- Direct primary care for Medicaid.
- Senators demand release of NIH study on transgender care.
- Preauthorization denials: they are twice as high in Medicaid as they are in Medicare Advantage.
- Study: hospital upcoding in 2019 (relative to 2011 coding practices) was associated with $14.6 billion in hospital payments, including $5.8 billion from private health plans, $4.6 billion from Medicare, and $1.8 billion from Medicaid.
- Relative to employer small-group plans, Marketplace plans paid 6.9% lower doctor fees, 13.3% lower hospital fees, and were 26.3% lower outpatient prices.
Category: Cost of Healthcare
Saturday Links
- Has Trump’s election sparked more vasectomies?
- Why is the US growing faster than other countries, even though our students do worse on test scores?
- Walmart says it can now offer same day delivery (including pharmaceuticals) to 86% of all US households.
- Study: Substantial Medicare price reductions in the medical device industry over 20 years led to a 29% decline in new product introductions and an 80% decrease in patent filings.
- Are drug expiration dates meaningless?
- Some people on X are cheering the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s murder.
Friday Links
- Tim Cook thinks Apple health apps could save your life.
- Cato video on Pain Management: Federal and local drug task forces have arrested doctors whom they accuse of overprescribing opioids. This has led to a situation where many physicians either undertreat pain or choose to abandon their long-term pain patients.
- Biden pushes out over $100 billion in clean energy grants as term comes to an end.
- Minnesota study: Commercial payers and Medicare Part D plans—and patients—fund 85% of 340B revenues in Minnesota. Hospitals reap 77% of the benefits.
- Flu Shots Increase Susceptibility to Common Cold.
- With over 120 million Americans suffering from inadequately treated hypertension or diabetes and a never-ending shortage of primary care practitioners, now is the time to expand access to OTC drugs.
Critics: Work Requirements for Medicaid Enrollment Off to a Slow Start
Republicans have wanted to tie welfare benefits to work requirements for many years. One such proposal is to require some form of work in return for Medicaid benefits. Democrats opposed such measures, with the Obama and Biden Administrations blocking most applications. George is the only state so far with work requirements tied to Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Critics argue that the program is boosting inefficiencies and slowing down enrollment in other welfare programs, like food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. In Georgia employment verification for Medicaid eligibility and enrollment has been slow.