- 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.
Category: Drug Prices & Regulations
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.
Friday Links
- Of the world’s top pediatric hospitals, the United States claims more than a quarter – 28 percent.
- American patients had access to 85% of all drugs launched between 2012 and 2021. Canadians had access to just 45% of the drugs launched in that same period.
- A libertarian view of the proper role of public health.
- Claim: Patient care at University Hospitals Cleveland is nearly 30% cheaper than the national average.
- Obamacare fraud:
Between January 2024 and August 2024, CMS fielded 90,863 “complaints that consumers had their [Exchange] plan changed without their consent,” and another 183,553 “complaints that consumers were enrolled in [Exchange] coverage without their consent.” That’s nearly 300,000 reports of fraudulent enrollment in eight months — and that’s just among the states using the federal Exchange.
The state taxes Medicaid insurers and then makes higher payments to those same insurers with that tax revenue. The higher payments enable the state to claim additional federal matching dollars.
How Smart Patients Avoid Bogus Health Information
How do consumers and patients avoid misinformation, self-serving information and information touting ineffective, barely effective and placebo-powered treatments?