- In just eight years, nearly 78 million Medicare beneficiaries will face an automatic 11% payment cut in their hospital insurance benefits.
- GOP bill would prohibit the use of quality-adjusted-life-year (QALY) and similar measures for health insurance coverage and payment determinations.
- Related concept: The “value of a statistical life” appears to vary by income. In essence, being wealthier equates to being more willing to buy what might make one “healthier.”
- Reason magazine investigation: woman in federal prison dies of medical neglect.
Category: Health Economics & Costs
Hospital Employment of Physicians is a Pain for both Doctors and Patients
When I was young physicians were an independent bunch. Most were self-employed males, who were either sole proprietors or in small group practices. In the past 20 or so years it has become increasingly common for doctors to work for someone else. According to Merritt-Hawkins nearly three-fourths (74%) of physicians now work for hospitals, health care systems or corporate entities. Of physicians accepting new work assignments today, 90% are accepting positions as employees rather than owners or partners.
Friday Links
- What a hospital in the home is like at Mayo. Note: this is only possible because of Covid relaxation of normal Medicare and Medicaid rules.
- A proposal for value-based drug pricing. I am skeptical
- AI is learning how to read your mind. MRI scans reveal unexpressed thoughts.
- Private industry developed a nonaddictive painkiller. The FDA is why it isn’t widely available. (WSJ)
Thursday Links
- Why don’t we have more human challenge trials for vaccines and other new drugs?
- Study: Minimum wage increases do not reduce poverty.
- Why does Medicare require a three-day hospital stay before it will pay for a skilled nursing facility transfer? Medicare Advantage plans don’t require this.
- Has the US ever defaulted on its debt before? Yes, three times.
- More than 20% of Medicaid enrollees no longer meet the criteria for program eligibility. States have not conducted redeterminations of Medicaid enrollees’ eligibility in more than three years.
- US Surgeon General: loneliness is as dangerous as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day.
- Medical researchers: Don’t skip breakfast. Even a cup of coffee can have a positive effect. (NYT)