Why repealing Obamacare may not be as easy as Trump thinks

TheConversation: Candidate Trump repeatedly called for repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act during the campaign, but it is unclear what President Trump will actually do about the ACA. It is not clear even with President Trump, and Republican majorities in the House and Senate, whether full repeal is possible and what replacement might look like. There are several reasons for this. First, Trump would face political and financial fall-out from repeal. Second, even with Republican majorities now in the House and Senate, it would be hard to repeal the entire bill. It includes not only the establishment of the exchanges, in which people buy insurance, but also cost-saving and quality-improvement measures. Many health care professionals, systems and tax payers welcomed these.

Decoding the medical cost mystery

MIT: Providers and patients drive health care spending in roughly equal amounts, study shows. In Miami, health care providers spent about $14,423 per Medicare patient in 2010. But in Minneapolis, average spending on Medicare enrollees that year was $7,819, just over half as much. In fact, the U.S. is filled with regional disparities in medical spending. Why is this?

What are Medicare Costs for Patients with Oral Cavity, Pharyngeal Cancers?

JAMA: Medicare costs for older patients with oral cavity and pharyngeal cancers increased based on demographics, co-existing illnesses and treatment selection, according to a report published online by JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery. Many cases of oral cavity cancer and most cases of pharyngeal cancer are diagnosed at advanced stages when management of the disease is complex and treatment is aggressive and involves multiple specialists. The publicly funded Medicare program provides an opportunity for researchers to estimate the cost of care for older patients with these cancers.

Have a brain tumor? The kind of insurance you have might make a difference in your survival

TheConversation: We all know that having health insurance can make it easier for people to a see a doctor, and with access to care, people can stay healthier. But socioeconomic inequalities in the United States affect access to health care, and thus treatment and patient outcomes as well. Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government has created more health insurance options, expanded the federal Medicaid health program for people with low incomes, and installed an individual mandate to help provide health insurance to all American citizens. But are all forms of health insurance equal. As neurosurgeons, we wanted to look at the effect that insurance had on brain tumor patients. Did having different kinds of insurance coverage, or no coverage at all, have an effect on outcomes after surgery?

Delay of Surgery for Melanoma Common Among Medicare Patients

JAMA: In a study that included more than 32,000 cases of melanoma among Medicare patients, approximately 1 in 5 experienced a delay of surgery that was longer than 1.5 months, and about 8 percent of patients waited longer than 3 months for surgery, according to an article published online by JAMA Dermatology. Melanoma is a leading cause of new cancer diagnoses in the United States, accounting for most skin cancer­related deaths. Surgical excision is the primary therapy for melanoma. Surgical delay may result in the potential for increased illness and death from other malignant neoplasms, and may cause anxiety and stress.

Study suggests ways to simplify health insurance enrollment​​​​​​​​​​

Washington: The federal health-care law has reduced the number of uninsured people by about 10 million. But challenges remain, including how to educate new enrollees about their coverage options. New research shows that communicating new, sometimes confusing information about the Affordable Care Act can be as simple as using plain language, providing comparisons to familiar contexts and using stories about how people might make health insurance decisions.