US Health Care Policy
Health Insurance, Managed Care, and Provider Payment
Quality, Patient Safety, and Pharma
Hospitals, Primary Care, and Long-Term Care
Potpourri
100

Medicare and Medicaid were both created in this year under President Lyndon B. Johnson as amendments to the Social Security Act.

What is 1965?

100

This is the amount an insured person must pay for health care services before their insurance begins to pay.

What is a deductible?

100

Once a brand-name drug's patent expires, these competitors can enter the market and typically sell the same chemical compound at a much lower price.

What are generic drugs?

100

This type of care does not require an overnight stay.

What is outpatient care? (Will also accept ambulatory care!)

100

These non-medical factors -- like housing, income, education, and food security -- are widely considered to have a larger effect on health than medical care.

What are social determinants of health?

200

This is the most common type of health insurance coverage in the United States.

What is employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI)?

200

This managed care cost-control tool requires patients to get approval from their insurer before receiving certain services, procedures, or medications.

What is prior authorization?

200

The IOM's Crossing the Quality Chasm identified six aims for high-quality health care: safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and this sixth aim.

What is patient-centered?

200

This is what happens to hospital prices when two hospitals merge.

What is "go up" or increase?

200

Michael Austin, COO of Universal Primary Care, said that Bradford, PA faces major shortages of this type of physician.

What are OB/GYNs?

300

This organization was a major impediment to Truman's plan for national health insurance.

What is the American Medical Association (AMA)?

300

This provider payment method incentivizes volume over value, because providers are paid more the more care they deliver.

What is fee-for-service?

300

This practice occurs when a branded drug manufacturer hands money to a generic company threatening to enter the market -- in exchange for that company doing nothing.

What is "pay-for-delay"?

300

This is the primary payer for long-term care in the United States.

What is Medicaid?

300

People under 65 can also qualify for Medicare if they have this specific health condition.

What is end-stage renal disease (ESRD)?

400

This Medicare program, sometimes called "privatized Medicare," allows beneficiaries to receive their Medicare benefits through private insurance plans.

What is Medicare Advantage (or Part C)?

400

In this type of managed care plan, enrollees must choose a primary care physician and obtain referrals to see specialists.

What is an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization)?

400

This landmark 1999 IOM report brought national attention to patient safety, estimating that up to 98,000 Americans die annually from preventable medical errors.

What is To Err is Human?

400

These non-physician providers are playing an increasing role in primary care.

What are nurse practitioners (NPs)? (Will also accept physician assistants, or PAs)

400

Often located in medically underserved areas (MUAs), these clinics provide care regardless of patients' ability to pay.

What are Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)? (Will also accept Community Health Centers, or CHCs)

500

This legislation, which took effect in 2022, protects patients from receiving large, unexpected bills when they unknowingly receive care from an out-of-network provider.

What is the No Surprises Act?

500

This is the term for the economic concept that explains why people may use more health care when they have insurance (because they don't pay the full cost).

What is moral hazard?

500

In a landmark 2003 RAND study on health care quality, researchers found that Americans received recommended health care this percentage of the the time.

What is 55%? (Will accept anywhere from 50-59%.)

500

This hospital metric represents the average number of inpatients receiving care each day.

What is the average daily census?

500

This is the name of Pennsylvania's health insurance marketplace, where residents can shop for ACA-compliant plans.

What is Pennie?