SUMMARY: Actual and perceived social isolation are both associated with increased risk for early mortality. Across studies, social isolation odds increased the likelihood of mortality, respectively. Among 18 to 25-year-olds, one in three (35%) reported feeling lonely three or more times a week. We also found that higher levels of loneliness increase a young adult’s risk of developing depression by 12% and social anxiety by 10%.
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SUMMARY: Over the next ten years Americans are expected to spend $52trn on health care. Under a generous single-payer system, spending would increase by $7trn, according to a recent study by the Urban Institute. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health-policy think-tank, 51% of Americans support Medicare for All while 47% oppose it. But when various objections to the program are made—such as the elimination of private health insurance, and the possibility of increased taxes and queues for treatment—support drops to below 40%. The more we know the less we like it.
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KEY ARGUMENT: The Lower Drug Costs Now Act, spearheaded by the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, could save $345 billion in federal spending over seven years, the Congressional Budget Office has found. It could also reduce out-of-pocket costs by $158 billion over a decade, according to a nonpartisan federal report. The argument that the money this will cost the industry is moot as pharma has spent tax breaks they received on stock buybacks, not R&D.
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WHAT NOW? According to Axios “New CDC data says that 18% of American kids are now obese, and so are 40% of adults. Those numbers are projected to grow. This means that there will be more adults down the road with chronic conditions, such as diabetes — which will be costly for patients and the system alike.
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WHY? According to the Lancet “cancer trends in young adults, often under 50 years, reflect recent changes in carcinogenic exposures, which could foreshadow the future overall disease burden. The risk of developing obesity-related cancer seems to be increasing in a stepwise manner in successively younger birth cohorts in the USA.
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KEY DATA: According to an overview published by data analysts at Clever in September, the average American pays 101 percent more for healthcare than they would have in 1984, and the number of people choosing to forgo insurance is also climbing, with a 7 percent increase in the last year.
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SUMMARY: According to a new report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review released on Tuesday, combined price hikes from seven drugs, in 2017 and 2018, contributed to a $5.1 billion increase in U.S. spending. None of those drugs had new important evidence to support the price increase, the study concluded. Why is this happening?
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