Texas significantly improved carrier and plan choice, as well as overall premiums for rural consumers.”

These findings suggest that adjusting geographic catchment for the ACA Marketplace areas could expand access to health care for rural consumers and decrease premiums. 

Also, take a moment to look back at this October 2023 article by Simon Haeder investigating how race and racial perceptions shape burden tolerance for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Check out a video abstract for this article as well.

Today, we’re pleased to announce the continuation of our Forefront Series “Provider Prices in the Commercial Sector.”

This series features analysis and discussion of physician, hospital, and other health care provider prices in the private-sector markets and their contribution to overall spending therein.

Begun in early 2023, the series has already featured over two dozen articles by various authors discussing price transparency data, abusive billing practices, state efforts to address high commercial prices, federal antitrust guidance, public-to-private cost-shifting, and many related topics.

Thanks to ongoing support from Arnold Ventures, we are able to reissue our call for submissions for this series.  We will accept submissions on a rolling basis throughout 2024.  

Questions, including those about the suitability of a particular topic, can be sent to [email protected]. 

The Role Of Emergency Medical Services In Pre-Hospital Diagnostic Delays

Jasmine Essa and Caitlin Kohl