Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
As people become richer, they generally spend more money on health. However, as countries become richer, do they spend more or less (relative to their GDP per capita) on health care innovation? A paper by Yu et al. (2026) looks at trends in willingness to pay thresholds between the US and countries in the most-favored…
Stuart Figueroa provides some insights in his Incidental Economist article: To start, price shopping is inconvenient. It requires the consumer to invest time and energy in finding a provider, oftentimes having to navigate provider directories that are inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated. Price shopping is also hampered by the mere fact that health insurance is complicated and…
Let’s say you’re the CEO of a health plan. A new drug just received approval to treat patients with lung cancer. The drug’s clinical trial examined how well the the drug worked on third line (3L) patients and patients with good funcional ability (e.g., performance status ECOG score of 0 or 1). FDA approved the…
Biosimilars aim to be lower cost options for biologic therapies after loss of exclusivity. A key question is whether these cost savings get passed through to patients via lower out-of-pocket costs. A paper by Dayer et al. (2026) aims to answer this question using 2011-2023 Merative MarketScan Commercial claims data. The authors observed: …significant patient…
One of the central tensions in pharmaceutical policy is the gap between what a drug is worth and what it actually costs. In theory, a drug’s price should reflect its value — its ability to improve health outcomes relative to the next best alternative. In practice, list prices are set by manufacturers, net prices are shaped by opaque…
Transparency and PBMs. Moral hazard of HAART. Accents and social hierarchy. What is a community healthcare worker? RJK, Jr. vs. Gavi
In May 2025, CMS’s Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) unveiled it’s “Make America Healthy Again” vision. CMMI models focus on not only “protecting the federal taxpayer,” but also (i) promoting evidence-based prevention, (ii) empowering people to achieve their health goals, and (iii) driving choice and competition for people. CMMI has introduced a number…
That is the argument made by Ike Brannon and Anthony Lo Sasso in a recent Health Affairs Forefront article. 340B allows hospitals serving low income communities to purchase pharmaceuticals at discounted rates, but then receive full price reimbursement from payers (e.g., commercial insurers, Medicare). It is not clear that the 340B program even benefits low-income…
Simulate the risk AI displaces your job (methodology) LA’s “Great Stone Mother” Hospital. KFF CEO: What’s Wrong with U.S. Health Care CDC blocks publication of a study showing benefits of COVID vaccine Meta, AI and layoffs.
The Peterson Health Technology Institute (PHTI) recently released a report titled: “Administrative AI: Current Use and Potential Impact.” The report was based on a workshop PHTI convened with senior leaders from health systems, health plans, technology developers, investment firms, and federal agencies in order to discuss how technology and policy can enable AI to reduce…