Sufferers hate slim networks. Something that limits their alternative of physicians or hospitals is disliked. People love extra alternative.
Payers, alternatively, like slim networks as a result of they save value–by means of the flexibility to barter decrease charges–and doubtlessly enhance high quality–if the contracted community has increased high quality physicians. In truth, in keeping with the KFF Employer Well being Advantages Survey, each value and high quality are vital elements in choosing a supplier community.
A key query is then, is how a lot cash do slim networks save well being plans? That’s the query {that a} paper by Dafny et al. (2017) goals to reply. The authors use knowledge from the Robert Wooden Johnson Basis HIX Examine on silver-tier medical health insurance plans supplied on the 2014-2015 ACA Marketplaces in 8 states (CA, CO, FL, MI, NJ, NY, TX, WA). After utilizing these knowledge and conducting a multivariate regression, the authors discover that:
…a rise in hospital community breadth…was linked to a premium enhance of 5.7 p.c, or $191 per 12 months—given the nationwide common premium of $3,359 for a twenty-seven-year-old in 2014. A rise in doctor community breadth from small (equivalent to 10 p.c of physicians) to massive (equivalent to 40 p.c) was linked to a premium enhance of 9.4 p.c, or $316 per 12 months. A rise in each hospital and doctor community breadth was linked to a premium enhance of 15.7 p.c, or $527 per 12 months.
You possibly can learn the complete paper right here.
