Medicare & Medicaid Economic Trends: Rise of Open Access Plans and Declining Out‑of‑Pocket Spending

Medicare & Medicaid Economic Trends: Rise of Open Access Plans and Declining Out‑of‑Pocket Spending The passage provides historical health‑insurance utilization data and cost‑share trends but contains no specific allegations, transactions, or links to high‑profile individuals or agencies that would merit investigative follow‑up. It is largely background information already publicly available. Key insights: Open‑access (PPO/POS) plans grew as a share of all plans from 1988‑2008.; Out‑of‑pocket spending fell from 48% of health‑care costs in 1960 to 12% in 2009.; Data sourced from Kaiser/HRET, KPMG, HIAA, and HHS/ CMS surveys.