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Getting Sick Can Be Really Expensive, Even for the Insured

March 22, 2018

Beyond medical costs, a trip to the hospital can mean a permanent reduction in income for many Americans, new research shows

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Getting Sick Can Be Really Expensive, Even for the Insured

Thursday, March 22nd, 2018

When you get really sick, the medical bills may not be your biggest financial shock.

New research shows that for a substantial fraction of Americans, a trip to the hospital can mean a permanent reduction in income. Some people bounce right back, but many never work as much again. On average, people in their 50s who are admitted to the hospital will experience a 20 percent drop in income that persists for years. Over all, income losses dwarfed the direct costs of medical care.

The pattern and impact are comparable to what happens to workers at a mill when it closes.

Image: By Jericho – http://2bgr8stock.deviantart.com/art/Money-Cash-113445826, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11480660

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NYTimes The Upshot

Novartis Sales Reps Will Testify About Lavish Meals, US Says

March 21, 2018

US prosecutors said numerous Novartis AG sales representatives will testify they plied doctors with lavish meals, booze and other benefits in exchange for promises to prescribe the Swiss company’s drugs, as a seven-year-old case moves toward trial

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Novartis Sales Reps Will Testify About Lavish Meals, US Says

Wednesday, March 21st, 2018

One sales representative said he and his colleagues were “essentially buying scripts” by providing health-care providers across the country with perks, including paid speaking opportunities at events with “little to no educational content,” prosecutors said in a filing Monday in federal court in Manhattan.

The government sought to highlight the depth of its evidence after Novartis had asked a judge to rule that there was insufficient proof to move forward. The government urged U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe to reject the request and set a trial date.

“Novartis has identified multiple aspects of the government’s case for which the government lacks evidence to support its claims,” spokesman Eric Althoff said in a statement. The company “disagrees with the government’s characterization of our conduct and continues to dispute the allegations concerning certain speaker programs from 2002 through 2011.”

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Bloomberg

Maryland Health Care Delivery Experiment Saves Medicare More Than a Half Billion Dollars in Hospitals

March 19, 2018

Hospitals in Maryland have saved millions of dollars in health care costs by eschewing the tradition fee-for-service model for one that emphasizes overall health, a report released by state regulators shows

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Maryland Health Care Delivery Experiment Saves Medicare More Than a Half Billion Dollars in Hospitals

Monday, March 19th, 2018

Three years into a unique five-year agreement with the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that began in 2014, the hospitals saved $586 million for the federal health care programs, above a major goal of the program.

“I applaud Maryland’s care partners on their outstanding efforts to transform and expand patient-care delivery, while improving the quality of care at lower costs to the consumers,” said Maryland Health Secretary Robert R. Neall in a statement.

The goals of the experiment were to reduce increases in spending below the national average and also improve care, as measured by readmissions and hospital-acquired infections and other means. The hospitals were each given budgets that they could not exceed.

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Baltimore Sun

Old, Sick and Dying in Shackles

March 7, 2018

“Compassionate release” has bipartisan support as a way to reduce the federal prison population and save taxpayer money. New data shows that it’s rarely used

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Old, Sick and Dying in Shackles

Wednesday, March 7th, 2018

Kevin Zeich had three and a half years to go on his prison sentence, but his doctors told him he had less than half that long to live. Nearly blind, battling cancer and virtually unable to eat, he requested “compassionate release,” a special provision for inmates who are very sick or old.

His warden approved the request, but officials at the federal Bureau of Prisons turned him down, saying his “life expectancy is currently indeterminate.”

Congress created compassionate release as a way to free certain inmates, such as the terminally ill, when it becomes “inequitable” to keep them in prison any longer. Supporters view the program as a humanitarian measure and a sensible way to reduce health care costs for ailing, elderly inmates who pose little risk to public safety. But despite urging from lawmakers of both parties, numerous advocacy groups and even the Bureau of Prisons’ own watchdog, prison officials use it only sparingly.

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The Marshall Project

The Price They Pay

March 6, 2018

ProPublica and The New York Times have partnered to tell the stories of Americans living daily with the reality of high-cost drugs. There are millions of others just like them

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The Price They Pay

Tuesday, March 6th, 2018

THE BURDEN of high drug costs weighs most heavily on the sickest Americans.

Drug makers have raised prices on treatments for life-threatening or chronic conditions like multiple sclerosis, diabetes and cancer. In turn, insurers have shifted more of those costs onto consumers. Saddled with high deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs that expose them to a drug’s rising list price, many people are paying thousands of dollars a month merely to survive.

For more than a year, President Donald Trump and Democrats in Congress have promised to take action on high drug prices, but despite a flurry of proposals, little has changed.

These are the stories of Americans living daily with the reality of high-cost drugs. And there are millions of others just like them.

Image: By ParentingPatch – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24579787

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ProPublica

Uber, But for Getting to the Hospital

March 1, 2018

The ride-sharing company is launching a service that allows doctors to hail cars for their patients

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Uber, But for Getting to the Hospital

Thursday, March 1st, 2018

The ride-sharing company Uber is launching a new service that will allow hospitals and doctors to book rides for their patients.

The new Uber Health dashboard, which has been tested by a beta group of about 100 hospitals and doctors’ offices since July, will allow medical and administrative staff to either call an Uber to the office to drive a specific patient home, or to dispatch an Uber to the patient’s house, with the option to schedule it up to 30 days in advance. The patient need not have the Uber app or even a working smartphone: The dashboard comes with a printable sheet allowing a doctor to circle the incoming Uber’s car color and write down the license plate.

With the dashboard, the drivers would see the patient’s name and phone number. The patient would get a text when their car arrived; if they have the regular Uber app, it would not be billed.

Image via Flickr Some rights reserved by Senator Mark Warner

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The Atlantic

Never Too Late to Operate?

February 28, 2018

Surgery near the end of life is common, costly. Nearly 1 in 3 Medicare patients undergo an operation in their final year of life

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Never Too Late to Operate?

Wednesday, February 28th, 2018

At 87, Maxine Stanich cared more about improving the quality of her life than prolonging it.

She suffered from a long list of health problems, including heart failure and chronic lung disease that could leave her gasping for breath.

When her time came, she wanted to die a natural death, Stanich told her daughter, and signed a “do not resuscitate” directive, or DNR, ordering doctors not to revive her should her heart stop.

Image: By CMSRC – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22239101

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KHN

Is It Wrong to Ask Your Doctor for Opioids?

February 23, 2018

Our Travis Rieder argues that, yes, America probably needs a culture change regarding pain medicine, but we have to be careful how we frame that challenge.

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Getting Sick Can Be Really Expensive, Even for the Insured

Getting Sick Can Be Really Expensive, Even for the Insured

Novartis Sales Reps Will Testify About Lavish Meals, US Says

Novartis Sales Reps Will Testify About Lavish Meals, US Says

Maryland Health Care Delivery Experiment Saves Medicare More Than a Half Billion Dollars in Hospitals

Maryland Health Care Delivery Experiment Saves Medicare More Than a Half Billion Dollars in Hospitals

Old, Sick and Dying in Shackles

Old, Sick and Dying in Shackles

The Price They Pay

The Price They Pay

Uber, But for Getting to the Hospital

Uber, But for Getting to the Hospital

Never Too Late to Operate?

Never Too Late to Operate?

Is It Wrong to Ask Your Doctor for Opioids?

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