- Bernie Sanders has a new Medicare for All bill.
- Immortality may not be a blessing.
- Merritt Hawkins: The average wait time for new-patient to see a doctor is 26 days.
- CMS Proposal: Telehealth to Continue Unfettered Thru 2024. (InsideHealthPolicy)
- Social Security is already very progressive: An individual in the bottom fifth of lifetime earners receives a benefit equal to about 80% of their inflation-adjusted pre-retirement earnings. A middle quintile earner receives about 50%, while the top fifth receives 32%.
- Did Obamcare reduce the Disability Rolls? No.
- David Henderson: the reparations debate has everything backwards.
- Words of wisdom from Scott Sumner: The Fed doesn’t battle inflation, it creates inflation… The inflation we’ve experienced over the past few years is almost entirely created by a highly expansionary monetary policy, which drove up nominal GDP.
Category: Medicare
Friday Links
- We have been advocating OTC birth control for years.
- Adverse selection problems in insurance markets go away if people must insure by household rather than as individuals. At least in Pakistan.
- Is your doctor employed by a private equity firm? (NYT)
- AARP Represents Health Insurers, Not Seniors
- Is compression of morbidity being reversed? Considering 300 diseases in the USA from 1990 vs. 2017, health span (health-adjusted life expectancy) grew by 2 years, but life expectancy grew by 3 years.
- The Health Care Blog goes wacko: “The greatest health equity threat to Medicaid – and Medicare – beneficiaries is the climate crisis.”
How Medicare Advantage Plans Cover Drugs
Average annual deductibles in independent prescription drug plans (PDPs) are roughly four times higher than those in Medicare Advantage plans (MA-PDs) ($398 versus $90). Average monthly premiums for PDPs are also roughly 3.5 times higher than in MA-PDPs ($40 versus $11). Similarly, MA-PDP formularies cover a higher share of potentially coverable Part D drugs than PDPs (89 percent compared to 83 percent). At the same time, MA-PDPs impose utilization management requirements (such as prior authorization and quantity limits) on formulary covered drugs at a lower rate, relative to PDPs.
Source: Benedic N. Ippolito and Boris Vabson, The Impact Of Medicare Advantage Growth On Part D Competition, Costs, and Coverage. (AEI)
Wednesday Links
- Judge: the federal government cannot conspire with social media to limit free speech.
- Expanded Child tax credit: Neither labor force participation nor total hours worked changed significantly during the months when benefits were increased and work requirements were removed.
- Study: Medicare enrollment improves financial health.
- About 39 percent of US workers are engaged in nontraditional work (freelancing, contracting, gig, and self-employment).