- CBO Medicaid managed care doesn’t improve outcomes.
- Henderson and Hooper on why the FDA needs to stick to safety and forget efficacy. (recommended)
- Robin Hanson: ~1/2 of prices changes due to firm announcements happen beforehand, and ~1/2 of that is due to insider trading.
- Medicare Advantage beneficiaries enrolled in plans with higher prior authorization rates were more likely to disenroll from their contract—moving either to another Medicare Advantage contract or to traditional Medicare.
- People who live closer to a pharmacy are more likely to get medications.
Should Health Insurers Count Copay Assistance Against Plan Deductibles?
An acquaintance complained to me that a drug she needed for was available for a $5 copay, but not if you’re on Medicare. She wondered why Medicare beneficiaries did not qualify for the low copay. I already knew the answer. Copay assistance is sometimes touted as a way to help people afford costly medications. However, it is also a way for drug companies to charge higher prices by blunting patients’ incentive to choose cheaper generic drugs.
Saturday Links – 11 July 2026
- Were the Dark Ages really all that dark?
- Most expensive state for health insurance (cost/median monthly household income): West Virginia. Least expensive state: Maryland.
- The bad news on single payer heath insurance.
- Why the Medicare Trustees failed to predict the cost-increasing consequences of the IRA bill.
Friday Links – 10 July 2026
- KFF: ACA to experience double digit premium increases this fall.
- Why does the AMA control our billing codes. Is there a better way?
- Does our payment system dictate what therapies patient receive?
- Argument: let pharmacists prescribe for routine conditions – especially in rural and underserved areas.
- To lower health care costs, end three abusive and common contracting terms used by hospitals to inflate their revenue.