 |
| “Health care is overly complex, has not evolved all that much over time, and remains a frequent pain point for customers. All of these factors make health care ripe for disruption. It should be no surprise, then, that many nontraditional players including Best Buy are entering the industry.” | ||
| -Simeon Gutman, Analyst, Morgan Stanley |
| According to a
Commonwealth Fund study, 27% of all adults favor eliminating all
private health insurance and instituting a “Medicare for All”
system, but 40% say they need more information to form an
opinion. Democrats are the most strongly in favor (43%) of
replacing all private insurance with a public plan like Medicare
for All. 41% of Democrats also say they need more
information on such an approach. 60% of Republicans are strongly
opposed to a Medicare-for-All-type plan. Republicans
with lower incomes are much less likely to be against the
proposal than wealthier members of their party (41% of
lower-income Republicans versus 71% of higher-income Republicans
oppose Medicare for All). Source: Commonwealth Fund Survey: Just Over a Quarter of U.S. Adults Favor ‘Medicare for All,’ but Many Need More Information |
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Medicare Advantage, Part D members shifting to
higher-rated plans CMS unveiled star ratings for both Medicare Part D prescription plans and Medicare Advantage plans that show even more of the plans achieving higher star ratings. Modern Healthcare, October 11, 2019 Appeals court skeptical of Trump arguments for Medicaid work requirements A federal appeals court repeatedly pressed a Trump administration attorney on whether the Department of Health and Human Services considered how many people would lose coverage if they were subjected to Medicaid work requirements. The Hill, October 11, 2019 Waste accounts for one-quarter of healthcare spending A new study found waste accounts for roughly one-quarter of all U.S. healthcare spending, an estimate that's in the same ballpark as its predecessors. The cost of waste in the U.S. healthcare system ranges from $760 billion to $935 billion annually, according to a JAMA review of 54 peer-reviewed studies, government reports and other information. Modern Healthcare, October 7, 2019 Why Hospitals Are Getting Into The Housing Business One patient at Denver Health, the city’s largest safety net hospital, occupied a bed for more than four years — a hospital record of 1,558 days. Another admitted for a hard-to-treat bacterial infection needed eight weeks of at-home IV antibiotics, but had no home. Kaiser Health News, October 4, 2019 After much fanfare, Civica Rx delivers its 1st drugs About one year after launch, Civica Rx has delivered on its promise to supply hospitals with generic medications. Fed up with the high-cost of drugs and ongoing shortages, particularly for drugs that have been around for years, Utah-based Intermountain Health and other nonprofit systems joined forces. HealthcareDive, October 2, 2019 Walmart To Give Workers Financial Incentives To Use Higher-Quality Doctors Worried its employees aren’t getting good enough care from doctors in their insurance networks, Walmart next year will test pointing workers in northwestern Arkansas, central Florida and the Dallas-Fort Worth area toward physicians it has found provide better service. If the employees use these “featured providers,” they will pay less out of pocket. Kaiser Health News, October 3, 2019 CMS saved $739 million last year from Medicare ACOs The CMS achieved savings from the Medicare Shared Savings Program last year, marking the second year in a row the agency turned a profit from the program. About 66% of the 548 Medicare accountable organizations produced a total of $1.7 billion in savings in 2018 and the CMS scored a $739.4 million gain, according to new agency data. Modern Healthcare, October 1, 2019 Cigna tees up largest MA expansion ever for 2020 plan year Cigna is launching its largest Medicare Advantage (MA) expansion to date for 2020, including new geographic regions, products and benefits targeting the social determinants of health. Cigna announced it will launch its first MA PPO plans in 43 counties across eight states. Fierce Healthcare, October 1, 2019 Insurers Test New Way To Cut Maternity Care Costs: Bundling The thrill of delivering newborns helped pull Dr. Jack Feltz into the field of obstetrics and gynecology. More than 30 years later, he still enjoys treating patients, he said. But now, Feltz is also working to change the way doctors are paid for maternity care. Kaiser Health News, September 27, 2019 Walmart's Sam's Club to launch healthcare pilot program The world's second largest retailer, Walmart, announced today that it is expanding its role in the healthcare marketplace. Beginning in October, Sam's Club, the company's division of membership warehouse stores, will launch a pilot program for members in Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, allowing them to purchase healthcare services including discounted dental care, free prescriptions drugs, and telephone health consultations. UPI, September 26, 2019 Best Buy CEO Eyes Health Care as Retailer’s ‘Next Big Thing’ Best Buy Co. is well-known for bringing computers and other gadgets back to life. Now, it wants to take care of its shoppers’ health as well. Bloomberg, September 24, 2019 Amazon launches Amazon Care, a virtual medical clinic for employees Amazon has launched a virtual health clinic with in-home follow-ups for employees in Seattle, dubbed Amazon Care. The company announced the program on a web site, Amazon.care, that is currently publicly accessible but did not formally announce the news outside the company. CNBC, September 24, 2019 |
|
The
complicated, political, expensive, seemingly eternal US
healthcare debate In the US, most people get healthcare through either private or government insurance. When countries around the world are committing to universal health coverage, US politicians are as busy arguing about the balance between public and private approaches as they are debating the question of whether everyone should have access to healthcare The BMJ, October 10, 2019 A Ruling On The Latest Challenge To The Affordable Care Act Is Coming A decision in the latest court case to threaten the future of the Affordable Care Act could come as soon as this month. The ruling will come from the panel of judges in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard oral arguments in the Texas v. Azar lawsuit. NPR, October 12, 2019 States Seek Greater Control, Savings by Converting to State-based Marketplaces Eleven states and the District of Columbia currently operate their own health insurance marketplace eligibility and enrollment websites under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but that number is slated to grow. Several states are contemplating a transition from the federally-facilitated marketplace (FFM)—HealthCare.gov—to a state-based marketplace (SBM). Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, October 10, 2019 New Survey: Just Over a Quarter of U.S. Adults Favor ‘Medicare for All,’ Slightly more than one-fourth (27%) of adults favor eliminating all private health insurance and instituting a “Medicare for All” system, but 40 percent say they need more information to form an opinion, according to a Commonwealth Fund survey. Commonwealth Fund, September 26, 2019 |
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A new vision for health reform
National health spending is projected to expand
from $3.8 trillion this year to nearly $6 trillion in 2027. An
agenda to promote economic growth must include policies to slow
health spending while promoting access to affordable,
high-quality care. Joseph Antos of AEI and the late Alice Rivlin
of the Brookings Institution offer a bipartisan plan that builds
on the strengths of our mixed system of private and public
financing, markets, and regulations to address the root causes
driving health spending. |
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Check out
HealthshareTV, the
home for health care videos |
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|
JAMA: Annual Cost of Health
Care Waste in U.S. by Category 1. Waste Due to Administrative Complexity: $265.6 billion 2. Waste Due to Pricing Failure: $230.7 to $250.5 billion 3. Waste Due to Failure of Care Delivery: $102.4 to $165.7 billion 4. Waste Due to Overtreatment or Low-value Care: $75.7 to $101.2 billion 5. Waste Due to Fraud and Abuse: $58.5 to $83.9 billion 6. Waste Due to Failure of Care Coordination: $27.2 to $78.2 billion 7. Total Annual Cost of Health Care Waste: between $760 billion and $935 billion Source: JAMA Network, October 7, 2019 |
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