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Donald L., Palm Coast, FL

Health Care Blog

  • Not a Prediction

    Posted by Nancy-Ann DeParle on June 20, 2011 at 7:02 PM EDT

    Recently, McKinsey and Company released a survey claiming that a significant number of employers will stop offering insurance to their workers in 2014. The survey left us with more questions than answers. The article from McKinsey was at odds with a series of respected independent analyses and McKinsey previously declined to release critical information about how the survey was conducted.

    Today, McKinsey acknowledged that this report is at odds with these independent analyses and said the report was not intended to predict whether or not employers would offer health insurance. Here’s what McKinsey said today:

    The survey was not intended as a predictive economic analysis of the impact of the Affordable Care Act… We understand how the language in the article could lead the reader to think the research was a prediction, but it is not.  

    And the new information makes clear that the survey is flawed and raises new questions: 

    • Nearly 50 percent of all survey respondents admitted they were not at all familiar or had only heard about the employer responsibility provisions in the Affordable Care Act – nearly one-fourth were “not at all familiar” with the law.
    • 6.7 percent of the respondents couldn’t  even answer the most basic question “What medical plans does your company currently offer employees?”
    • 58.3 percent of respondents did not know how much their companies spend per employee on medical and prescription drug benefits, raising questions about the on-line survey results.
    • Only around half of the survey’s respondents described themselves as a “primary decision maker” on employee benefits. Around 49 percent said that they have some influence in the decision-making process.
    • The survey that “educated respondents” left out or failed to explain crucial pieces of information about the Affordable Care Act and other existing laws. For example, health insurance benefits are not taxed. Employers who drop health insurance coverage and provide other benefits to their workers would lose this preferred tax treatment. This important fact was unexplained and other key points went unmentioned.

    And hidden in the results are some points that didn’t make it into the report:

    • 44.5 percent of small businesses report that they definitely or are likely to join the small employer purchasing part of Health Insurance Exchanges where they will be able to secure health insurance coverage for their workers.
    • When asked about their company’s overall view of U.S. healthcare reform, 77.8 percent reported that they were positive, neutral, were not sure, or that it is too early to tell.

    The Affordable Care Act will make health insurance more affordable and make it easier for employers to offer coverage to their workers. In fact, a new study released today from Avalere Health, a respected consulting firm, looked at the validity of the various analyses published on the subject and found that the employer-sponsored health insurance market will be stable after 2014 and that “large employers are unlikely to stop offering coverage …” And as we learn more, it’s become clear that this one flawed study from McKinsey is truly an outlier. 

    Nancy-Ann DeParle is the Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff

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  • Thirty Years of HIV/AIDS: A New Challenge Is on the Horizon

    Posted by Ron Simmons, Ph.D. on June 10, 2011 at 11:21 AM EDT

    Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

    When I reflect on the 30th anniversary of the HIV epidemic, I am simply amazed. Amazed that I am still alive after living with AIDS for over 20 years and that there is an effective treatment for HIV that is one pill a day. I remember the early days of AIDS, there was no name for it—only fear. Doctors were afraid to touch you. Nurses were afraid to feed you. And your friends that tried to give you encouragement to not feel hopeless, died themselves from the disease. Today HIV/AIDS is a preventable and treatable disease. There is a lot least stigma and fear. The President of the United States speaks openly and affirmatively about ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In many jurisdictions, government funded programs provide a safety net of health care and support for people with the disease. So much has changed in 30 years, yet new challenges appear on the horizon.

    One of the most serious challenges is the “paradigm shift” in HIV infection among Black men who have sex with men (MSM). Studies have found that the traditional paradigm, the theoretical model of a positive correlation between high HIV risk behavior and high HIV infection, may not be true for Black MSM. Such a paradigm shift would have a profound impact on the effectiveness of prevention efforts targeting Black MSM in the United States.

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  • Lessons from Three Decades of HIV/AIDS

    Posted by Cleve Jones on June 8, 2011 at 5:52 PM EDT

    Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

    When President Obama released the nation's first comprehensive national plan for responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, it was remarkable for its scope and specificity. It was remarkable, also, that it took our country almost three decades to develop such a plan.

    Thirty years ago I was a junior staffer in the California Legislature assigned to the Assembly Health Committee. I remember vividly reading that first report in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), describing a cluster of gay men in Los Angeles with Kaposi's Sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia. Within just a few years, it seemed as if everyone I knew was dead, dying or caring for a loved one who was dying.

    I found out that I was infected in 1985. It would be nine years before effective treatments reached me and my friends and neighbors. With little hope for a cure or vaccine, we fought hard for prevention education campaigns, expanded research and access to treatment and services.

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  • The Impact of HIV/AIDS on the African American Community: Myths and Facts

    Posted by Hadiyah Charles on June 8, 2011 at 3:38 PM EDT

    Ed. Note: Champions of Change is a weekly initiative to highlight Americans who are making an impact in their communities and helping our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.

    This past Tuesday, I was incredibly humbled and honored to be invited to the White House as a Champion of Change. As I toured the White House and met with administration officials I couldn’t help but think about how far we’ve come and how much more work needs to be done to end the HIV epidemic. 

    30 years later, we are still struggling with stigma, increased levels of miseducation and deep-rooted fear of those infected with HIV. Just this week, while drinking with friends and colleagues, I was reminded of how much more work we have to do when it comes to educating the public at large about how HIV is transmitted. We ordered a huge drink (bucket sized), one that came complete with six fun neon straws.  Folks were chatting, laughing and having a grand ole time. As the evening progressed, people began to forget which straws were theirs. One person exclaimed, “It’s okay if I drink from someone else’s straw—I’m not sick, its not like I have AIDS or anything!” That comment struck me like a lightening bolt… and I kept thinking, “Thirty years into this epidemic, and still, there are people that think HIV can be transmitted by drinking from the same glass or straw…”

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  • Getting Insurance at Work

    Posted by Nancy-Ann DeParle on June 8, 2011 at 9:30 AM EDT

    You might have seen reports about a study from McKinsey and Company claiming that a significant number of employers will stop offering insurance to their workers in 2014. Unfortunately, the study misses some key points and doesn’t provide the complete picture about how the Affordable Care Act will strengthen the health care system and make it easier for employers to offer high quality coverage to their employees. Here are the facts:

    The McKinsey Study is an Outlier

    Respected independent organizations have examined whether employers will continue to offer coverage. Here’s what they found:

    The Rand Corporation: "The percentage of employees offered insurance will not change substantially, but a small number of employees in small firms (defined as those with under 100 employees in 2016) will obtain employer-sponsored insurance through the state insurance exchanges."

    The Urban Institute: "Some have argued that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would erode employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) by providing incentives for employers to stop offering coverage. Others have claimed that most businesses would face increased costs as a result of reform. A new study finds that overall ESI coverage under the ACA would not differ significantly from what coverage would be without reform."

    Mercer: "In a survey released today by consulting firm Mercer, employers were asked how likely they are to get out of the business of providing health care once state-run insurance exchanges become operational in 2014 and make it easier for individuals to buy coverage. For the great majority, the answer was 'not likely.'"

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  • Raising HIV/AIDS Awareness in the Caribbean Community

    Posted by Greg Millett on June 8, 2011 at 9:00 AM EDT

    Today, Wednesday, June 8, 2010 is the sixth annual observance of Caribbean-American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.  Caribbean-American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is designed to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in Caribbean communities in the United States and its territories. Raising awareness is a necessity because Caribbean communities are at elevated risk for HIV infection.

    There are 30 countries in the Caribbean stemming from the 3 most populous (Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Haiti) to the least populous (Saint Barts, Saint Eustatius, and Saba). After sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean has the second highest HIV prevalence in the world. HIV prevalence among adults in the Caribbean was approximately 1.1% between 2001 and 2007, although rates vary among countries. Cuba has a low HIV prevalence (0.1%) among adults while the Bahamas has the highest HIV adult prevalence in the region (3.1%). According to CDC, except for sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean is the only region where the proportion of women and girls living with HIV (53%) is higher than the proportion of men and boys. Unprotected heterosexual sex is the main HIV transmission mode in the Caribbean. However, transmission categories differ by country. Injection drug users are a primary driver of the HIV epidemic in Puerto Rico, whereas gay and bisexual men and heterosexuals are primarily affected in Cuba and the Dominican Republic (respectively).

    CDC recently published surveillance data of HIV among blacks in the United States who are of Caribbean origin. Of an estimated 100,013 black adults and adolescents diagnosed with HIV infection from 2001 to 2007, 11.7% were foreign-born, with most from the Caribbean (54.1%) and Africa (41.5%). Most Caribbean foreign born blacks with HIV in the US are from Haiti (66.9%), 18.2% from Jamaica, 6.3% from Trinidad and Tobago, 3.3% from the Bahamas, 1.4% from Barbados, and 3.8% from other areas of the Caribbean.  Males account for the majority (56.6%) of HIV diagnoses among black people born in the Caribbean. Females account for 57.4% of diagnoses among HIV-positive black Americans born in Africa.

    Additional information about HIV in the Caribbean is available at UNAIDS, World Health Organization and Pan American Health Organization.  Additional information of HIV among Caribbean born individuals in the United States is available on the Centers for Disease Control website. In addition, links to other informational resources are available at the Florida/ Caribbean AIDS Education and Training Center.

    Greg Millett is a Senior Scientist and HHS/CDC Liaison to the Office of National AIDS Policy

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