Summary: Atul Gawande writes a compelling New Yorker report of how Costa Rica melded medicine and public health to greatly reduce disease and lengthen life.
The McCanne Health Justice Monitor is produced by a team of health policy experts and single-payer champions. For more information, and a complete archive of entries, visit the HJM website. For an archive of Quote of the Day entries from Dr. Don McCanne, click here.
PhRMA Distorts Public Opinion on Drug Price Negotiation
Summary: The pharmaceuticals trade association ran a big ad claiming that Americans oppose negotiations on drug prices. It is dishonest: only after hearing pharma’s scare
Price Chaos at US Hospitals
Summary: The New York Times found huge price variations reported by hospitals across private insurers, generally far above Medicare prices. This causes inefficiencies, inequities, and financial
The Financialization of “Non-Profit” Health Systems
Health Systems With Largest Private Equity Investments, Modern Healthcare, May 4, 2021
Largest Health System Investors in Hedge Funds, Modern Healthcare, May 4, 2021
Both charts are
ACOs Fail to Save Medicare Money, Even With Do Overs
Promise vs. Practice: the Actual Financial Performance of Accountable Care Organizations, Journal of General Internal Medicine, August 13, 2021, by James G. Kahn and Kip
Two Decades Into the Quality Improvement Era, Health Care Quality is Falling
Trends in Diabetes Treatment and Control in U.S. Adults, 1999–2018, New England Journal of Medicine, June 10, 2021, by Fang M et al.
Methods: We conducted
Prior Authorization: Less Care, More Illness, Higher Profits
Aetna creates new obstacle to care for seniors, highlighting need for prior authorization reform, California Medical Association, August 10, 2021
One of the nation’s largest health
The Financial & Health Hazards of Medicare Advantage
Medicare Advantage Boom Times, Axios, August 11, 2021, by Bob Herman
“Medicare Advantage continued to grow during the pandemic, and it’s increasingly likely a majority of
Private Equity Is Buying Up Health Care: Patients (and Doctors) Beware
REPORT TO THE CONGRESS: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System; Chapter 3 – Congressional request: Private equity and Medicare, MedPAC, June 21, 2021
We examined
The Rice Family Health Reform Legacy
Health Insurance Systems: An International Comparison, Academic Press, 2021, by Thomas Rice
Chapter 16, Some Insights
Health outcomes: How much a country invests in its health care
U.S. Health System Implosion / Tipping Point
U.S. longevity down to 78.5 years, other nations 81-84.
U.S. pervasive race disparities in private insurance and health.
U.S. health spending twice the wealthy country average.
U.S. uninsured
U.S. Health System a Pitiful Last Among Wealthy Nations
Mirror, Mirror 2021: Reflecting Poorly; Health Care in the U.S. Compared to Other High-Income Countries, The Commonwealth Fund, August 4, 2021, by Eric C. Schneider