Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
VaxImpactMap is an interesting online tool that quantifies the health and economic costs of declining childhood vaccination. The tool was developed by Mahmud Sheku, Connor Van Meter, Robert Bednarczyk, and Ben Lopman at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. The tool focuses on changes these outcomes for three vaccine preventable diseases: Rotavirus, Pertussis (Whooping…
It turns out the answer is Medicare Advantage plans according to a KFF analysis released today. However the reason why Medicare Advantage is more profitable may not be obvious: At the end of 2024, gross margins per enrollee ranged from $608 in the Medicaid managed care market to $1,655 in the Medicare Advantage market. Gross…
FDA reverses its decision and will now review the Moderna flu vaccine. Could Australia be a model for FDA reform? “Pharma signals it’s done negotiating” Giant viruses. Hairy ball theorem.
After years of legislative debate, Congress has formally codified PBM reform into federal statute. Tucked within the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 (H.R. 7148), signed on February 3, 2026 are structural mandates that will reshape Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) operations in Medicare Part D and the commercial sector by 2028. The legislation targets three primary pillars:…
The number of hospitals owned by private equity (PE) firms has increased in recent years. One key question is how increased PE ownership has impact quality of care. To answer the question, a Jiao 2025 Health Services Research paper used claims Medicaid claims data–specifically data from the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) and Medicaid…
That is the findings from a KFF Health Tracking Poll out this month. The survey examines which aspects of accessing care and health insurance are the biggest problem for insured adults. The survey finds that 69% of adults believe prior authorization is a burden. Specifically, the survey asks “When it comes to getting health care,…
Expert opinions: Will MFN reduce US drug prices? Robots in maternity care. What drives company decisions on new medicine launches and UK investment? Incorporating dynamic pricing into HEOR models (dynamicpv) Tale of 2 value sets. How to handle the lows? Honesty. Integrity in journalism: Giannis edition.
In a recent report, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) examines the UK’s “translational readiness gap”—the persistent failure to move cutting-edge laboratory models into the actual creation of medicines to treat patients. The Attrition Problem and the Translational Gap Modern drug development is a high risk endeavor. Approximately 90% of drug candidates that…
That is the question asked by a 2022 NBER working paper by Pierre Dubois, Ashvin Gandhi and Shoshana Vasserman. Methodology: Demand Side Model The authors used IQVIA data on revenues and quantities of drugs sold to hospitals from 2002 to 2013 across US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK markets. The authors define a…
Simple: get people vaccinated. Dr. Oz agrees. The New York Times reports: Dr. Oz, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services director, told CNN on Sunday that there was a simple solution to the raging measles outbreak in South Carolina, which has infected more than 900 people and become the largest U.S. outbreak in recent…