Merrill Goozner writes that Congress is considering ways to guarantee everyone in the US affordable health care. Senators Tim Kaine and Michael Bennet are proposing to put a “public...
Diane Archer
Amazon dives deeper into health care
Amazon’s venture into healthcare through Haven under Atul Gawande’s leadership did not succeed as planned, but Amazon is still diving deep into the health care space. This summer it is...
One way to lower the cost of biologics
Peter B. Bach and Mark R. Trusheim offer a proposal to lower the cost of biologics in an op-ed for The New York Times. The authors recognize that “competition” will never lower the price...
Congresswomen Jayapal and Dingell introduce Medicare for All Act
Today, Congresswomen Pramila Jayapal and Debbie Dingell, along with 110 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, introduced the Medicare for All Act of 2021. The Medicare for All Act of 2021 is a...
Don’t trust Medicare nursing home star ratings
Two and a half years ago, I warned people not to be misled by Medicare five-star nursing home ratings. Unfortunately, you still can’t trust these nursing home star ratings. If Medicare...
People living in rural communities disenroll from Medicare...
Sungchul Park, David Meyers et al. report in Health Affairs that people living in rural communities have far higher rates of disenrollment from Medicare Advantage into traditional Medicare than...
Get older, cope better
Benedict Carey reports some good news for older adults in the New York Times. Our emotional well-being improves as we grow older. And, the novel coronavirus pandemic confirms this scientific...
Billing fraud pervasive in Medicare Advantage
In an effort to maximize government payments and minimize expenditures, attorneys David Engel, Gary Azorsky et al. write in MedPage Today that Medicare Advantage plans are engaging in billing fraud...
MedPAC: Traditional Medicare consistently costs less than...
In a concise online memo, the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee, MedPAC, responded to health insurance industry misinformation about Medicare Advantage–the private insurance program offering...
The deadly consequences of out-of-pocket drug costs
A new paper in NBER looks at the deadly consequences of out-of-pocket costs in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program. As you might expect, deductibles and copays keep people from filling...