2014: The Health Care Year in Review
Before the ball drops in Times Square, The Commonwealth Fund’s David Blumenthal, M.D., and David Squires present their list of 2014’s major milestones in health care. Their list includes:<ol>
<li><strong>The drop in the uninsured rate: </strong>For the first time in modern U.S. history, the uninsurance rate fell precipitously—from 20 percent to 15 percent among adults ages 19 to 64 by the end of the first open enrollment period for marketplace coverage. </li>
<li><strong>The continued slowdown in health spending</strong>: Expenditures grew more slowly than at any time in 50 years. Medicare spending alone is $1,200 less per beneficiary per year than predicted just four years ago. </li>
<li><strong>Republican control of Congress and state governments: </strong>The election results are in: Republicans will begin 2015 with firm control over both houses of Congress, 31 governorships, and an advantage of more than 800 members in state legislatures around the country. Whether divided government at the federal level will lead to an armistice over health reform, or intensified trench warfare, is anyone’s guess. At the state level, Republican control will likely mean slower-than-expected expansion of Medicaid eligibility.</li>
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