KEY TAKEAWAY: Anger over healthcare costs is not going to lead to workable solutions yet the media is generating anger via headlines that fail to adequately communicate the complexity and greed that has become the American healthcare system.
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KEY TAKEAWAY: The current economic cost of unpaid family care is about $67 billion and includes reduced work hours and foregone earnings for Americans 20 to 64 years old who take time off from their jobs to help a loved one manage serious medical issues. This is based on population demographics and wage data from 2013.
Continue readingKEY TAKEAWAY: So far in 2019, more than 3,400 drugs have boosted their prices, a 17% increase compared with the roughly 2,900 drug price increases at the same time in 2018, according to a new analysis by Rx Saving Solutions, a consultant to health plans and employers. The average price hike for those 3,400 drugs stands at 10.5% or about 5 times the rate of inflation, the study found.
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KEY TAKEAWAY: Google searches for health-related information doubled among patients in the week before an ER visit, with more than half searching for clinical information related to the reason for their visits, such as the symptoms they were experiencing or potential illnesses they believed they might have. Another 15 percent searched for the location of the emergency department or other logistical information. Patients often searched health-related terms multiple times before heading to the hospital.
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FRIDAY THOUGHT: With changes on the horizon for healthcare and drug pricing under attack pharma companies are going to have to cut expenses. In the past, cutting, costs meant layoffs, a lot of layoffs, and I could see this happening again.
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KEY TAKEAWAY: Changes, big changes, are coming to healthcare. Among the targets are insurers who are raking in billions as well as PBM’s and pharma. As more companies merge or swallow up smaller one’s pharma is going to have to cut the fat because the public is not going to allow price gouging anymore.
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KEY TAKEAWAY: A study looked at 24 top-rated, interactive apps for Android mobile devices pertaining to medical information, dispensing, administration, prescribing or use. Of those, 79% shared user data with third parties, which then shared it with “fourth parties.”
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