In 2016, the first hour of chemotherapy infusion — one of the most common services billed by oncology practices — was reimbursed at $136 for physician’s offices, while payment for hospital outpatient departments was 106% higher, at $280…. This year, this payment disparity has jumped to 158%, with physician reimbursement declining to $129 and the outpatient department rate increasing to $333….
Category: Consumer-Driven Health Care
The FDA Hinders the Progress of Regenerative Medicine
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sometimes gets lost in a bureaucratic maze of confusion and red tape that deprives patients of beneficial therapies. Innovative products sometimes fall within a gray area and become overly regulated. One of the FDA’s latest targets is regenerative medicine.
An article titled, An MBA in Regulatory Confusion, talks about Florida-based Regenative Labs. The firm manufactures products made from umbilical cords (donated by mothers after a C-section, according to the company website). English physician and anatomist Thomas Wharton first described his namesake umbilical cord jelly in 1656, although he had no way of knowing it is rich in stem cells and regenerative healing properties.
Saturday Links
- Reprint of a Uwe Reinhart classic: how Republican administrations gave us health care price controls and Keynesian economics fiscal policy.
- OxyContin and the Sacklers return to TV in a Netflix series fact checked by Slate.
- Blue Shield of California tears up the prescription drug playbook and partners with Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. (WSJ)
- Did you know the US government is stockpiling cheese ….. and raisins?
- What happens to the roughly 20 million people slated to lose Medicaid coverage? The vast majority have other insurance and apparently didn’t need to be on Medicaid in the first place. (WSJ)
- COVID experts calling for masks again — even at home!
Friday Links
Poll: one in three Americans have a tattoo.
Roughly three in 10 adults have been addicted to opioids or have a family member who has been. (NYT)
Harvard encourages students to apply for food stamps, despite $53B endowment.
AP: Yes, inflation is down. No, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) doesn’t deserve the credit.
Why the IRA’s green energy investments won’t affect global warming.