01 Aug Health Data News Roundup: ACA and Access to Care; Healthcare Spending Variations; and Demographic Data Collection

Welcome to the Health Data Weekly News Roundup from IMAT Solutions. As the power of data continues to grow in the healthcare arena, today’s care organizations need to be on the forefront of all news and trends to help ensure that their data analytics efforts deliver accountable and informed care. Each week, we will provide you with the actionable news you need to meet these goals.

ACA Preventive Care Coverage Requirement Boosts Access to Care
The preventive care coverage requirement under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) helped improve no-cost access to care, including cancer screenings, vaccines, and contraceptive care, according to the Urban Institute.

How Healthcare Spending, Utilization Varies by Payer, Region
There is substantial variation and low correlation in healthcare spending across Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance plans within different US regions, according to a new JAMA study.

Data Shows Lack of Health Equity in Employer Sponsored Health Plans
Data on employees continues to exhibit care disparities that signal a lack of health equity in employer-sponsored health plans, according to a new report.

ONC Mulls Health Information Exchange Data for Patient-Centered Research
The ONC has announced a new project to leverage health information exchange (HIE) data to support COVID-19 focused patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) by implementing new data standards and technology.

How Payers Can Help Lay The Groundwork for Effective Demographic Data Collection
As payers look to address health disparities post-pandemic and CMS shifts toward measuring health equity compliance, the insurance industry is laying the groundwork to improve demographic data collection from its members.

ACA Marketplace Premiums Projected to Increase by 10% in 2023
Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace premiums will increase by five to ten percent in 2023, with payers attributing premium growth to rising healthcare prices and utilization rates, according to preliminary data from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).

All of Us Research Program Issues RFI for EHR Data Collection from HIEs
The National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program has issued a Request for Information (RFI) to seek guidance on how best to integrate EHR data from health information networks (HINs) and health information exchanges (HIEs) into the program’s dataset.