Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
An article from the Health Affairs forefront article from Ho and Vertinsky (2022) argues ‘yes’, but the use of any such such information for cost-based pricing is short-sighted. The Ho and Vertinsky say drug cost disclosure would be useful because (i) currently there is little information on the cost of drug development, (ii) it is…
That is the conclusion from a recent report from some of my colleagues at FTI Consulting’s Center for Healthcare Economics and Policy. In the report titled “Protecting the Pipeline: How a Public Option Could Impact Our Nation’s Health Care Workforce“. An excerpt and some empirical findings are below. …government rate setting under a public option…
A paper by Gracia, David and Conti (2022) in Health Affairs Forefront poses the question ‘how do financial incentives impact venture capitalist’s (VC) investment decisions in early-stage biotech companies, and ultimately innovation?’ To get the answer, the authors interviewed 5 venture capitalists to get their thoughts. Based on these interviews, the authors had 7 key…
What types of data capacity does the National Academies believe are needed to improve patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR), particularly with respect to health disparities. A report out this month (highlights) highlights some of the data capacity needs and also describes how U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for…
That is the question answered in a paper by Autor et al. (2022). Some background on PPP: Congress enacted the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provided uncollateralized, low-interest loans of up to $10 million to firms with fewer than 500 employees—loans that were forgivable on the condition that recipient firms maintained employment and wages at…
That is the topic of a new paper by Drummond et al. (2022). When medical devices receive regulatory approval, payers can make one of three coverage decisions: (1) approve, (2) reject or (3) coverage with evidence development (CED). Note that all countries approve medical devices based on safety and efficacy but only England, the Netherlands,…
The Urban Institute has an interesting report titled Obesity Across America. Being overweight (BMS>25), obese (BMI>30) or severely obese (BMI>40) is very common in the U.S. with three quarters of individuals being overweight and nearly half obese. Obesity varies by race and ethnicity as well. Black adults are more likely to live with obesity than…
In a February 10th speech, President Biden wanted to end surprise bills for patients. Specifically he said: No more surprise billing. No more. In fact, he proposed the No Surprises Act. Key questions you may have include: what is a surprise bill? are there any exceptions to this rule? Kaiser Health News has a nice…
As I do every year, below are the highlights of the state of the union address related to health care. Capping insulin prices First, cut the cost of prescription drugs. We pay more for the same drug produced by the same company in America than any other country in the world. Just look at insulin.…
The policy rationale for disability insurance is sensible. If you are disabled (either in the short-run or long-run) and unable to work, government support is highly beneficial in reducing inequality. Whereas other policies to redistribute income (e.g., welfare, unemployment insurance) may reduce inequality, they also may have the unintended consequences of reducing incentives to work.…