Health Beat: Fewer Americans struggling to pay for healthcare, Gallup survey says

Editor’s note: Each Wednesday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Health Beat,” a round-up health-related topics.  –––––––––––––––

FEWER AMERICANS STRUGGLING TO PAY FOR HEALTHCARE, GALLUP SURVEY SAYS
Fewer Americans reported not having enough money in the past 12 months to pay for necessary healthcare and/or medicines for themselves or their families than at any point since Gallup and Healthways began tracking this metric in 2008.

From 2008 through 2013, the percentage of Americans who experienced difficulty in the past 12 months affording healthcare and medicine was fairly steady, hovering near the average of 18.7%. Since then, the average has been 16.4%, including the new quarterly low of 15.5% in the most recent quarter.

Gallup and Healthways classify Americans as healthcare insecure if they report being unable to pay for healthcare and/or medicines they or their family needed at some point in the past 12 months.

Overall, the percentage of U.S. adults with healthcare insecurity has dropped 3.5% since the fourth quarter of 2013. This drop in healthcare insecurity coincides with the decline in the percentage of uninsured Americans, which has fallen from 17.1% in the fourth quarter of 2013 – just before the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that Americans have health insurance went into effect – to 11% in the first quarter of this year. Read the survey results here.

HHS SAYS MEDICAID EXPANSION UNDER THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT LEADS TO BETTER CARE
According to a new report summarizing research to date, 78% of new enrollees indicated that absent Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), they wouldn’t otherwise have the resources necessary to access regular care. Additionally, the overwhelming majority of new Medicaid enrollees report being satisfied with their health plans (93%) and their doctors (92%).

The research also finds that Medicaid expansion improved the financial well-being for new enrollees, leading to fewer unpaid bills. According to estimates, Medicaid expansion reduced third party collections by $600 to $1,000 per individual in expansion states.

The report reviews research that assesses the stability of health care delivery in Medicaid expansion states through key indicators such as increases in health care utilization and whether individuals report finding a usual place to receive care. The research finds that new Medicaid patients in expansion states are experiencing improved appointment availability with providers, and they are more likely to have been seen by a provider in the past year compared with their counterparts in non-expansion states.

Compared with non-expansion states, enrollees in expansion states saw a 41% increase in preventive service visits in community health centers; access to Medicaid prescription drug refills increased 25.4% in states that expanded coverage, compared to only 2.8% in states that did not expand coverage; and cost-related barriers to dental care fell from 30% in 2013 prior to Medicaid expansion to 25% in 2014 post Medicaid expansion.

To read the report, visit here.

NIH LAUNCHES LARGE STUDY OF PREGNANT WOMEN IN AREAS AFFECTED BY ZIKA VIRUS
The National Institutes of Health and Fundacao Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz (Fiocruz), a national scientific research organization linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, have begun a multi-country study to evaluate the magnitude of health risks that Zika virus infection poses to pregnant women and their developing fetuses and infants. The study is opening in Puerto Rico and will expand to several locations in Brazil, Colombia and other areas that are experiencing active local transmission of the virus.

The Zika in Infants and Pregnancy (ZIP) study aims to enroll as many as 10,000 pregnant women ages 15 years and older at up to 15 sites. The participants will be in their first trimester of pregnancy and will be followed throughout their pregnancies to determine if they become infected with Zika virus and if so, what outcomes result for both mother and child.

The participants’ infants will be carefully followed for at least one year after birth. Women participating in the ZIP study will be monitored monthly for the duration of their pregnancies and then six weeks after delivery. To learn more, click here.