Category: Interesting Links

This Week in Health Care

Last week, Senate Republicans released a draft of their health care reform bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA). Like the House bill, the BCRA repeals the individual and employer mandates and rolls back the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion. The BCRA also caps per-person Medicaid spending and gives states the ability to change essential health benefits. The ACA’s tax credits and protections for those with pre-existing conditions are largely unchanged. (Health Affairs)

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Jun 30, 2017 | 37 comments | by Devon Herrick

This Week in Health Care

This post was prepared by research associate, Jerrod Attias.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has begun examining the role that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) play in rising drug prices, starting with a hearing this week on the drug delivery system. Drug manufacturers have blamed PBMs for rising prices and Senators from both sides of the aisle have called for more transparency in drug price negotiations. (Morning Consult)

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Jun 15, 2017 | 7 comments | by Devon Herrick

Hits and Misses

Jogging may be good for your heart: But endurance runners are more likely to die from heat stroke than a heart attack.

Big shrink is listening: A smart phone app that monitors your voice for signs of manic/depression.

There’s little reliable evidence that fish oil helps prevent heart disease.

Ridiculous study or common sense? Eating fruit and vegetables is associated with greater flourishing in daily life.

Your dog wears a watch: Why your dog seems to know what time it is.

Aug 05, 2014 | 8 comments | by Devon Herrick

Hits and Misses

Understatement? As website fixed costs approach $1 billion, top Obamacare official says 2015 exchange enrollment “won’t be perfect.”

Massachusetts mulls tax credit to offset 2.3 percent medical device excise tax.

Health price transparency: Vendor Castlight Health added 42 new customers last quarter, including Texas Instruments, Google, Kellogg and Sprint.

Obamacare gave $3.5 billion to a “permanent subsidy stream for careworn academic projects.”

Stanford University trains surgical residents with Google Glass.

Aug 01, 2014 | 6 comments | by John R. Graham

Hits and Misses

Surgery Center of Oklahoma, which posts prices online, saved county health plan $570,000 in five months.

Obamacare boosts hospital profits.

Ear, nose and throat residents reduced direct patient care after electronic health records were introduced.

Nine months after government shutdown furloughed federal workers, there’s a baby boom in Washington, DC.

Australia’s largest private hospital operator had a $2.1 billion IPO.

Jul 30, 2014 | 11 comments | by John R. Graham

Hits and Misses

Heart attacks are down 20 percent among seniors. No changes for the middle aged.

Fist bumps and high fives are more hygienic than handshakes.

Doctors are almost twice as likely to be organ donors as general public is.

Google and Novartis ink deal to put smart sensors in contact lenses.

Patents for Apple’s iWatch laid open: It will integrate “plethora” of health apps.

Jul 28, 2014 | 11 comments | by John R. Graham

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

18 percent of U.S. kids are obese, same as a decade ago.

This year’s fine for disobeying Obamacare’s individual mandate up to $12,240.

VA hospital waiting-list fix will cost $17.6 billion over three years.

Oregon Medicaid expansion caused months-long waits for care, emergency room surge.

Government Accountability Office stings Obamacare: 11 of 12 fake applications approved and enrolled.

Jul 25, 2014 | 12 comments | by John R. Graham

Hits and Misses

If your parent died young, you may too! Death of a parent during childhood is associated with greater mortality in early adulthood.

Don your pith helmet and Bermuda shorts before heading to the burger joint: Eating meat contributes to climate change.

Empathetic people talk with their hands! (But hopefully not with their fists!)

Social media causes antisocial behavior: Facebook usage “is positively correlated with increasing divorce rates”

There are regional variations in happiness: Residents of the Rust Belt cities are among the least happy residents of any U.S. city, but so are residents Gotham.

Jul 24, 2014 | 13 comments | by Devon Herrick

Hits and Misses

J ury awards $23.6 billion in Florida smoking case.

India to pay whistleblowers for info on counterfeit drugs.

Self-measurement of blood pressure at home is cost effective.

Seniors: A host of digital health tools can save you money, and your life.

Stroke rates declining for seniors — cholesterol, blood pressure meds credited.

Jul 23, 2014 | 11 comments | by John R. Graham

Hits and Misses

Adherence to drug therapy varies by both the color and shape of the pill! Don’t clean out the litter box: Cat poop may fight cancer. You look good on paper! Company will Photoshop your graduation pics to make you look slimmer. Why is divorce more common among families with girls? (It’s not what you think) Pincushion therapy: Acupuncture reduces hormonal “hot

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flashes.” Health Wonk Review is up: “ObamaCare is creating uncertainty and increased government control of society, which holds down economic growth” says NCPA senior Fellow John R. Graham.

Jul 17, 2014 | 10 comments | by Devon Herrick