MedPAC Got It Wrong (pt 1)
By GEORGE HALVORSON
This is the first part of former Kaiser Permanente CEO George Halvorson’s critique of Medpac’s new analysis of Medicare Advantage. The rest will be published on THCB later this week. Eventually I’ll be doing a summary article about all the back and forth about what Medicare Advantage really costs!-Matthew Holt
MedPac just did their annual report on Medicare Advantage (MA) and they were extremely wrong on several key points.
The MedPac staff has a long tradition of being critical of MA, and they also, unfortunately, have a long tradition of being inaccurate, misleading, and...
Source: The Health Care Blog - March 30, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Health Policy The Business of Health Care George Halvorson Medicare Advantage MedPAC Source Type: blogs
Smartphone App Calculates Genetic Risk of Coronary Artery Disease
Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in California have developed a smartphone app that can calculate a user’s genetic risk of coronary artery disease. The app can import genetic information from a commonly used genetic testing service, 23andMe, and provide a personalized risk assessment of coronary artery disease. In tests so far, users receiving a notification of a high risk of coronary artery disease were more likely to seek treatment, such as taking statins to reduce cholesterol. The researchers hope that the system will prove to be a useful tool in alerting people about their risk and provide a stimulus for...
Source: Medgadget - March 25, 2022 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiology Diagnostics Informatics scripps Source Type: blogs
Hospital Systems: A Framework for Maximizing Social Benefit
Conclusion
We do not propose this performance framework as a regulatory guide for state or federal authorities. Rather it is presented as a voluntary alternative for managements and Boards seeking to demonstrate the community benefits created by their institutions.
At their best, large health systems can deliver sophisticated, complex care to their communities. But they can also play a key role with community partners in addressing the social determinants of health, thus reducing per capita health cost. Large multi-billion health systems are here to stay. The conversation about how to enhance the health ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - March 21, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Health Policy Hospitals Health Systems Ian Morrison Jeff Goldsmith Source Type: blogs
Avoid Statin Side-Effects With This Once-A-Day Pill
A cholesterol-lowering option for statins users who experience some side effects. (Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog)
Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog - March 16, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Mina Dean Tags: Cholesterol Source Type: blogs
AMA Statement on “Test to Treat” Does Not Align Well With Patients’ Interests
Jeffrey A. SingerDuring his State of the Union Address last week, President Biden announced a plan to make it easier for people to get access to the new antiviral drug Paxlovid. This drug, if taken during the first 3 to 5 days of a symptomatic COVID infection, is 89 percent effective in preventing the case from progressing to hospitalization or death. Under theplan, dubbed “test to treat,” people with symptoms may go to a designated pharmacy, community health center, nursing home, or supermarket, where a pharmacist can perform the test for COVID and, if it returns positive, prescribe the a...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - March 7, 2022 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
Statins Side-Effects: How The Risks Compare With Benefits
The benefits of statins versus the side-effects: is it worth taking the medication? (Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog)
Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog - March 6, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Mina Dean Tags: Cholesterol Source Type: blogs
Statins Side-Effects: 20 Percent Report These Unwanted Issues
Statins may reduce the risk of a heart attack by as much as one-third. (Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog)
Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog - March 1, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jeremy Dean Tags: Cholesterol Source Type: blogs
Statins Side-Effects: Beware Of This Common Adverse Effect
A common side-effect of taking cholesterol-lowering drugs and how to get rid of it. (Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog)
Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog - February 27, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jeremy Dean Tags: Cholesterol Source Type: blogs
What Would Newt Do? Making Value-Based Care Victorious
By MICHAEL MILLENSON
Health care’s much-trumpeted transition “from volume to value” care remains more tepid than transformational, according to a new study. Looking at 22 health systems nationwide, RAND researchers found that compensation continues to be “dominated by volume-based incentives designed to maximize health systems revenue.”
Although confusing payment schemes bear part of the blame, there are deeper problems that appeared in sharp relief when I chanced upon a long-ago PowerPoint from a prominent political strategist and early advocate of “data-driven reimbursement.”
I refer, of cour...
Source: The Health Care Blog - February 21, 2022 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Policy Public Health HITCH act Michael Millenson Newt Gingrich Source Type: blogs
Statins Side-Effects: Two Signs In Your Hands And Feet
How to reduce 'bad' cholesterol levels in 30 days without statins, using only natural, healthy foods. (Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog)
Source: PsyBlog | Psychology Blog - February 17, 2022 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Jeremy Dean Tags: Blood Pressure Source Type: blogs
Welldyne's WellCardRx Discount Card/App: Another PBM-Powered Discount Card
In several recent posts during the past few years, I ' ve addressed the emergence of prescription drug discount cards and apps. Perhaps the most notable post on that can be seenHERE.Much of that began with the company known asGoodRx Holdings, Inc., but a downside to GoodRx is because it only has access to a single formulary (most PBM ' s typically a high-price/high-rebate formulary which benefits the PBM, and others demanded by big clients which tend to favor lower cost generic drugs) offered by each PBM it does business with, that also means it may not have access to the other formularies which mainly preference generic d...
Source: Scott's Web Log - February 7, 2022 Category: Endocrinology Tags: 2022 coupon-generating websites apps coupons Discount Card GoodRx PBM prescriptions Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, February 7th 2022
In this study, we used accelerometer measurements (1) to examine the association of physical activity and mortality in a population-based sample of US adults and (2) to estimate the number of deaths prevented annually with modest increases in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) intensity.
This analysis included 4,840 participants. Increasing MVPA by 10, 20, or 30 minutes per day was associated with a 6.9%, 13.0%, and 16.9% decrease in the number of deaths per year, respectively. We estimated that approximately 110,000 deaths per year could be prevented if US adults aged 40 to 85 years or older increased th...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 6, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
Using Accelerometer Data to Estimate Reduced Mortality via Increased Exercise
In this study, we used accelerometer measurements (1) to examine the association of physical activity and mortality in a population-based sample of US adults and (2) to estimate the number of deaths prevented annually with modest increases in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) intensity.
This analysis included 4,840 participants. Increasing MVPA by 10, 20, or 30 minutes per day was associated with a 6.9%, 13.0%, and 16.9% decrease in the number of deaths per year, respectively. We estimated that approximately 110,000 deaths per year could be prevented if US adults aged 40 to 85 years or older increased th...
Source: Fight Aging! - February 1, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
Fight Aging! Newsletter, January 24th 2022
In conclusion, senolytic drugs have shown promising results in the elimination of senescent cells and in alleviating various diseases in animal models. However, in patients, there is a paucity in data on the efficacy and safety of senotherapeutics from clinical trials, including systemic effects and side-effects. In this regard it is important to assess the specificity of senolytics in killing targeted senescent cells and their cytotoxic effects, to identify reliable markers for intervention responses, to elucidate interactions with comorbidities and other drugs, and to standardise administration protocols.
FOXO3...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 23, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Newsletters Source Type: blogs
An FDA Regulator's View of the Issues with the FDA in the Matter of Treating Aging
A charitable view of the FDA is that it is populated by well-meaning people who happen to believe that (a) any cost in lives, time, and funds is worth it in order to prevent harm by commission, and (b) zero risk is a possible goal in medicine. The Hippocratic Oath Enforcement Agency, if you like. There are much less charitable views, given the present state of regulatory capture that dramatically raises costs and slows development, as well as the invisible graveyard of countless lives lost to the absence of medical technologies that would otherwise exist and be widely available at reasonable prices.
There is no esta...
Source: Fight Aging! - January 21, 2022 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs
