- The number of active drug shortages in the U.S. is 300, down from an all-time high of 323. But nothing to cheer about.
- Microsoft global outage forces health systems to cancel appointments, delay procedures.
- Everything to know about the theory of language.
- OpenAI’s GPT-4o scored 98 percent on some of the most challenging parts of the US Medical Licensing Examination.
- Happiness seems to increase with the log of absolute income, so going from $50k to $100k has a much larger impact than going from $250k to $300k.
- How the Biden administration interprets “march-in” rights: New guidance explicitly states that the government could march in and seize the patents underlying any product officials think is overpriced, in fields from AI to aeronautics. Recommended.
Category: Policy & Legislation
This Doesn’t Seem to be a Problem in Medicare Advantage
According to a recent report in the Washington Post, a $3 billion scam involving urinary catheters has brought to light serious flaws in Medicare, prompting strong calls for reform….
Friday Links
- What health policy proposals are in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025? (1) Medicare Advantage will be the default option for Medicare enrollees, (2) site neutral payments by Medicare, (3) replace the physician fee-for-service system with value-based payments and (4) physician owned hospitals.
- Is the Republican Party becoming more anti-trade and anti-legal immigration?
- “I estimate that the combined losses to tenants and housing providers of a typical [Joe Biden type] rent control policy would be over $50 billion per year.”
- Biden’s rent control proposal changed from a cap of 5% annual rent increases to a cap of $55 – presumably because he had trouble reading the prompter.
- More horror stories from the British National Health Service.
Thursday Links
- Since 2001, Medicare physician payments have fallen 30 percent behind the rate of inflation.
- The rising cost of Obamacare: CBO: subsidies will cost $1.3 trillion over the next decade and Medicaid expansion will cost another $1.4 trillion. (WSJ)
- Claim: Group purchasing organizations (GPOs) are partly responsible for drug shortages. (Speculative)
- Medicare Part D enrollees: expect more restrictive formularies and utilization controls. Plans “may steer Medicare beneficiaries to use drugs that have to be administered by a doctor rather than pills that can be picked up at a pharmacy.”
- Three weaknesses with hospital “all payer” systems: (1) self-insured employers (most large companies) are exempt, (2) Medicare Advantage plans are exempt and (3) hospital participation must be voluntary.