Happy National Public Health Week
About health insurance/insurers
Medicare Trustees: Hospital insurance fund will run out in 2031 “According to the Trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds' new report published March 31, the hospital insurance fund is not adequately financed over the next 10 years, with income anticipated to be higher than last year's estimates as the number of covered workers and average wages are both expected to be higher.
Once the fund is depleted in 2031, the program's income will only be able to provide 89 percent of scheduled benefits to Medicare enrollees.”
DOJ appeals decision to strike down free preventive health services under Obamacare As expected…
And in a related story: Despite court ruling, insurers say they will continue to offer ACA-mandated free preventive services
Differences In Use Of Services And Quality Of Care In Medicare Advantage And Traditional Medicare, 2010 And 2017 “We compared quality and utilization measures in Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare in 2010 and 2017. Clinical quality performance was higher in MA health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and preferred provider organizations (PPOs) than in traditional Medicare for almost all measures in both years. MA HMOs outperformed traditional Medicare on all measures in 2017. MA HMOs’ performance on nearly all seven patient-reported quality measures improved, and MA HMOs outperformed traditional Medicare on five of those measures in 2017. MA PPOs performed the same as or better than traditional Medicare on all but one patient-reported quality measure in 2010 and 2017. The number of emergency department visits was 30 percent lower, the number of elective hip and knee replacements was approximately 10 percent lower, and the number of back surgeries was almost 30 percent lower in MA HMOs than in traditional Medicare in 2017. Utilization trends were similar in MA PPOs, but differences from traditional Medicare were narrower. Despite increased enrollment, overall utilization remains lower in Medicare Advantage than in traditional Medicare, whereas quality performance is the same or higher.” Emphasis added.
About hospitals and healthcare systems
The Relationships Among Cash Prices, Negotiated Rates, And Chargemaster Prices For Shoppable Hospital Services “Examining prices reported by 2,379 hospitals as of September 9, 2022, we found that a given hospital’s cash prices and commercial negotiated rates both tended to reflect a predetermined and consistent percentage discount from its chargemaster prices. On average, cash prices and commercial negotiated rates were 64 percent and 58 percent of the corresponding chargemaster prices for the same procedures at the same hospital and in the same service setting, respectively. Cash prices were lower than the median commercial negotiated rates in 47 percent of instances, and most likely so at hospitals with government or nonprofit ownership, located outside of metropolitan areas, or located in counties with relatively high uninsurance rates or low median household incomes. Hospitals with stronger market power were most likely to offer cash prices below their median negotiated rates, whereas hospitals in areas where insurers had stronger market power were less likely to do so.”
About pharma
After Johnson & Johnson loses again in bankruptcy case, it's game on for talc lawsuits “Friday, J&J took another courtroom defeat as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit rejected its bid to delay an order dismissing the bankruptcy. The company had hoped for a stay, pending an appeal with the Supreme Court. The decision allows more than 38,000 cases pending against J&J to proceed in court.”
About the public’s health
Association Between Daily Alcohol Intake and Risk of All-Cause MortalityA Systematic Review and Meta-analyses “ This systematic review and meta-analysis of 107 cohort studies involving more than 4.8 million participants found no significant reductions in risk of all-cause mortality for drinkers who drank less than 25 g of ethanol per day (about 2 Canadian standard drinks compared with lifetime nondrinkers) after adjustment for key study characteristics such as median age and sex of study cohorts. There was a significantly increased risk of all-cause mortality among female drinkers who drank 25 or more grams per day and among male drinkers who drank 45 or more grams per day.”
About healthcare IT
AI Chatbots Can Diagnose Medical Conditions at Home. How Good Are They? A good discussion of the topic in Scientific American. This article is part of an ongoing series on generative AI in medicine.
And in a related article:
Epic to use Microsoft's GPT-4 in EHRs “Epic said it will use Microsoft's generative AI-based technoology GPT-4 in its EHRs.
Seth Hain, senior vice president of research and development at Epic said the company see's promise in the new AI-based application and dubbed it as ‘transformational’ for the healthcare industry.”
GAO Says $661M In IT Buys For VA Skipped Officer Approval “The U. S. Government Accountability Office reported that the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs procured about $661. 4 million in information technology in a roughly three-year period without chief information officer approval, saying the full view of the department's IT investments had been obscured. . . .”
About health technology
FTC reverses course, orders Illumina to unravel Grail deal “The Federal Trade Commission is reversing a decision from last fall where Illumina had won a small legal battle to keep its hold on the cancer blood test developer Grail.
Now, the DNA sequencing giant has six months to completely divest its holdings in the company. The $8 billion acquisition deal closed in August 2021 before receiving a final sign-off from regulators. Illumina has maintained that it has kept Grail’s operations at an arms’ length.”
DaVita, Medtronic raise the curtain on tech company, Mozarc Medical, aiming to bring innovation to kidney care “DaVita and medical device company Medtronic launched their new venture, Mozarc Medical, to develop new kidney care technologies with a specific focus on at-home treatments.
Announced nearly a year ago, the company is co-owned by Medtronic and DaVita, each with equal equity stakes.”