“…the average American household paid drug manufacturers $616, which was subsequently invested in R&D in 2021. By contrast, the average household in Canada paid drug manufacturers just $59.”
Source: America First Policy Institute
Category: Drug Prices & Regulations
Tuesday Links
- Primary care physicians providing a higher proportion of telehealth visits cared for more Black, Hispanic, dual-eligible, and medically complex patients.
- To make telehealth access permanent for Medicare patients, let the rate be lower than the rate for in-office visits.
- Mobility: More than three out of four Americans (76.8%) will be in the top 20% by income for at least one year between ages 26 to 60, and about one out of three will be there for ten years or more!
- “We show how fraud is driven by a combination of inadequate (expected) penalties for fraud and imperfect reimbursement rates.”
Monday Links
- The Government Accountability Office has calculated that over the past 20 fiscal years, the federal government has paid more than $2.8 trillion in improper payments. Over 53 percent of reported fiscal year 2024 improper payments originated from the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
- Public school finance: Where is all the money going?
- China is now the second largest producer of new pharmaceuticals.
- Alan Simpson: Politics is derived from Latin. Poli means many and tics means blood-sucking insects.
- Need surgery? Monday is a lot better than Friday.
- 97% of young adults who follow the Success Sequence escape poverty by their late 20s and early 30s.
NY Passes Health Care Consumer Protections, then Backsteps
I have written in the past about the needed consumer protections in health care. Price transparency is chief among them. Another is banning blanket consent-to-pay forms without adequate price transparency. New York State passed such a law that was due to take effect late 2024, prohibiting health care providers from forcing patients to sign consent-to-pay forms prior to care and prior to when prices are discussed.