Sandra Alvarez has a distinct perspective on this. Listen here: https://heal-ca.org/how-hospital-consolidation-inflates-prices-and-hurts-patients/?fbclid=IwAR2f64mHUi8Snpyk6DdztifavIR_aYZUo1UCfhadArXVoaL83yebOun42cI
Rising Nursing Home Bankruptcies
Nursing Home Bankruptcies are apparently leading the way on healthcare bankruptcies. Is this correlated with private equity ownership of nursing homes? Anybody know? Inquiring minds would like to know.
Rebecca Blank’s Alternative Measure of Poverty
Rebecca Blank died in February. Perhaps her greatest legacy is the supplemental poverty measure she crafted, most remarkable for measuring some different things, including government benefit programs, when measuring poverty.
Insulin Affordability
Over nearly three decades … Lilly has raised the list price on its most widely used insulin product, Humalog, by more than 1,000 percent, which is why I greet Lilly’s announcement of the $35 a month out of pocket cap for the commercially insured with both joy and sorrow.
Is it, Lilly had a great gig going with those Humalog price run ups and now knows all good things must end? Or, give a little to avoid being forced to give a great deal more on general pharmaceutical pricing? And, what about those who are not commercially insured, who must seek this insulin price relief for out of pocket purchases, for example, by applying to Lilly’s co-pay support program? What will happen to them?
The Great Unwinding:Medicaid’s Continuous Enrollment Provision Expires March 31, 2023
But each state must choose whether to implement 30, 60, or 90 day enrollment renewal and unwind accordingly. The Great Unwinding is complicated, to say the least.
Let the Co-Pays Commence
Once the COVID Public Health Emergency Ends (anticipating May 11, 2023), Americans will be fully exposed — once again — to the vagaries of pricing in our health care system as it applies to COVID-19 testing. All of the problems with a lack of transparency on pricing encapsulated in one question: How will I pay for COVID-19 testing after May 11, 2023?
California State of Mind
Good to know what is not causing vote tally delays in California. Good to know.
Fixing the Family Glitch
The final regulation is out from HHS attempting to fix what is know as “the family glitch” and giving a further 200,000 Americans opportunity access subsidized health insurance coverage through the exchanges. If you think about, it is amazing it took so long from the Affordable Care Act’s inception and implementation to address the fallout from allowing household family members to be within the definition of those eligible for exchange purchase because of unaffordability of employer offered family plan health insurance. In short, those opposing the fix maintain that the drafters meant those offered employer sponsored insurance that exceeds roughly 9.4 percent of their income for a family plan should seek publicly funded insurance, charity, or go without.
The Significance of the End of the COVID Emergency
The political maneuvering around declaring COVID over and done is absolutely fascinating. But, today, I am interested in the official end of the declaration of public health emergency by the federal government. So much hinges on the termination date: HIPAA requirement waivers; nursing home staffing standards waivers, are two that loom large. Today, I learned the official termination of the federal pronouncement of the public health emergency has been extended until January 1, 2023.
Is Retail Company Expansion to Home Health a Good Idea?
One business analysis article implies it is a no brainer and an obvious brand expansion for Walgreens and others to expand into the home health industry. OK, so maybe this is promising for industry, but would it be good for consumers? Or, is it CMS’s proposed home health payment rule that is triggering much of this?
Missouri State of Mind 