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An Examination Of Types Of Health Insurance And The Reported Prevalence Of Autism In The United States, Jennifer L. Thompson

Dissertations

The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders continues to rise despite barriers of changes to diagnostic criteria and lack of insurance coverage. Increases in prevalence affect costs associated with a disorder since cost of health care services are often estimated based on utilization of services. This can also affect an individual’s ability to access to health care services. To equitably distribute autism services to individuals an accurate estimation of the true prevalence of autism is needed.

Access to health care can be influenced by the type of insurance coverage a person holds. Other factors, such as socio-economic status, ethnicity, location of …

The Impact Of Medicare Insurance Plans Upon Healthcare Services Utilization Considering Patients' Characteristics And Their Access To Medical Care, Steven Stout

Dissertations

The annual average cost of healthcare for services utilization by a Medicare beneficiary is projected to grow from about $10,000 to over $16,000 by 2023. As an ongoing initiative to address this trend, the federal government contracts with private insurance companies and other entities, called Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs), to develop and administer alternative health insurance plans designed to contain service utilization and costs. One feature of some Medicare Advantage plans is the presence of risk-bearing contracts with primary care physician organizations that voluntarily accept financial responsibility for the overall cost of care for patients attributed to them. In this …