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Tags: obamacare | failure | hospitalization | aca | affordable | care | act

Obamacare Falls Short in Cutting Hospitalizations: Study

By    |   Thursday, 12 March 2015 04:13 PM EDT

Obamacare is not achieving a key goal of the healthcare reform law — reducing the hospitalization rate — for the nation’s youngest and oldest American adults, two new studies find.
 
The new research found that two groups of Americans — Medicare patients enrolled in new federal healthcare plans called “patient-centered medical homes” (PCMH) and those under age 26 who are allowed to remain on their parents' insurance — had slightly fewer ER visits than before the law was passed in 2010.

But the analyses showed there was no change in both groups of patients’ rate of the most expensive types of emergency visits: those that lead to hospitalization.
 
The first of the two studies, by George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, D.C., examined the rate of ER visits and hospitalizations for Medicare patients in PCMH programs — designed to cut costs and improve care under Obamacare. From 2008 to 2010, outpatient emergency department visits grew more slowly for Medicare patients being treated by PCMH practices than by non-PCMH practices, but there was no effect on rates of inpatient hospitalization.
 
"The concept of 'medical homes' has been around since the 1960s and reviews of their effectiveness in improving health outcomes have been mixed," noted lead researcher Jesse Pines, M.D. "Our study shows that these models can have a positive effect on patients, as far as limiting outpatient emergency department use, but they don't seem to keep patients from being hospitalized, which is many times more expensive than ER visits.
 
“Further evaluation of medical homes is needed, particularly on patients who are most likely to benefit, such as those with multiple health problems, a compromised social situation or both."
 
The second study found emergency department visit rate declined slightly among young adults (age 19 to 25) covered by their parents' private insurance plans. But the decrease was mostly among those with non-emergency conditions and conditions that could be treated outside the emergency department.
 
"The reductions in ER use among young people were quite specific to less severe conditions that could be handled in a primary care setting, which is not unexpected," said lead researcher Yaa Akosa Antwi, of Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.
 
"Overall, the reductions in ER use were modest, which suggests that even when the [Affordable Care Act] is fully implemented, population-level changes in emergency department use may also be modest. Future research will be needed to assess the effect of coverage expansions on the broader range of adults who will gain coverage under the ACA in the next several years."

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Health-News
Obamacare is not achieving one of the law's key goals - reducing the hospitalization rate - for the nation's youngest and oldest American adults, two new studies find.
obamacare, failure, hospitalization, aca, affordable, care, act
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2015-13-12
Thursday, 12 March 2015 04:13 PM
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