Comparing the Cost and Coverage Impacts of the House and Senate Leadership Health Reform Bills: Long Term Costs for Governments, Employers, Families and Providers
In our most recent report, prepared for The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, we compared the effects of two major proposals to reform the U.S. health care system. These include the Senate Leadership “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” under consideration in December, and the “Affordable Health Care for America Act”
passed by the House of Representatives in November 2009. In this study we provide estimates of the program’s impact on coverage and spending for the federal government, state and local governments, private employers, consumers and providers. We estimated the impact of both bills on federal spending over a 20 year period from 2010 through 2029. The Congress uses 10-year forecasts for budgeting purposes, which is currently 2010 through 2019. To better understand the long-term budget implications of the bill, we present spending estimates for both the 2010 through 2019 budget window and the 2020 through 2029 period.
For more than 25 years, The Lewin Group has helped our clients develop options for expanding health insurance coverage and reforming health care financing and delivery systems.
We help our clients develop options for expanding health care coverage that vary from incremental approaches through comprehensive health reform and include Medicaid eligibility expansions, tax credits for private insurance, insurance market reforms, employer contribution requirements, universal coverage through private health insurance, and single-payer programs. Using The Lewin Group Health Benefits Simulation Model (HBSM), a micro-simulation model of the U.S. health care system that is built upon a representative sample of households from the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey (MEPS) data, we estimate the changes in coverage sources under these proposals as well as the cost impacts of these options on key stakeholder groups
We work with our clients to specify, analyze, and refine their health care reform proposals to meet their unique coverage expansion and budget objectives. Using data-driven research, we model the effect of changes in the health care delivery system on costs for governments, employers, and households and simulate the effect of system reforms on long-term cost growth.
Webinar Programs
The Lewin Group consistently updates our analysis of health reform proposals being considered in Congress. You can gain access to some of our insights on the potential cost and coverage impacts of these efforts by downloading our reports, or by attending or viewing a previously recorded webinar.
To download presentations or view recorded Health Reform webinars, click here.
Services
We work with state and federal government agencies, national associations, foundations, and others to develop and refine their health care reform policies and analyze the cost and coverage impact of their health care reform policies.
Policy Development
- Design, develop, and analyze health care reform proposals
- Develop health reform options
- Help refine health care reform plans to meet coverage and budget objectives
Cost Containment Initiatives
- Analyze initiatives to manage chronic care
- Examine the impacts of consumer-directed initiatives to reduce utilization
- Evaluate effects of incentives to influence provider behavior
- Assess regulatory policy
Cost and Coverage Analysis
- Estimate cost and coverage impacts of health care reform plans
- Analyze the number of people with access to insurance coverage and the number of individuals who are uninsured
- Determine the cost of insurance coverage to individuals
- Determine the cost of insurance coverage to various stakeholder groups