Read today’s Kaiser Health News
In other news:
Deaths of two important people who contributed to the healthcare field:
Dr. Sheldon Greenfield, Who Exposed Gaps in Health Care, Dies at 86: Dr. Sheldon Greenfield, whose pioneering research found that older patients with breast and pancreatic cancer got subpar treatment and that patients who grill their doctors during consultations receive better care, died on Feb. 26 at his home in Newport Beach, Calif. He was 86…
Dr. Greenfield was a founder and director of the Center for Health Policy Research at the University of California, Irvine, and a leader of the Medical Outcomes Study, involving more than 22,000 patients and 500 physicians. It determined in 1986 that doctors often ordered exorbitant and unnecessary tests and referred patients to a specialist when a primary care doctor or a nurse practitioner could have delivered equally good care.
James Reason, Who Used Swiss Cheese to Explain Human Error, Dies at 86: By analyzing hundreds of accidents in aviation, railway travel, medicine and nuclear power, Professor Reason concluded that human errors were usually the byproduct of circumstances… rather than being caused by careless or malicious behavior.
That was how he arrived at his Swiss cheese model of failure, a metaphor for analyzing and preventing accidents that envisions situations in which multiple vulnerabilities in safety measures — the holes in the cheese — align to create a recipe for tragedy.
About health insurance/insurers
Cigna, Blue Cross Illinois parent close $3.3 billion Medicare deal: Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois parent Health Care Service Corp. has closed its $3.3 billion purchase of Cigna’s Medicare operations, the companies announced Wednesday
The deal, which includes Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D and Medicare supplement assets along with the CareAllies consulting unit, quadruples Chicago-based Health Care Service Corp.'s Medicare Advantage membership to about 800,000 and closes the book on Cigna's Medicare plan business.
5 Key Facts about Medicaid Program Integrity – Fraud, Waste, Abuse and Improper Payments You should read the entire article, but here is one key fact: Medicaid Paid an Estimated 94.9% of Total Outlays Properly, and Improper Payments are Mostly Due to Insufficient Information.
About pharma
Optum Rx to drop prior authorization for dozens of prescription drugs Optum Rx, the pharmacy benefit manager under UnitedHealth Group, is set to eliminate prior authorization requirements for approximately 80 prescription drugs in an effort to simplify access to medications for patients with chronic conditions.
The changes are expected to reduce prior authorizations by 25%, representing more than 10% of all prior authorizations across its pharmacy network, according to a March 19 news release from the company.
About healthcare IT
Digital Health Adoption Trends by Each Generation: From Gen Z to Boomers: A recent survey reveals that 58% of Americans used virtual care in the past year, although this represents a slight decrease (5 percentage points) compared to 2023. Wearable devices and connected devices are also increasingly common, with 53% of consumers owning at least one, and 54% using them to track health metrics digitally.
However, the way people engage with digital health varies significantly across age groups. Rock Health utilized from its 2024 Consumer Adoption of Digital Health Survey to gather insights into how different generations, from Gen Z to the Silent Generation, are using digital health tools and services.
Comment: Look at the chart at the beginning of the article.