Ever since Obamacare became law, my colleagues and I have been writing about a race to the bottom in the exchanges – where health plans try to attract the healthy and avoid the sick. The result: people with serious health problems are being denied access to the doctors and hospitals they desperately need.
Does Medicare Advantage Save the Government Money?
Matthew Holt at The Health Care Blog writes:
Critics (notably ex CMS veterans Berwick & Gilfillan) claim that risk adjustment games played by the private plans who run Medicare Advantage have cost up to $200bn over 10 years. Medpac (the independent body that advises Congress) estimates that “Medicare spends 4 percent more for MA enrollees than it would have spent if those enrollees remained in FFS Medicare” …. However data from the Medicare Trustees and other research from ACHP & the trade group Better Medicare Alliance suggests that Medpac’s analysis is incorrect and that Medicare Advantage saves the government about 9% per enrollee.
George Halvorson says the Medpac report is “fake news”.
Ivermectin
Scott Sumner on Ivermectin: https://www.econlib.org/trust-but-verify-2/
David Henderson on Ivermectin: https://www.econlib.org/ivermectin-and-statistical-significance/
Matt Yglesias on the real problem: No one has an incentive to do really thorough testing on generic drugs.
April 2022 Health Care News is now available
April 2022 Health Care News is now available:
- Congress Turns to the Think Tanks for Help
- Democrats Go After Short Term Plans
- California Punts on Single Payer Plan
- Fauci’s Secret War on Great Barrington Declaration Authors
- Insurers Ordered to Cover Sex Changes
- Vaccine Skeptics Listed as “Terrorists”
- Mark Cuban Launches Online, Low-Cost Generic Pharmacy
- Military Data on Vaccine Adverse Effects Disappears
- FDA Advisor: Agency is Ignoring Vaccine Side Effects
- Sweden’s Approach to the Virus Wins Accolades
- Johns Hopkins Study: Lockdowns Don’t Work
- Goodman: Seniors Deserve an HSA
- Blase: Subsidies Make Health Care Cost More