- White House backs OTC contraception (which is good), but wants insurance to pay for it (which is bad).
- Biden cuts to Medicare Advantage: Drug deductibles will on average be 167% higher next year. Two-thirds of enrollees will see their drug deductibles climb by at least $200. The median out-of-pocket spending maximum will increase to $5,400 from $5,000. (WSJ)
- How a surge of Fentanyl drove drug deaths in America. (NYT)
- Drug resistant pathogens kill 1.3 million people each year and contribute to the deaths of nearly 5 million others.
- Elevance study: A large majority of Medicare Advantage enrollees use at least on supplemental benefit (transportation, food cards, etc.) – which are associated with a decreased likelihood of having an inpatient admission or non-emergent emergency department visit.
Category: Wednesday Links
Wednesday Links
- CBO: Drug importation and a slew of other oft-debated drug pricing policies would have little to no effect on cutting prices.
- Henderson on Stiglitz.
- Charles Sauer: CDC’s advisory committee to recommend lowering the age for the pneumonia vaccination to 50.
- Federal funds now directly support the purchase of 79 percent of Obamacare plans, while the majority of enrollees receive plans entirely paid for by federal taxpayers.
- Virtual physical therapy, once a niche service, has gone mainstream.
Wednesday Links
- Milei’s incredible success so far in Argentina.
- Obamacare predictions that the experts got wrong.
- AEI makes the case for replacing the tax exclusion for employer paid heath insurance with a tax credit without ever mentioning the words “tax credit.”
- WSJ calls out the CMS “demonstration” project for what it really is: an “election bribe for seniors?” (WSJ)
Wednesday Links
- “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” Here is what that means today if you are covered by Centene, the largest provider of Obamacare insurance in the country.
- Why the British economy is stagnating: “It is difficult to build almost anything, anywhere.”
- Most anti-smoking drugs don’t work and the drug companies aren’t anxious to develop new ones. Overly strict FDA regulations are partly to blame. (STAT News)
- New York’s Covid tsar spent the pandemic preaching social distancing while attending raves and sex parties.
- “Healthcare is a centrally controlled market. It is both a monopoly—sole control of supply—and a monopsony—single determinant of demand.”