Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
A Health Affiairs Forefront article by DiGiorgio (2023) argues the 340B has outlived its purposes. He writes: By mandating that drug companies give a large discount to covered entities, the majority of which are hospitals with disproportionate share or critical access designations, the 340B program was intended to provide a financial buffer for institutions such as the…
The public health effect of legalizing marijuana. Source of cross-country health care spending differences. Sociodemographics and HVBP scores. Nursing homes: Cash flow and COVID-19 cases. Affirmative action in health care? Plus a few AI links: AI comes to Google Workspace. AI and productivity.
Some troubling statistics published recently by Woolf et al. (2023) using CDC WONDER data: Between 2019 and 2020, the all-cause mortality rate for ages 1 to 19 years increased by 10.7%, and it increased by an additional 8.3% between 2020 and 202…These increases, the largest in decades, followed a period of great progress in reducing…
Interesting paper from Ziedan, Simon and Wing (2023): The contraction in health care consumption at the start of the pandemic provides insight into central economic questions of waste and productivity in the U.S. health care system. Using linked mortality and Electronic Medical Records, we compare people who had outpatient appointments scheduled for dates in 30…
FDA’s Office of Generic Drugs issued their 2022 Annual Report. Generic drugs play a vital role in saving patients and payers money. To give an example, pregabalin capsules cost $450 for a 30-day supply during the end of its market exclusivity period, but priced dropped to $23 (a 95% decrease) during the first 12 months…
In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence a wealth of information creates a poverty of attention and a need to allocate that attention efficiently among…
Previously, CMS implemented a Tukey outlier deletion method when calculating Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans (PDP) star rating. A Final Rule implemented in 2022, however, removed the use of Tukey outlier deletion from quality measures. Based on 2020 historical data, 17% of MA plans would have lower star ratings as…
Out recently is an interesting AEA paper by Okeke 2023, who examines a policy experiment by the Nigerian government that aimed determine whether expand access to physicians improved health outcomes. In this experiment, some communities were randomly selected to receive a new doctor. These doctors were posted to the local public health center. Prior to…
A study by the World Obesity Foundation predicts that more than half the global population will be living with overweight and obesity within 12 years if prevention, treatment and support do not improve. The report also predicts that the global economic burden of overweight and obesity will be $4.32 trillion or approximately 2.9% of global…
MDs on biosimilars. Cognitive decline and financial well-being. Copay caps. Maternity care deserts. AI bubble?