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What the FDA Gets Wrong About Drug Ads – Commentary
There are only two countries in the world where drug manufacturers are allowed to advertise their products directly to consumers: the United States and New Zealand. Drug companies in the United States spend $4 billion a year on TV ads alone. The typical TV drug ad these days usually touts the benefits of a drug—maybe with a lot of…
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Where to Draw the Line on Outrageous Health Care Prices – Commentary
I often write about high prices in health care. Some gene therapy drugs cost more than $1 million for a one-time treatment. The latest oncology drugs are especially expensive. Danyelza (for neuroblastoma) and Kimmtrak (uveal melanoma) cost $1.2 million and $1.1 million, respectively. The average annual cost of a new cancer drug is more than $250,000.…
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Spending, Not Coverage, Is Biggest Problem in Health Care – Commentary
By Douglas Holtz-Eakin Roughly a decade ago, on October 1, 2013, the ignominious launch of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) healthcare.gov website signaled the end of an era. The years leading up to the passage of the ACA featured two pressing national health policy issues: covering more (or all) Americans with health insurance, and the…
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States Differ in Responses to 340B Program Abuse
Widespread and longstanding abuse of a federal program designed to provide prescription drugs to low-income patients has prompted lawmakers in Minnesota and Michigan to try to rein in the 340B program in the absence of significant reforms by the federal government. Minnesota recently enacted a law requiring covered entities to begin providing annual reports with…
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Report: Hospital Executives Are Getting Paid Millions of Dollars a Year
Crain’s Detroit Business published a list of the 25 highest-paid hospital executives in Michigan, and all received compensation in seven figures, based on data from 2022. Philip Incarnati of McLaren Health Care topped the list at $10,783,705 a year, a 9 percent increase in 2022, which happened at the tail end of the COVID-19 restrictions…
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There is a Way to Avoid Paying for Other People’s Health Care – Interview
As health care spending soars (see page 20) and health insurers increasingly delay or deny claims (see pages 7, 17), consumers are retreating to indemnity-style insurance protection, which pays a cash benefit for adverse health events. Indemnity-style health insurance is a feature of Plan for America (PFA,) a voluntary private savings proposal designed to rescue…
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Consumers Seek Solutions to Health Insurance Shortcomings
Consumers are looking for ways to safeguard themselves financially in the event of a catastrophic illness or injury when health insurance runs out or an insurer denies coverage. Insurance denials are up, according to recent reports, and this year new limitations on short-term, limited-duration health insurance (STLDI) policies go into effect. The use of supplemental…
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Why are So Many People Angry at Health Insurers? – Commentary
The public reaction to the fatal shooting of health insurer UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has been nothing short of shocking. A post on X wishing that the killer would never be caught racked up 95,000 likes. UnitedHealthcare’s own bereavement message online was cruelly mocked by 77,000 laughing responses. What causes that kind of reaction? Before delving into what’s wrong…
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Health Insurers Denying, Delaying More Claims
The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 3 focused national attention on the denial of coverage claims by health insurers, purportedly a motive for the killing. After Thompson’s death, patients and doctors aired their personal stories on social media, while others posted vitriolic comments about insurers, and Thompson’s alleged assassin became a media…
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What Health Insurance Should Be, But Isn’t – Commentary
By William M. Briggs Now that a health insurance guy has been whacked by an assassin, it’s useful to review why health insurance is such a mess now. Here is an expanded version of a thread I did on Twitter—which is all a repeat of (ignored) arguments I made back when Obamacare was being discussed.…
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