A presentation at the latest MedPAC meeting lays out the effects of provider consolidation on Medicare beneficiaries.
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A paper at the National Bureau of Economic Research examines responses by lower-income patients to variations in cost-sharing amounts in ACA plans.
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A new study relating to hospitals participation in the 340B program finds that they are making excellent profits, which was not the intention.
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A paper analyzes whether actual better care management or selection of lower-risk patients drove early ACO shared savings program results.
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Here is a prime example of policy-making lunacy from those who think they can dictate how people live. Let's make people stop drinking sugary beverages like soda by putting a huge tax on them. A paper at the National Bureau of Economic Research demonstrates that these taxes as enacted in four cities, had basically zero impact, in fact only in one city, Philadelphia, did there appear to be any effect on consumption, and other research has shown that is bogus because people just went outside the city limits to pay less for their soda. These taxes are extremely regressive and do nothing to improve public health. But don't expect the people in favor of them to show any open-mindedness or recognition of the limits of government's ability to affect individual behavior.
https://www.nber.org/papers/w26393Google is buying Fitbit for around $2.1 billion, putting the wearables maker out of its misery. Fitbit was hot for a while, then crashed on unrealistic growth expectations. And the big tech firms just get bigger and more intrusive.
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/google-buys-fitbit-for-2-1b.html?oly_enc_id=4013B4524489F1YThe Center for Health Insurance Reform issues a report on how plans and regulators are responding to increased provider consolidation.
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Aflac invests in Sharecare, yet another digital health company that lets patients manage their "health journey" in one place. How tedious.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aflac-corporate-ventures-makes-strategic-investment-in-sharecare-to-accelerate-digital-health-innovation-and-the-well-being-of-georgia-300947164.htmlBenefits consulting firm Mercer deigns to share a few tidbits from its annual survey of employer-sponsored health plans.
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Ooooh, disruption, how cool is that, Sana Benefits reels in $6.3 million in new capital for its software that will fix the "stone age" health insurance industry. It is targeting medium and small employer plans. All it will end up doing is adding cost and complexity.
https://venturebeat.com/2019/10/29/sana-benefits-gets-6-3m-to-disrupt-stone-age-healthcare-insurance-industry/Scary stuff, boys and girls, investing in the hype of the moment. A company called Socially Determined has garnered $7.3 million in financing for its product that focuses on analyzing and measuring the social determinants of health. Not a ghost of a chance that this succeeds. It will be a zombie company, like a vampire sucking more funds from investors.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/socially-determined-raises-over-7-3-million-in-series-a-funding-300946065.htmlWorkday Ventures tries to get in a league of its own, as it makes a significant investment in League, which offers software to help employers manage health benefits.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/league-joins-workday-software-partner-program-to-help-transform-the-health-and-benefits-industry-300947243.htmlAbout this Blog
The Healthy Skeptic is a website about the health care system, and is written by Kevin Roche, who has many years of experience working in the health industry. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements through Roche Consulting, LLC and may be reached at khroche@healthy-skeptic.com.
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