Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
That is a claim by a recent JAMA article by Shrank et al. (2020). The Incidental Economist has a nice video explaining their findings. Of the $760 billion in total waste, the largest component is administration and billing, costing $266 billion. There is an easy way to eliminate most of this waste: eliminate insurance. If…
Health impacts of evictions. Falling cancer mortality rates in the US. Digital health funding declines. The greatest healthcare system in the world? Marry a third or fourth cousin.
This month, RADAR on Specialty Pharmacy, wrote an article on drug importation titled “HHS Importation Efforts Move Ahead, but Questions Remain”. As part of the article, I was interviewed. Below is an excerpt. High drug prices have been in the news for a few years, catching “the ire of public opinion and politicians,” observes Jason…
In the U.S., 5% of the population account for 50% of expenditures. Many of these so-called “superutilizers” have multiple comorbidities; some of these patients face economic challenges, while others may contend with mental illness. One approach to attempt to improve quality and reduce cost is to provide these high-cost patients with supplemental services. One question…
Not a surprising finding but an important one nonetheless. Using data from the 2013–17 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) a paper by Gaffney et al. (2020) finds: Although people with VHA [Veterans Health Administration] coverage were older and in worse health and had lower incomes than those with other coverage, VHA patients had lower rates…
Open-source models are essential. The Economist’s country of the year David Brooks (from 2015): “Résumé virtues” vs “Eulogy virtues.” Homelessness and water quality in California Wait times for glaucoma treatment at NHS
A nice overview is provided by Johnson, Kishore and Berwick (2020). They review the HR13841 and S 1129.8 in detail [Note: HR 1384 and S 1129 were also proposed in the last Congressional session and they have an overview of that as well] HR 1384 and S 1129 both establish a single payer federal insurance…
Consider the case of two drugs, Drug A and Drug B. Both drugs treat patients with the same disease. Further, assume they are close substitutes. When Drug A loses it’s patent and generics can enter the market, one would expect Drug A’s market share (brand + generic) to rise. In fact, Drug A’s market share…
How would an elephant react to LSD? While this question may be interesting in and of itself, a more basic question to ask is how much LSD should an elephant be given to answer this question. In How Animals Work, Knut Schmidt-Nielsen shows how some faulty logic lead to an elephant’s LSD overdose. A scientific…
As we head into 2020, we will briefly look back at the most read articles in 2019 on the Healthcare Economist blog. These include: Marginal Structural Models (and the “MSM: A Simple Example” was also popular) Trends in hospital consolidation Part D Fun Facts How to Value Curative Therapies What is a “digital practitioner”? Meth…