CBO projections of US health insurance coverage: 2023-2033

A paper by Hanson et al. (2023) summarizes the Congressional Budget Office’s projections around US health insurance coverage between 2023-2033. They find that low rates of uninsurance due to provisions enacted to combat COVID-19 will not be sustained as these provisions expire: Temporary policies enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have increased Medicaid and…

Trends in Private Equity Acquisition of Oncology Clinics

That is the topic of a recent paper Tyan, Lam and Milligan (2023). Using newly created database from financial databases combined with press releases, news sources, clinic websites, and financial 10-K reports, the authors found that: During 2003 to 2022, 724 oncology clinics (53% radiation, 32% medical, 15% multi-oncologic) became affiliated with a PE-backed platform…

Excess mortality among Black Americans

A paper by Caraballo et al. (2023) published today uses CDC data to measure excess mortality among Black Americans between 1999-2020. They find that: From 1999 to 2011, the age-adjusted excess mortality rate declined from 404 to 211 excess deaths per 100 000 individuals among Black males (P for trend <.001). However, the rate plateaued from…

Impact of poverty on mortality

A paper by Brady et al. (2023) aims to measure this relationship in the US. They use data from the 1997-2019 Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data merged with the Cross-National Equivalent File. The data were validated with information from the National Death Index. The authors adjust for self-reported health, demographics, comorbidities and a…

Pediatric mortality rates rising

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…

Office of Generic Drugs 2022 Annual Report

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…

Will half the world be overweight?

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…