The change: Under the ACA, the coinsurance rate in the “donut hole” is being reduced from 100% in 2011 to 25% in 2022.
The results: No change in drug use. No change in total spending. But seniors did switch from generic to brand drugs more often.
Click her to view/download the Study
HT: Jason Shafrin
Chris Jacobs writes:
The report makes for bracing reading. Funding an increase in spending equal to 10 percent of GDP—the cost of the most robust single-payer option—by an increase in labor taxes alone would require the average tax rate paid on labor income to more than double, from 17.7 percent in 2020 to 38.4 percent in 2030. Conversely, using a progressive income tax that applies to both labor and capital would triple capital gains average rates, from 15. 4 percent in 2020 to 45.4 percent in 2030.
As for the economic effects, this is from the CBO’s previous report:
In 2018 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) suddenly removed Auryxia (ferric citrate) from the Medicare Part D drug formulary and began to require prior authorization for the few indications it would reimburse. CMS gave little information about the reversal but apparently made the decision because it views ferric citrate at a mineral product, like dietary supplements such as Vitamin C. Dietary supplements are not covered by Medicare except in a few cases.
My dog had to go to the veterinarian on Tuesday for her annual visit. Where I live vets aren’t particularly cheap, but they have one thing us human patients do not: price transparency. Since most pet owners don’t have health insurance for their pets, they are more price sensitive. Because vets don’t have many different insurance companies to bill, prices tend to be uniform. One vet we’ve patronized even has a list of lab test prices on each exam room wall. It explains the cost of various individual tests and a package price if all were performed together. Another vet has a note on the interior door that reads, “Did you make an estimate???” When is the last time you saw a sign like that in your physician’s office? Probably never.