Articles
Cost Management
Blog: RAND 4.0 Still Riddled with Methodology Flaws and Incomplete Data
By Aaron Wesolowski, AHA Vice President of Research Strategy and Policy Communications, Benjamin Finder
The RAND Corporation’s latest hospital price report is, unfortunately, more of the same.
Advocacy & Public Policy, Drug Prices
Blog: Analysis on Drug Prices Fails to Provide Full Context
The authors of a recent analysis published in JAMA themselves acknowledge that their sample size is very small, making it hard to draw any sweeping conclusions based on their data. In addition, the study does not provide direct insight as to what hospitals actually pay to acquire these drugs.
Medicaid DSH
Brookings paper misses the point on Medicaid DSH cuts included in BBBA
A white paper from the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy on a provision in the draft Build Back Better Act (BBBA) takes serious shortcuts and overlooks how certain provisions fit into a broader, much more complex set of payment policies.
Billing & Collections, Price Transparency
UnitedHealth Group Using Researchers to Advance Self-Serving Agenda
Last week a series of emails that became public revealed communication between executives at UnitedHealth Group and researchers studying the frequency of surprise medical billing.
Post-Acute Care, Long-term Care
Study Downplays Vital Role of Long-term Care Hospitals in Patient Care
Long-term care hospitals, or LTCHs, and the other three post-acute care settings have been central to our recovery from COVID-19. The pandemic has particularly highlighted the distinct clinical competencies of LTCHs. However, a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research that has gotten renewed attention lately makes the erroneous suggestion that shifting patients from LTCHs to skilled nursing facilities can save Medicare money without affecting patient care.
Advocacy & Public Policy, Issues & Trends, Tax-exempt Status
Recent Reports on Price Variation and Growth Mislead
In two recent reports, the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) appears to use oversimplified analytic approach and draws overly broad conclusions about price variation and price growth variation. Their analysis does not address many of the key factors that can contribute to price variation and growth, while also ignoring broader trends in the health care market.
Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19), COVID-19: Coverage and Reimbursement
Recent Media Report Distorts Dire Financial Situation Facing Hospital Field
A recent article from Axios attempts to say that the hospital and health system field is not being negatively impacted financially by the pandemic. The article ignores the diverse experiences of hospitals during the pandemic, particularly those that are under significant financial pressure.
Drug Prices, Business of Health Care, Tax-exempt Status
Analysis Gets it Wrong on Health Care Spending
A recent analysis from the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation, “What drives health spending in the U.S. compared to other countries,” does not provide a full picture on health care spending in the U.S. while also downplaying the immense role that drug costs play in overall health care spending.
Price Transparency, Cost Management
Blog: RAND Gets it Wrong (Again) on Hospital Prices
The RAND Corporation has released the third edition of its hospital price transparency study. The AHA previously highlighted our extensive concerns with the data and methodology used in the last version.
Medicare, Finance & Budgeting, Cost Management
Hospital price growth remains in check, cherry-picked claims do not
An all-too-common activity among some researchers is cherry picking data to support pre-conceived arguments. One of these false narratives is that hospitals and health systems are uniquely responsible for increased health care prices. But an examination of comprehensive data tell a different story.