New care models promoted by the Affordable Care Act seek to identify social factors that contribute to patients’ medical problems.

Medical homes, ambulatory intensive care units, medical neighborhoods, and other new mechanisms may do more to help providers get to the root cause of some of their patients’ ills.  Today, that frequently is not the case.  In fact, most doctors do not believe they are prepared to help their patients address their medical ills and they also want to be paid when they do provide such assistance.

Learn more about renewed interest in identifying and addressing social factors that contribute to illness in this MedPage Today article.…

DeBrunner & Associates is pleased to welcome our newest client:  LeadingAge PA, an association of not-for-profit providers of services to seniors.…

The number of doctors who accept Medicare rose one-third between 2007 and 2011, contradicting frequent reports that frustration over how the federal government pays providers to serve seniors is chasing doctors out of the program.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1.25 million doctors served Medicare patients in 2011, up from 925,000 in 2007.

Today, according to an HHS report, Medicare patients generally have no more trouble finding physicians than those with private insurance, although doing so can be a greater challenge in some densely populated areas.

Learn more about Medicare and its ability to ensure an adequate supply of participating doctors in this USA Today article.…

Nearly half of all individuals and families expected to turn to health insurance exchanges for insurance policies under the Affordable Care Act will be entitled to federal subsidies to help pay their premiums.

Those subsidies will average more than $5500 per family and cover two-thirds of the premium’s overall cost.

These were among the findings of a recent Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.  Read more about the analysis and the future that awaits individuals and families in the new individual health insurance market in this CQ HealthBeat article presented by the Commonwealth Fund.…

While the Affordable Care Act will do a great deal to help low- and middle-income Americans obtain health insurance, this help does not extend to the more than 11 million undocumented residents currently in the U.S.

In a new report, the Commonwealth Fund takes a closer look at these undocumented residents:  their health care needs and possible alternatives to help them gain access to care.  Find the report, Undocumented and Uninsured:  Barriers to Affordable Care for Immigrant Populations, on the Commonwealth Fund’s web site.…