Health Care Costs

Research Findings

Research Activities, February 2012:
Educational intervention helps doctors and patients split statin tablets to save money for patients and payers
Bronchitis and asthma most commonly treated conditions among children

Research Activities, January 2012:
Bundled payments for heart failure disease management programs can save money while reducing readmissions
Medicaid pay-for-performance program in Massachusetts fails to improve quality during first-year
State regulation of care quality is costly to nursing homes
Breast cancer is associated with higher health care use and costs for women covered by fee-for-service Medicaid
Many Texas residents cross Mexican border to obtain health care services
Cost of hospitalization highest among the non-elderly

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Research Activities, December 2011:
Overweight or obese patients have higher health care expenditures
Financial performance has modest effect on nursing home quality improvement
Similarly effective international guidelines for managing cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetes vary in costs
Heart disease, cancer, and trauma-related disorders among the most costly conditions for men

Research Activities, November 2011:
Blood infections most costly hospital care in 2009

Research Activities, October 2011:
Cancer patients more likely to face higher cost burdens than those with other chronic conditions
Study identifies costs of implementing electronic health records in network of physician practices
Medicare Part D reduces out-of-pocket costs and modestly boosts prescription volume

Research Activities, September 2011:
Pay-for-performance project showed early gains but tapered in the fourth and fifth years
Where low-wage employees work, who their colleagues are, and spouses' wage level affect health insurance coverage and cost
Rising health care costs may have spurred more individuals to use complementary and alternative medicine
A program for laboratory monitoring of renin-angiotensin system drugs is cost-effective for certain high-risk patients
Uninsured patients respond well to paying a monthly retainer for primary care services
Children's underenrollment in State health insurance programs may be due in part to parents' confusion about coverage
Low- and middle-income children with public and private insurance have similar rates of unmet health care needs
Heart disease, cancer, and mental disease among the most costly conditions for women
Drug expenses for children with asthma more than doubled in 10 years
How much employees pay for health care coverage depends on where they live

Research Activities, August 2011:
Certain Americans pay more than 10 percent of their family income to pay for medical expenses
Employees' share of health plan premium costs up dramatically

Research Activities, July 2011:
Mandated increases in nurse staffing levels unevenly affect uncompensated care growth rates in California hospitals
Most American women experience complications during delivery

Research Activities, June 2011:
Increasing premiums and other costs in Oregon's Medicaid program in 2003 led many to drop out
Patients with chronic diseases who pay coinsurance less likely to refill their medication than those with fixed copayments
"Piece-rate" performance incentives for physicians improve childhood immunization rates
Half of all annual medical expenditures are for chronic diseases
Physicians weigh the costs and benefits of integrating e-prescribing systems with electronic health records

Research Activities, May 2011:
Inhaler costs contribute to medication nonadherence for Medicare patients with chronic pulmonary disease
Care for patients with HIV remains expensive
Hospital charges surpass the trillion dollar mark

Research Activities, April 2011:
Some adults with disabilities covered by Medicaid have significant out-of-pocket health expenses
Medicare Part D enrollees have higher cost-sharing amounts for brand name prescription drugs than those in employer plans
Many patients with diabetes who reach the Medicare Part D drug coverage gap don't talk about drug costs with their doctors
Payment reform highlighted in special journal issue
Nearly 4 million adults reported being treated for kidney disease between 2003 and 2007
Spending for prescriptions to control diabetes, cholesterol, and other metabolic conditions exceeds $52 billion

Research Activities, March 2011:
Most process-of-care events do not harm transplant patients, but they boost costs and lengthen hospital stays
HIV treatment costs much more when patients start treatment later in the disease
Preventive dental care saves money on total dental care for Medicare beneficiaries
Operating room procedures account for nearly half of hospitals' treatment costs

Research Activities, February 2011:
Trauma care costs less at hospitals with lower mortality rates
Routing ambulances to cardiac surgery-equipped hospitals more cost effective than building more such hospitals
Many factors are likely to slow the adoption of pay for performance in dentistry
One in 16 women hospitalized for childbirth has diabetes
U.S. employers lost nearly 3 weeks of work per employee due to sick days
More than one in five hospital patients in 2008 were born in 1933 or earlier

Research Activities, January 2011:
Medical complications add 30 percent to employers' chronic care costs
Dental bills high in California

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Research Activities, December 2010:
Antiretroviral switching strategies to treat HIV improve survival and are cost-effective in resource-limited countries
Hospital charges for 1 in 20 hospital stays average $18,000 a day

Research Activities, November 2010:
Premiums for some family plans cost $20,000 or more

Research Activities, October 2010:
Health care-associated infections greatly increase the length and cost of hospital stays
Pay-for-performance does not improve care quality in the short term in safety-net settings
Health plan choices are associated with lower premiums for employees
Most spending on children's health care in Medicaid and CHIP goes for children with chronic health problems
For elderly patients with depression, cost-sharing insurance policies reduce drug use without increasing use of care
Treating Americans with diabetes cost hospitals $83 billion

Research Activities, September 2010:
Study shows Guided Care benefits family caregivers, chronically ill older adults, and physicians, and may reduce costs
Cost of family coverage provided by employers 1.5 times more in 2009 than in 2000
Price tag for treating back problems now totals $30.5 billion

Research Activities, August 2010:
Cost of hospital treatment for blood infection surges

Research Activities, June 2010:
Early and intensive intervention for a flu pandemic is effective and cost-effective
Higher nurse-patient ratios result in societal cost benefits for some hospital areas
Medicaid MCOs don't boost care access for the disabled or lower Medicaid expenditures
Medicare Advantage enrollees are admitted to hospitals with higher mortality rates than Medicare fee-for-service enrollees

Research Activities, May 2010:
Hospital charges for the uninsured have soared
Children with health insurance are less likely to receive needed services if their parents are uninsured
Cost-effectiveness analysis supports genetic testing before patients with metastatic colorectal cancer are given irinotecan
Treating blood infections tops annual hospital cost increases

Research Activities, April 2010:
A guided care approach helps curb health care costs of elderly patients with chronic conditions
Cholesterol and diabetes drugs lead drug spending for the elderly
Two-thirds of State and local government workers get their health plans from their employers

Research Activities, March 2010:
Prescription drug purchases increase for digestive problems

Research Activities, February 2010:
Health care costs of obesity are passed off to obese workers
Medicare reimbursement changes lessen regional disparities for home health services

Research Activities, January 2010:
U.S. spends nearly $1 billion on blood thinners for adults
Medicare payment caps on home care add to the family caregiving burden, especially among lower-income families
Persons with mental disorders switching from Medicaid to Medicare drug coverage may have drug access problems
Studies examine impact of drug caps and pay for performance on care costs and outcomes
MEPS household survey respondents tend to report some medical conditions more accurately than others
MEPS respondents underreport emergency department and office visits, but accurately report hospital stays

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Research Activities, December 2009:
Care costs for middle-aged Americans have doubled in the past decade
Patient deaths in hospitals cost nearly $20 billion
Georgians and Ohioans pay less for dental care than the national average

Research Activities, November 2009:
Older black women with breast cancer do not receive beneficial chemotherapy as often as white women
Medicare coverage gap may prompt some patients with diabetes to cut back on their medicines
Heart conditions, cancer, trauma-related disorders, mental disorders, and asthma were the five most costly conditions in 1996 and 2006
Treating aging baby boomers costs hospitals $56 billion

Research Activities, October 2009:
New methods estimate the costs of covering the uninsured
Women are vulnerable to coverage and care gaps when their husbands transition to Medicare
High prescription drug copays may result in patients delaying therapy
Prescription drug copays and deductibles may increase treatment costs for some diseases
Cost and depression serve as barriers to performing self-care behaviors for people with diabetes
Premiums for some family plans cost $20,000 or more
Per-capita health care spending for seniors has increased by nearly a third
Patients are increasingly leaving hospitals against medical advice

Research Activities, September 2009:
Family insurance premiums topped $12,000 a year in 2008
Bigger tax breaks for insurance premiums expands private coverage for self-employed workers and their spouses
Dysfunctional uterine bleeding carries large financial and quality-of-life costs
HIV screening is cost-effective in Russia
Health care spending for obese American adults soared 82 percent between 2001 and 2006

Research Activities, August 2009:
The complications and costs of obesity surgery are declining
A greater number of different chronic conditions increases hospital readmissions and costs
Southerners have higher financial burden for mental health/substance abuse treatment
Varied Medicare reimbursement for bone density scans may be due to lack of clear diagnostic codes for test indications

Research Activities, July 2009:
Fewer families can afford to purchase their own health insurance than previously thought
Disparities in outpatient care and expenditures have widened for Hispanics, but not for blacks
Evidenced-based practices improve pain management and lower costs for patients hospitalized for hip fracture
Both patient and hospital factors drive discharge costs of coronary artery bypass graft surgery
Information on past-year drug use improves the accuracy of Medicare Part D prescription drug payments to health plans

Research Activities, June 2009:
Lupus increases direct health care costs and loss of work productivity
Patient safety events make hospital stays longer and more costly
The cost and impact of medical errors continue long after hospital discharge
Medicare payments for outpatient prescription drugs jumped by more than $38 billion in 2006
Mental disorders, asthma, and trauma injuries topped the list of most costly medical conditions in children in 2006

Research Activities, May 2009:
Telephone nurse support can be cost-effective to help improve functioning and quality of life for patients with diabetes
State Medicaid programs vary in prior authorization policies for use of costly biologic antirheumatic drugs
Low-risk patients under observation for chest pain often undergo costly interventions and care
Treating heart ailments costs $78 billion

Research Activities, April 2009:
Older patients stop using inhalers and end up in the hospital when insurers enact deductibles and copayments
Negative effects are seen when patients reach drug benefit thresholds in Medicare Part D
Seniors use fewer generic drugs as a result of Medicare Part D
Newest diabetes medications are more costly and widely prescribed than older diabetes drugs
Higher education and income levels are associated with increased willingness to pay for a psoriasis cure
Lower socioeconomic status results in poor physical and mental health outcomes for patients with lupus
A new tool helps companies estimate costs and possible savings for diabetes care

Research Activities, March 2009:
Educating patients before hospital discharge reduces readmissions, emergency department visits, and saves money
Blacks report greater difficulty in affording prescription medications than whites
Hospitals spend less for patients in Medicare Advantage than for patients in fee-for-service Medicare
Five therapeutic categories of prescribed drugs dominate spending on prescription medicines
Spending on outpatient prescription pain medicines has tripled in 10 years

Research Activities, February 2009:
Adolescent females who are overweight have higher health expenditures than adolescent males who are overweight
Hospice costs vary across patients and within a hospice stay
The volume and charges for vertebroplasty performed in Medicare patients doubled from 2001 to 2005, but rates varied considerably by State
Subsidies and education about the value of health insurance may help encourage the uninsured to enroll in health plans
Hospitals' cost for the top six cardiovascular treatments is nearing $60 billion
Hospitals spend less for patients in Medicare Advantage than for patients in fee-for-service Medicare

Research Activities, January 2009:
Doctor's use of e-prescribing systems linked to formulary data can boost drug cost savings
Cost-effectiveness of pertussis vaccine in adults confirmed in U.S. and German studies
X-ray of patients undergoing emergency surgery is cost-effective in preventing retained surgical sponges
Daily hemodialysis is cost-effective for intensive care patients with acute kidney injury

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