- By reducing provider taxes and excessive state-directed payments, the reforms in the Big Beautiful Bill are projected to lower prices for Americans outside Medicaid – a benefit between $502 billion and $875 billion over the next ten years.
- New UBI study: participants reduced their work somewhat and there was no long run increase in happiness.
- Can AI deliver first-rate concierge care?
- Health wearables are a $44 billion global industry. (NYT) The problem: most are not integrated with the patient’s electronic medical records.
- California is about to make whistle blowing to expose welfare fraud illegal.
Category: Cost of Healthcare
Friday Links – 21 August 2026
- In defense of 3 vaccines instead of 1. (WSJ)
- Male infertility contributes to up to 40 percent of all infertility cases worldwide.
- An industry-sponsored analysis shows 24% of all first attempts to fill a prescription for a drug with a new CMS-negotiated price that took effect this year were initially rejected by plan sponsors, roughly the same rate as before the new prices kicked in.
- Quote of the day: “The reason [the Democratic establishment] has a hard time defining what centrist agenda they favor is that they do not favor a centrist agenda.”
- CBO: Value Based Payment models implemented by the CMS Innovation Center have increased spending by more than five billion dollars.
Cancer Drug Doses Could be Safely Lowered, Saving Money, Reducing Side Effects
Cancer therapy is often an excruciating process with numerous debilitating side effects. It is also expensive. Yet, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves dose and regimens of cancer drugs that are longer – and more costly – than what some experts say is necessary.
Prior Authorization
The AMA’s 2025 physician survey found that the average doctor handles 40 prior authorization requests every week, eating up roughly 13 hours of their time. Almost two full working days every week are spent on paperwork instead of patients. Ninety-five percent of physicians surveyed said prior authorization gets in the way of necessary care. Seventy-nine percent said patients give up on treatment entirely because the process is too much or the approval never arrives.
Source: The Health Care Blog