About health insurance/insurers
Biden-Harris Administration Announces Lower Premiums for Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans in 2023 “he projected average premium for 2023 Medicare Advantage plans is $18 per month, a decline of nearly 8% from the 2022 average premium of $19.52. Medicare Advantage plans will continue to offer a wide range of supplemental benefits in 2023, including eyewear, hearing aids, preventive and comprehensive dental benefits, access to meals (for a limited duration), over-the-counter items, and fitness benefits.
In addition, more than 1,200 Medicare Advantage plans will participate in the CMS Innovation Center’s Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model in 2023, which tests the effect of customized benefits that are designed to better manage diseases and meet a wide range of health-related social needs, from food insecurity to social isolation. The benefits under this model are projected to be offered to 6 million people.”
Understanding Medicare Advantage Payment A really good summary of the issues around Medicare Advantage plans, along with recommendations for correction of problems.
Association of Oncologist Participation in Medicare’s Oncology Care Model With Patient Receipt of Novel Cancer Therapies “Question Was implementation of Medicare’s Oncology Care Model in 2016 associated with a decrease in patient receipt of novel cancer therapies?
Findings This cohort study included 2839 patients with cancer who were eligible to receive a novel cancer therapy. The start of the Oncology Care Model did not correspond with a decreased likelihood of receiving a novel therapy.”
The State of U.S. Health Insurance in 2022: Findings from the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey “Survey Highlights
Forty-three percent of working-age adults were inadequately insured in 2022. These individuals were uninsured (9%), had a gap in coverage over the past year (11%), or were insured all year but were underinsured, meaning that their coverage didn’t provide them with affordable access to health care (23%).
Twenty-nine percent of people with employer coverage and 44 percent of those with coverage purchased through the individual market and marketplaces were underinsured.
Forty-six percent of respondents said they had skipped or delayed care because of the cost, and 42 percent said they had problems paying medical bills or were paying off medical debt.
Half (49%) said they would be unable to pay for an unexpected $1,000 medical bill within 30 days, including 68 percent of adults with low income, 69 percent of Black adults, and 63 percent of Latinx/Hispanic adults.
Sixty-eight percent of Democrats, 55 percent of Independents, and 46 percent of Republicans said President Biden and Congress should make health care costs a top priority in the coming year.”
About pharma
FDA hits Lupin with another warning notice for troubled API plant “Lupin is having continued difficulty solving problems at its factory in Tarapur, India, and has received another warning letter from the FDA, the generics producer revealed in a regulatory filing.
This comes on top of the FDA slapping Lupin with a Form 483 letter in April after the regulator inspected the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) plant from March 22 to April 4.”
See yesterday’s API comment.
About health technology
Illumina pitches $200 genomes with new line of DNA sequencers “Now, for only the cost of a few dozen cheeseburgers, you could have a fully sequenced human genome. Illumina is rolling out a new line of DNA analyzers that it says can read a person’s genetic code for a cost of about $200.
The company unveiled a new line of sequencers this week, dubbed the NovaSeq X Series, designed to parse DNA strings 2.5 times faster than previous models. Fully supplied, a single machine could generate data on more than 20,000 whole genomes per year.”