States Hold Keys to Health Care Affordability, But Are They Using Them?

This question was addressed in a blog post describing the Altarum Healthcare Value Hub's Healthcare Affordability State Policy Scorecard published today in Health Affairs Forefront.

The article, written by Hub staff members, details four affordability domains impacting healthcare affordability and showcases several states’ actions and recommendations for improvement.         

State Scorecards and accompanying affordability policy checklists examine states’ performance on a broad set of actions to make healthcare more affordable and allow users to:

• Do a quick and easy assessment of actions their state has already taken; and
• Identify actions policymakers can take to further improve.

Perhaps most importantly, the Scorecards show the robust policy toolset that policymakers have to address healthcare affordability problems by tackling the underlying drivers—most notably, excess prices—and ensuring that all residents can access coverage options with affordable premiums and cost-sharing provisions. Policymakers and advocates can also compare their state’s performance to that of “peer” states to brainstorm solutions most likely to gain traction in their unique policy environment. 

Scorecard products, including state-level Scorecards and Policy Checklists, an Executive Summary, and a Methodology report are available here.

The Altarum Healthcare Affordability State Policy Scorecard project was funded by Arnold Ventures.