About health insurance/insurers
The largest health insurance provider in each state FYI
Some Enrollees May Face Affordability Challenges Under Part D Redesign “An Avalere analysis finds that about 800,000 beneficiaries in 2024 and 200,000 in 2025 will have OOP costs that exceed 10% of their annual income.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Dollar General offers healthcare in 3 store parking lots “The nationwide retailer partnered with DocGo On-Demand to operate mobile clinics on select days outside the stores in Clarksville and Cumberland Furnace, Tenn. The clinics, set up in large vans, allow patients to schedule online or walk in without an appointment.”
Retail care expands to discount stores!
About pharma
AbbVie jacks up Humira price by 8%, joining many other companies with January hikes: report “With the oncoming loss of patent protection this year for its bell cow, Humira, AbbVie is taking advantage of its limited window with yet another price hike, this one 8%, for the treatment that generated $15.7 billion in the first three quarters of last year.
AbbVie has clocked in with the same 8% hike for another of its big-sellers, Skyrizi. Meanwhile, GSK has jacked up the cost of its shingles vaccine Shingrix, and Bristol Myers Squibb has done the same with CAR-T drugs Abecma and Breyanzi (9% each). For its part, Pfizer has raised the price on dozens of drugs…”
Biosimilar Competition and Payments in Medicare: The Case of Trastuzumab [Herceptin]“We find that the first biosimilar entrant's price was 15% lower than the originator brand in 2019, and the fifth biosimilar entrant's price in 2022 was 58% lower than the originator brand in 2019. Contrary to expectations from prior research, the originator biologic price in 2022 decreased 29% from its 2019 average sales price. Average treatment cost for the biologic and biosimilar versions of trastuzumab combined was $45,659 US dollars lower in 2022 compared with the year before biosimilar entry, 2018. Finally, biosimilar market share grew from only 7% in the first year of entry to 32% in the second year, when three biosimilars were on the market.”
FDA declines to give accelerated approval to Eli Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug, firm says “The Food and Drug Administration is declining to grant accelerated approval to an experimental Alzheimer’s drug made by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, saying the agency needs safety data on more patients, the company said Thursday.”
About healthcare quality
Americans Sour on U.S. Healthcare Quality “STORY HIGHLIGHTS
—Less than half now rate U.S. healthcare quality as excellent or good
—Americans’ 72% positive rating of own healthcare quality also a new low”
Again, Americans evaluate prevalent conditions differently from their own situations.
About healthcare personnel
Performance of ChatGPT on USMLE: Potential for AI-Assisted Medical Education Using Large Language Models [Preprint, not yet peer reviewed] “We evaluated the performance of a large language model called ChatGPT on the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), which consists of three exams: Step 1, Step 2CK, and Step 3. ChatGPT performed at or near the passing threshold for all three exams without any specialized training or reinforcement. Additionally, ChatGPT demonstrated a high level of concordance and insight in its explanations. These results suggest that large language models may have the potential to assist with medical education, and potentially, clinical decision-making.”
Can AI also pass written specialty boards?