Drug Prices & Regulations – Page 173 – The Goodman Institute Health Blog

$783.5M in Covid Relief Money Went to Prisoners

Posted on June 10, 2022 by John C. Goodman

Passed in March, the American Rescue Plan granted $1,400 in stimulus money to people making less than $75,000 per year. Republicans objected to sending these checks to incarcerated individuals, but lost on a party line vote. According to a Fox News report:

In response to a public records request from conservative group American Crossroads, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revealed that the money flowed to 560,000 individuals who were incarcerated for the full tax year 2020.

Among the recipients of Covid money was the Boston Marathon Bomber.

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Thursday Links

Posted on June 9, 2022July 25, 2022 by John C. Goodman

A Bloody Waste: Why is the Red Cross turning down healthy blood that is being thrown away?
Uvalde follow-up: While most people think that police have a duty to attempt to protect people from harm, the law has been clear—cops have no such duty.
Coffee keeps you awake. Can it also keep you alive?
Drug cartels in northern Mexico are kidnapping doctors to tend to gang members wounded in battle.
Capretta on Medicare Part B: the government’s contribution to the SMI Trust fund will be $6.0 trillion over the period 2022 to 2031, reaching the equivalent of about 30 percent of all individual and corporate income tax receipts at the end of 75 years.

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Do Higher Priced Hospitals Deliver Higher Quality Care?

Posted on June 8, 2022 by John C. Goodman

This NBER Working Paper says it depends on whether there is competition.

In markets with more hospital competition, going to higher-priced hospitals raises spending by approximately 53 percent and lowers mortality by 47 percent. By contrast, in concentrated hospital markets receiving care from a high-priced hospital also raises spending by 54 percent, but has no impact on patient outcomes.

And the higher spending in competitive markets is worth it:

Such hospitals spend approximately $1 million per life saved. Assuming that the individuals in the research sample live for another nine years, this is cost effective relative to the Environmental Protection Agency’s $8.7 million benchmark estimate of the value of a statistical life.

Unfortunately, the trend in the overall market is for more concentration and less competition.

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The FTC wants to Know if Middlemen Increase Drug Prices

Posted on June 8, 2022June 8, 2022 by Devon Herrick

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is opening an investigation into the business practices of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). PBMs have been in the hotseat for quite some time. Executives from the largest PBMs were recently called to testify before Congress to explain whether their business practices lead to higher drug prices. In the latest inquiry, the FTC announced it will require the six largest PBMs to provide a range of information and business records on operations.

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