This morning's Globe quotes Donald Berwick, MD, on the potential impact of last week's court ruling declaring the ACA unconstitutional in Massachusetts. Readers not yet eligible for Medicare take note. ...Massachusetts relies on billions of dollars in federal funding every year to provide coverage to lower-income residents, and the state’s health care system is deeply … Continue reading Globe: Will court ruling on the #AffordableCareAct impact #Massachusetts?
Health care costs
Is the US setting the bar too low for new CF drug? Canada says it’s not worth it
From The Globe and Mail: Canadian governments should not pay for a $250,000-a-year cystic fibrosis medication because it is not clear the drug actually improves patients’ health, according to a fresh review that has devastated some with the potentially fatal lung disease.... In a report released on Thursday, the CADTH’s expert panel said its review … Continue reading Is the US setting the bar too low for new CF drug? Canada says it’s not worth it
Interested in efforts to control health costs? Pay attention to Massachusetts
The state has set benchmarks for health care costs -- with a watchdog in the form of the state Health Policy Commission. Here's yesterday's news. The state attorney general’s office and the Department of Public Health on Thursday signaled that they are drafting conditions for the biggest health care merger proposed in Massachusetts in decades, … Continue reading Interested in efforts to control health costs? Pay attention to Massachusetts
In 2017, 96.3 percent of #Massachusetts residents had #healthinsurance. Here’s how they got it.
From the Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis: Enrollment Trends monitors health insurance coverage in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where coverage is defined by unique Massachusetts residents with primary medical membership in the 13 largest commercial payers, MassHealth (Medicaid), or Medicare. The August 2018 edition of Enrollment Trends offers insights into changes in health … Continue reading In 2017, 96.3 percent of #Massachusetts residents had #healthinsurance. Here’s how they got it.
KHN: Trump Administration Sinks Teeth Into Paring Down #Drug #Prices
This story notes that CMS approved a Medicaid waiver from Oklahoma in June, but denied a Massachusetts request for a similar exception to existing rules. Oklahoma’s plan would expand that to negotiate additional prescription price reductions based on value-based purchasing agreements. Still, CMS’ recent rejection of a related Massachusetts proposal makes it difficult to believe … Continue reading KHN: Trump Administration Sinks Teeth Into Paring Down #Drug #Prices
Having a hard time navigating health care policy changes? Panelists at @nejmcatalyst roundtable offer some help
NEJM's Catalyst has posted video and text from an roundtable on navigating health care policy, this part about about SOD - social determinants of health. Don Berwick of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement says the Kaiser Permanente approach is "thrilling...the models are surfacing." Panel discussion with @donberwick @MelindaBBuntin Patrick Conway, Raymond Vara & @edprewitt touches … Continue reading Having a hard time navigating health care policy changes? Panelists at @nejmcatalyst roundtable offer some help
Cambridge Mass. doc leads call for reform of “dysfunctional” pharmaceutical system.
Lead author Adam Gaffney is a pulmonologist and critical care physician at the Cambridge Health Alliance. Here's the summary, from the BMJ: Key messages The US and Canadian pharmaceutical systems are dysfunctional Costs are exorbitant, commercial goals distort drug development, misleading promotion fosters misuse, and medications are too often unaffordable for patients We propose reforms that … Continue reading Cambridge Mass. doc leads call for reform of “dysfunctional” pharmaceutical system.
Covering health care — from DNA to ACA — is a challenge. Three reporters share insights and tips at Harvard Law #healthintheheadlines
See #healthintheheadlines for tweets from Wenesdays panel of three top journalists on the challenge of covering healthcare today https://t.co/AboXfZ2VJU — COM 201 (@CO201) April 5, 2018 #healthintheheadlines is now wrapped up! Look for a recording of the panel on our site in a few days! Thanks to @jrovner @rachanadixit @sangerkatz and @emma_sandoe for joining us! … Continue reading Covering health care — from DNA to ACA — is a challenge. Three reporters share insights and tips at Harvard Law #healthintheheadlines
Boston researcher in NYTimes on why the US spends so much on health care. The answer is same as it was in 2003 — prices.
Austin Frakt, director of the Partnered Evidence-Based Policy Resource Center at the V.A. Boston Healthcare System writes in The New York Times today: A large part of the answer can be found in the title of a 2003 paper in Health Affairs by the Princeton University health economist Uwe Reinhardt: “It’s the prices, stupid.” He … Continue reading Boston researcher in NYTimes on why the US spends so much on health care. The answer is same as it was in 2003 — prices.
KHN: Medicare Fails To Recover Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars In Lab Overcharges
By Fred Schulte, Kaiser Health News Used by permission. Note comment from Boston lawyer. Also published by STATnews. Five years ago, Companion DX Reference Lab hoped to cash in on cutting-edge genetic tests paid for by Medicare. The Houston lab marketed a test to assess how a person’s genes affect tolerance for drugs such as … Continue reading KHN: Medicare Fails To Recover Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars In Lab Overcharges
Boston Health News 