Would anyone buy an Obamacare plan without a huge subsidy? For people not getting a subsidy, if you combine the average premium and the average deductible last year, they had to pay $25,000 before getting any benefits from the plan. Narrow provider networks exclude the best doctors and the best hospitals. The relationship between buyer…
Author: John C. Goodman
Friday Links
Telemedicine is being used for assisted dying.
Why was a Texas woman charged with murder over a self-induced abortion?
Will 10,000 steps a day make you healthier? No. 7,000 steps seems to get the job done.
Why do companies invest in finding drugs to treat rare diseases?
How did the Middle Ages respond to the Back Death? With price controls and more. (recommended)
The Worst of Obamacare
Ever since Obamacare became law, my colleagues and I have been writing about a race to the bottom in the exchanges – where health plans try to attract the healthy and avoid the sick. The result: people with serious health problems are being denied access to the doctors and hospitals they desperately need.
Does Medicare Advantage Save the Government Money?
Matthew Holt at The Health Care Blog writes:
Critics (notably ex CMS veterans Berwick & Gilfillan) claim that risk adjustment games played by the private plans who run Medicare Advantage have cost up to $200bn over 10 years. Medpac (the independent body that advises Congress) estimates that “Medicare spends 4 percent more for MA enrollees than it would have spent if those enrollees remained in FFS Medicare” …. However data from the Medicare Trustees and other research from ACHP & the trade group Better Medicare Alliance suggests that Medpac’s analysis is incorrect and that Medicare Advantage saves the government about 9% per enrollee.
George Halvorson says the Medpac report is “fake news”.