State News

Consumers in Oregon report not being able to afford their prescription drugs, despite a reduction in drug price increases, reports Oregon Public Broadcasting. Oregon lawmakers held a hearing on the results from the annual drug price transparency report and heard from consumers and advocates on their experiences affording prescription drugs. The number of drug cost increases decreased again in 2021, however the average launch price of new brand name drugs more than doubled—indicating that manufacturers may set a drug’s launch price higher to avoid making controversial price increases in following years. Findings from the report also included: 193 new “high-cost” drugs; cancer treatments make up the most of new high-cost drugs introduced; 71 drugs reporting annual price increases; the average price increase for generic drugs was 27 percent, compared to 13 percent for brand name drugs.

Montana’s richest nonprofit hospitals receive millions of dollars in tax exemptions each year to operate as charities, but Kaiser Health News reports that some fall short of other medical facilities in what they give back to their communities. Overall, Montana’s nearly 50 nonprofit hospitals directed, on average, roughly 8% of their total annual expenses toward community benefits, such as covering the treatment costs of people who can’t afford care, according to a KHN study of IRS filings ending in 2019. Notably, the state’s largest provider, Billings Clinic, spent roughly 5% of its operating costs on community benefits, while St. Luke Hospital reported 22%. Montana nonprofit hospitals face little to no oversight of their community benefit spending, though they use local needs assessments to help determine how to spend this money. A state audit estimated that hospitals combined had $146 million in tax exemptions in 2016 and reported spending $257 million on community benefits; however, the audit found that hospitals report benefits vaguely and inconsistently, making it hard to determine if they can justify their charity status.

Colorado’s Office of eHealth Innovation has released a refreshed version of the Colorado Health Information Technology Roadmap, a framework for leveraging technology to address gaps in the state’s healthcare systems, reports Colorado Newsline. The roadmap highlights three overarching goals: supporting better data sharing infrastructure; increasing access to healthcare through coordinated systems; and improving health equity. Success is defined as patients finding the care they need with doctors who are equipped to access shared clinical data, but connecting to the state’s health information exchanges can be difficult in rural communities. Implementing an electronic medical record system can be prohibitively expensive for smaller rural facilities. The roadmap also notes how COVID-19 highlighted inequities in telehealth use—the people who were most affected by the pandemic (the elderly and Black patients) could have been at a disadvantage for care, as they had lower rates of telemedicine adoption than the general population.

The Oregon Health Authority released a request for grant applications for community-based organizations that will create partnerships with underserved communities. More than $31 million in funding is available, as part of the authority’s goal to eliminate health inequities by 2030.

A new nursing program at the University of St. Thomas’ Morrison Family College of Health will focus on health equity and enroll at least 30 percent of the student body from historically excluded communities, reports the Sahan Journal. Currently, 91 percent of registered nurses in Minnesota are white and the school hopes to help create a more diverse and equity-focused nursing workforce. By relying less on academic metrics and more on an applicant’s background, St. Thomas hopes they will meet their benchmark. The nursing program will inject social justice advocacy into the curriculum by deploying nursing students on the streets of downtown Minneapolis to provide care for those experiencing homelessness through a partnership with Minneapolis Downtown Improvement District.

Hawaii is one of six states that rank above average in healthcare for all ethnic groups, reports State of Reform. Hawaii ranked number 2 for Latinx/Hispanic groups; 5 for white; and 6 for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander groups according to a Commonwealth Fund study; the study did not rank Hawaii for Black or American Indian, Alaska Native groups. Despite ranking above the national average for Latinx/Hispanic people, it ranked significantly lower than white and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander groups. Hawaii’s low uninsurance rate and high rates of preventative care services may contribute to these high rankings, though the state still has rates of health disparities similar to those found across the country.

Minnesota passed a law in June 2021 to implement a partial fix to the “family glitch” for low-income families by leveraging the state’s Basic Health Program—MinnesotaCare—to provide coverage to those with incomes between 133 and 200 percent of the federal poverty level, according to a post in Health Affairs Forefront. The plan provides coverage with low premiums, limited copays and no deductibles. The state will finance the entire cost of expanding MinnesotaCare to this newly eligible group with one-time general fund dollars and funds from Minnesota’s Health Care Access Fund. However, there is no federal Basic Health Plan financing, as newly eligible enrollees don’t qualify for a premium tax credit in a Marketplace Plan. The “family glitch” refers to an IRS interpretation of the premium tax credit eligibility requirement for those purchasing a Qualified Health Plan on the health insurance Marketplaces that results in some spouses and dependents being denied access to premium subsidies even when they do not have access to affordable employer coverage. An employer offer of coverage is considered affordable if the employee’s contribution toward the cost of the premium for employee-only coverage does not exceed 9.83 percent of the employee's household income, not whether the offer is affordable for a family.

Colorado’s Center for Improving Value in Healthcare’s Community Dashboard documents the continued rise in healthcare costs for Coloradoans, reports AboutHealthtTansparency.org. The dashboard contains 2013-2020 data from Colorado’s APCD to document the increasing costs, despite positive trends showing less utilization of high-cost services and improved quality of care.

Rhode Island joined the Peterson-Milbank Program for Sustainable Health Care Costs to improve the affordability of healthcare and contain unsustainable healthcare spending, according to the Milbank Memorial Fund. Rhode Island is an active player in implementing efforts to limit healthcare cost growth—with which the Peterson-Milbank program will provide technical assistance. Rhode Island aims to increase affordability gains for consumers and integrate an equity lens into their affordability work.