It remains to be seen whether California spending Medicaid funds on social services offsets medical spending or merely adds to total spending. The state is probably not particularly worried about the answer since it is paying only a fraction of the cost.
Author: Devon Herrick
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.
NYT: Trump is Shifting Gun Violence from Public Health to Criminal Enforcement
Nearly 50,000 Americans die every year from gunshots, while nearly 60% are self-inflicted. About 23,434 Americans who die from gun violence, nearly six-in-ten are black. Oddly enough, most black gun deaths are by other black people (89%), while 79% of white gun homicides are perpetrated by other white people. A fundamental question is whether gun violence is a public health problem, or a crime problem?
AI Scribes of Patient Visits May Change Physicians’ Clinical Reasoning
Nowadays programs called A.I. scribe record patient encounters in the background and passively create a concise record of the patient visit. All the doctor has to do is proofread the account and correct any errors. Past research has found that about one-third of transcriptions have some type of errors, which is to be expected when patients mumble, and their thoughts are not well organized. Dr. Ouyang describes initial feelings of relief about not having to sit down and attempt to recall everything that was said. She describes the reduction in stress to have a report that just requires proofing. Perhaps an AI scribe would alleviate the need for doctors to have their face buried in a laptop while discussing conditions with their patients.