spending Archives - The Healthcare Labyrinth

January 19, 2024

January 19, 2024 No Comments

Weight Loss Drugs Take Nation By Storm Ozempic and other new drugs are all the rage for weight loss. These new drugs have both great promise and the potential to be abused and drive up healthcare costs phenomenally. See some of the trends here. (Article may require a subscription.) #weightlossdrugs #healthcare Link to Article Behavioral Health Pilot Announced By CMS The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a new behavioral health pilot for traditional Medicare and Medicaid. Physical and mental healthcare providers will form care teams with community organizations to coordinate care for the mentally ill and substance abusers. (Article may require a subscription.) #behavioralhealth #medicare #medicaid Link to Article House Budget Committee Passes Fiscal Commission Bill Three Democrats and all Republicans came together to pass a fiscal commission bill in the House Budget Committee. Such a commission would make recommendations on major fiscal issues, including Medicare. Congress would

January 11, 2024

January 11, 2024 No Comments

Dysfunction Junction Update: Will Government Shutdown? Faced with an upheaval by the rightists (his very own!) in the House GOP caucus and upended procedural votes, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, met with the Freedom Caucus members to discuss a possible alternative spending bill. This came as a surprise to other leaders. But Johnson could face the same purge that former Speaker McCarthy saw when he tried to do the right thing and comprise to keep government operating. While no one has explicitly said they would call a vote to vacate the speakership, the idea has again been put out there by prominent members of the right-wing fire-setting brigade. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, has begun drafting a continuing resolution (CR) that extends government while the agreed-upon deal is worked on. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel, R-KY, has said this is needed. Johnson may be softening, but previously ruled out

January 10, 2024

January 10, 2024 No Comments

Oscar Says It Can Be Profitable in 2024 And May Expand To Other Products Insurtech Oscar says its enrollment will hit 1.3 million members in the Exchanges once open enrollment concludes, a 31% increase year-over-year. It also could see positive margins in 2024, as much as 5%. It could expand into individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements (ICHRA) and Medicare Advantage (MA) in the future. Both Oscar CEO Mark Bertolini (former Aetna CEO) and Centene CEO Sarah London are right that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is here to stay with over 20 million enrollees. ICHRA is a good Trump-era rule that allows employers to make tax-free contributions toward employees’ individual coverage. Oscar would be well-placed to offer a total ICHRA administrative solution coupled with enrollment in individual Exchange enrollment. Bertolini is a genius on this issue. In other news, Alignment Healthcare touted its Star scores. Additional articles: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/payers/jpm24-oscar-health-eyes-2024-profitability-and-ichra https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/finance/jpm24-day-3-goodrx-expects-least-749m-revenue-2023

January 9, 2024

January 9, 2024 No Comments

NY Wins Medicaid Waiver Approval New York received an 1115 Medicaid waiver approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) covering a myriad of innovations, including recruitment and retention of Medicaid providers, eligibility to bill social needs spending, primary care investments, behavioral health investments, and health equity pilots. CMS press release here: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-approves-new-yorks-groundbreaking-section-1115-demonstration-amendment-improve-primary-care #medicaid #cms #waivers #socialneeds #healthequity Link to Article Both Cigna And CVS Say They Are Ready For Changes in PBM World Both Cigna and CVS, owners of two of the three largest traditional Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBMs) say they are ready for the transformation in the world of PBMS that may be coming. Cigna went as far as to say they welcome unbundling, where plans may hire multiple entities to service them in a transparent way. See my Blog on PBM Transparency from December 14 for the emerging changes in the PBM industry: https://www.healthcarelabyrinth.com/pbm-transparency-and-reform-is-a-big-trend-in-the-american-healthcare-system/ #pbms

January 8, 2024

January 8, 2024 No Comments

Aetna Turnaround On Stars And Enrollment Is Amazing At the JP Morgan conference, CVS President and CEO Karen Lynch was taking a well-deserved victory lap. With all that is going on at CVS, the Aetna turnaround on enrollment and Stars in Medicare Advantage (MA) is amazing. It is no small feat given competitiveness in the MA world and the major changes in Star for 2024. #cvsaetna #cvshealth #aetna #medicareadvantage Link to Article Clover Touting Clover Assistant Clover Health also deserves credit for its work creating the Clover Assistant. It has been shown to promote better outcomes, especially in the tough pharmacy adherence area. With prior authorization to take a back seat, data analytics and member and provider engagement are key to reducing and controlling medical expense at health plans. #clover #dataanalytics #engagement #caremanagement Link to Article Alignment Healthcare Bullish On Membership And Positive Margin Alignment Healthcare John Kao expects major

January 5, 2024

January 5, 2024 No Comments

FDA Approves Florida Drug Importation The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Florida to import prescription drugs from Canada via bulk purchasing. This would mean Florida residents would have access to Canadian wholesale prices, which are far lower than in the United States. Brand drug makers immediately attacked the waiver as reckless and claimed it could endanger health. Nonsense. Canada is a developed country with a great safety record. The waiver also has strict quality control measures in it. This is yet another stunt by Big Pharma to maintain its high prices in the United States. It likely will sue to stop it. Canada, too, could disrupt the plan if it results in shortages there. Although the targeted drugs right now look like they are in reasonable supply, look out for a “manufactured” crisis to emerge. This is a feather in the cap of presidential candidate and Fl. Gov.

January 4, 2024

January 4, 2024 No Comments

Hospitals, Payers Have Better Compliance With Transparency Requirements Hospitals and payers seem to be complying more with required price transparency postings. As well, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has ramped up enforcement. New rules went into effect 1/1 and Congress wants to codify the rules and enhance them. Additional article here: https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/108126 #transparency #pricetransparency #healthplans #hospitals #cms Link to Article Physician and Hospital Groups Object To Info-Blocking Penalties In Proposed Interoperability Rule Provider and hospital groups dislike proposed penalties for info-blocking under a new proposed interoperability rule. Penalties include a change in meaningful-use status in federal programs and reductions in payments. Additional article here: https://insidehealthpolicy.com/daily-news/stakeholders-seek-less-severe-penalties-potential-info-blocking-claims (Some articles may require a subscription.) #interoperability #infoblocking #hospitals #providers Link to Article Lawmakers Miss Medicare Advantage’s Benefits Lawmakers at a symposium on Medicare drug pricing complained that healthcare inflation is impacting Medicare provider payments and hurting access for Medicare beneficiaries. They

January 3, 2024

January 3, 2024 No Comments

Aggressive Agenda for Healthcare on Capitol Hill Good article on all the healthcare priorities for 2024. This tracks very closely to my predictions for 2024 blog ( https://www.healthcarelabyrinth.com/channeling-nostradamus-the-healthcare-labyrinths-2024-predictions/ ). As I noted, a continuing resolution (CR) or other funding bill must pass soon to keep healthcare agencies open. As well, the article says that price transparency reporting, PBM reforms, and site-neutral payments are on the agenda. Note the reference to the long shot possibility of Medicare Advantage (MA) payment reductions. Troubled by prior authorization and overpayment headlines, Congress could take a bite out of rates for MA plans. This was also a possibility I raised in my predictions. There is also the issue of physician fee cuts in Medicare. (Article may require a subscription.) #transparency #pricetransparency #governmentshutdown # crs #siteneutral #pbms #medicareadvantage #medicare #overpayments #providers #rates Link to Article FDA Approvals Up FDA approvals of new novel drugs are up.

January 2, 2024

January 2, 2024 No Comments

KHN Series On Rural Healthcare Crisis Good article from Kaiser Health News on the rural healthcare crisis. It tackles how primary care doctors may be able to help with the maternal healthcare crisis. #ruralhealthcare #healthcare Link to Article More States Cover Illegal Immigrants’ Healthcare This was surprising to me. Eleven states and Washington, D.C. provide full health insurance coverage to more than 1 million low-income immigrants regardless of their legal status. Most are in California, but even Republican Utah is getting into the act. Coverage is expected to almost double by 2025. In this other article, ABC News reports that CA becomes first state to offer full health benefits to all immigrants regardless of status: https://abcnews.go.com/Health/california-1st-state-offer-health-insurance-undocumented-immigrants/story?id=105986377 #immigrants #coverage #healthcare Link to Article Drug Price Hikes Coming As happens each January, drug makers plan to raise prices in the United States on more than 500 drugs, according to data analyzed by

January 1, 2024

January 1, 2024 No Comments

Happy New Year! The Healthcare Labyrinth Newsfeed is off January 1. We wish you a very Happy and Prosperous New Year! You can read previous Newsfeed entries at the Newsfeed page. Visit out Blog page for the latest Blogs. Also visit Spotify for The Healthcare Labyrinth Podcasts. Search “healthcare labyrinth.” We now have three posted. Stay tuned for our predictions blog coming out tomorrow. Read our year-in-review blog already posted first. As well, our podcast this coming Friday will summarize 2023 healthcare events and go into predictions. — Marc S. Ryan and The Healthcare Labyrinth Website

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