Churn: Data Lacking on Critical Question

The media and most health policy wonks focus only on the number of insured versus uninsured people. They don’t really care if people are enrolled in Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacare plans, employer-based benefits, or whatever. As long as the percentage insured goes up, they are satisfied.

One of the problems this disguises is “churn” – people moving between different types of coverage, which leads to disrupted care. It is something that Obamacare surely makes worse, by introducing a new type of coverage for people within a certain range of income.

However, the people in charge of the new system are almost completely ignoring this problem, according to Modern Healthcare:

Experts say churn can be disruptive to people’s continuity of benefits and healthcare, particularly if they have medical conditions for which they are receiving treatment. In addition, it can be harder for people to access healthcare providers, particularly specialists, if they switch to Medicaid, which often pays lower rates.

“For a patient under a physician’s care for a condition like cancer or renal failure, changing providers in the midst of chemotherapy or dialysis can be incredibly disruptive,” said Chris Stenrud, executive director of government relations at Kaiser Permanente.

A CMS spokesman said no data on churning between private plans and Medicaid were available for the nearly three dozen states using the federal marketplace. But a committee of health plans selling products on the federal exchange that has been tracking the trend has noted a small but steady exodus from exchange plans. The committee, however, could not determine whether the people exiting the exchange plans were transitioned to Medicaid or employer coverage or became uninsured.

The solution to churn is a refundable, universal tax credit that allows people to buy health insurance of their own choosing, and getting rid of the artificially fragmented market that Obamacare has made worse.

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