Covid has been rough on America’s mental health, with job losses, uncertainty and being cooped up at home. Covid lockdowns, social isolation and online Zoom classes while stuck at home have undoubtedly made teenage angst worse as well. An article in The New York Times discusses how teens are being overmedicated with powerful psychiatric drugs with little concern for the long term side effects. Indeed, the trend for prescribing psychiatric drugs to adolescents began to rise long before Covid.
Author: Devon Herrick
Magic Mushrooms Control Alcohol Abuse… What???
Alcohol abuse kills around 95,000 people in the United States every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Moreover, alcohol abuse shortens lives by an average 26 years. A new clinical trial tested psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in magic mushrooms, as a treatment for alcohol misuse disorder.
Stat News: Medicare’s Bundled Payment Initiative for Joint Replacement a Rigged Game
The price Medicare pays for joint replacement had hardy changed in two decades when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) began an experimental program to pay bundled payments for a full 90-day episode of care. The program was designed to save Medicare money while rewarding surgeons who keep costs down and penalizing those whose costs are higher.
Surgeons whose patients cost Medicare less than the lump sum over 90 days get a portion of their savings as a reward. Surgeons who don’t save Medicare money face penalties large enough to bankrupt them.
When Hospitals Misquote Prices They’re Not Held Accountable
I often write about how the U.S. health care industry is predicated on maximizing revenue against third party payers, primarily employer plans. Health insurers negotiate prices with providers but about half of people in private health insurance are covered by self-insured employer plans. That means an insurer is often managing the plan but not taking on any risk. Some benefits brokers have told me insurers frequently profit off third-party claims due to spread pricing. That is, charging the employer plan slightly more for a procedure than what the insurer paid the provider. That is problematic because the party negotiating the prices (insurers) profits every time they spend (someone else’s) money. That is not a very strong incentive to hold prices down, or steer enrollees to the cheapest options.