News

Reports show the way Americans receive and pay for health insurance has been changing for more than 10 years

The Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT) today released two briefs showing that for more than a decade, employers have been dropping health insurance and consumers have been paying more out-of-pocket for health care, a trend that began many years before the development of the Affordable Care Act. The research briefs also show Michigan’s employers are increasing employee cost-sharing and moving to high deductible health plans at a faster rate than the national average.

According to the data, from 1999 to 2011, the proportion of individuals covered by employer-sponsored insurance decreased by approximately 15 percent nationwide. Between 2008 and 2011 specifically, the proportion of people with private health insurance (either through their employers or individually-purchased) fell 4.7 percent in Michigan and 4.4 percent nationwide.Continue Reading Reports show the way Americans receive and pay for health insurance has been changing for more than 10 years

A call for child passenger safety

Dr. Michelle Macy, a 2013 CHRT Policy Fellow, wrote an opinion piece in the Detroit News which argues that Michigan’s Child Passenger Safety Law has not kept pace with recent research and recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Macy states that we should require rear-facing car seat use beyond 1 year —and booster seat use until the until the vehicle seat belt fits properly, which is usually is when a child is, on average, 11 years old. She urges the legislature to consider updating the law, noting that child safety should be a bi-partisan issue.

Understanding the Affordable Health Care Act

Amy Lange with Fox 2 News sits down with CHRT Director Marianne Udow-Phillips to find out what consumers need to know about the Affordable Care Act before the new health insurance exchanges launch Oct. 1.

A lesson from Massachusetts: Biz, government should work together

Among the coverage in a Crain’s Detroit Business special section aimed at educating employers and employees on the coming changes under the ACA is a retelling of a previous article summarizing CHRT’s Massachusetts Comes to Michigan: Lessons about Health Care Reform from Business Leaders symposium in February 2013.