Hardly a day goes by but what I read about a fentanyl overdose. I’ve also noticed an increased number of news articles about people from the entertainment industry dying unexpectedly. I always assume unexpected deaths among otherwise healthy people are drug related. According to the National Safety Council, more than 67,000 people died of fentanyl overdoses in 2021.
Category: Policy & Legislation
Wednesday Links
- Covid booster tested mice – what we know.
- The cost of Biden’s attempts to undo Trump’s deregulations: 15.3% of household income for the bottom one-fifth of the income distribution, but only 2.2% for the top fifth.
- Gene Steuerle: it’s not clear there has been any slow down in the growth of health care spending.
- Over the last half-century or so, the median household has seen income gains of less than 1% per year.
Conspiracy Between Drug Companies and PBMs Inhibit Generic Competition
Last year the state of Tennessee health plan paid $62,000 apiece for 775 patients who were on the biologic drug Humira. Humira is used for autoimmune and inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and others. All told Tennessee spent nearly $50 million on one drug. This is a lot of money for only 775 patients. What is even more amazing is that nine (9) different new drugs biosimilar to Humira just hit the market. The lowest price for a generic copy is $994 a month. That is shy of $12,000 a year, or about $50,000 a year cheaper than Humira.
IRS Freezes Giveaway Program Before the Goodman Institute Makes Its Claim
Businesses, including nonprofit organizations and churches, have been able to seek up to $26,000 for each employee on their payrolls if they can show that their operations were fully or partly suspended in 2020 or part of 2021, and report a significant decline in their revenues during that time. Before the moratorium was announced, they had until 2025 to file claims.
Why didn’t everybody get in on this deal?