Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
This is something I knew very little about and thus Bald et al. (2022) NBER working paper was fascinating to read. They describe the key tension of foster care: failing to put at risk children in foster care may expose them to abuse or neglect; however putting too many at risk children into foster care…
If you were a drug manufacturer, you naturally would want to focus your research on more common, highly prevalent diseases. If there are more patients with the disease, that means more drugs that can be sold. In recent years, however, the number of so-called “orphan drugs” has increased. In the 1970s, only 10 orphan drugs…
What is the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE)? Did YouTube ads increase COVID-19 rates? GDP vs. GNP. Do State Medicaid Agencies use text messages? Healthcare market debate explained with economics.
The 2022 winner of the John Bates Clark medal is Oleg Itskhoki. Each year, the medal goes to the American economist under the age of 40 who made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge. Below is a summary of his research from the American Economic Association (AEA) website. One key finding is…
Are narrow networks a good thing or a bad thing? The first thing you need to know is what is a “narrow network”. Narrow networks is an informal terms which basically means that your health plan either places restrictions over the providers you are able to see and/or you certain providers that are out of…
How is opioid use trending over time? Among individuals who filed for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), a paper by Maestas et al. (2022) finds that: …the prevalence of opioid use among SSDI applicants declined from 33 percent in 2013 to 24 percent in 2018. By contrast, the share of applicants reporting musculoskeletal impairments, which…
Does access to pharmacogenomic testing results impact prescribing behavior? Digital endpoints for clinical trials. Medicare Advantage and mental health. Nurses on RaDonda Vaught verdict. Confidence intervals, compatability intervals, uncertainty intervals.
The Public Health Service Act (PHSA) in 1992, created a program to allow hospitals providing care for underserved communities to be able to access discounted drugs. The program–known as the 340B Drug Pricing Program, has been described as follows: …[The] law requires pharmaceutical manufacturers participating in the Medicaid program to enter into a second agreement…
In the short-run, the answer is likely ‘yes’. As COVID-19 (hopefully) slows and if economic growth remains strong, health care spending will fall as a share of the US economy. At least this is what the Office of the Actuary (OACT) at Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) thinks in their Health Affairs study…
Background on World Cup Qualifying The World Cup will take place in November-December 2022 in Qatar. Today, the 8 groups of 4 teams were selected for the World Cup. A common tradition when evaluating the groups is to see from which of these groups is it most difficult to teams to advance to the elimination…