According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the CDC, in 2015 over 33,000 people died from opioid overdose in the United States, and in 2013 prescription opioid abuse cost the U.S. economy approximately $78.5 billion in costs related to health care, crime, and loss of productivity. Opioid abuse and the related overdose deaths are harming individuals, families, the … Read more

Dual eligibles, individuals enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, are among the highest-need, highest cost patients in the United States. Although it is difficult to determine the exact number of dual eligibles, a 2012 Kaiser Family Foundation report estimates that dual eligibles comprise 21 percent of the Medicare population and 15 percent of the Medicaid population. However, … Read more

As telehealth gains traction as a way to deliver health care, Medicare reimbursement remains a major obstacle to broad implementation due in part to scoring methodology from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Rather than decreasing health care costs, CBO’s scoring methodology assumes that telehealth increases utilization and therefore overall costs. Recent legislation on the Hill, … Read more

On April 1, 2016, the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model program took effect, affecting roughly 800 hospitals across 67 markets.  Prior to the program becoming active, Leavitt Partners published a blog post stating, “Time will tell whether hospitals and providers will succeed with quality improvements and savings generation under this new program.” One year into … Read more

The Affordable Care Act turned Medicaid into America’s largest public health care coverage program. While the volume associated with this growing program created increasing opportunities for providers, health systems, health plans, and vendors, these same stakeholders shouldn’t write off opportunities in Medicaid now simply because of the change in direction at the federal level. Instead, … Read more