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March 1, 2022 Blog

By Henry Miller and Melissa Hart We're learning more every day about the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but it will likely present surprises. The best strategy is still to prevent new infections. Donald Rumsfeld, the two-time secretary of defense (Gerald Ford and George W. Bush administrations), is perhaps best remembered for a response he gave to a question during a 2002 news conference: As we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is...

February 28, 2022 Blog

To say that Americans are anxiously awaiting the end of the COVID-19 pandemic would be an understatement. But for patients who have enjoyed the ease of attending doctor's appointments virtually, a return to the way things were pre-pandemic might be bittersweet. That's because onerous restrictions on telemedicine, which lawmakers relaxed when COVID-19 hit, could be reinstated once officials declare the public health emergency over. Fortunately, Congress may not let that happen. Several pieces of legislation are pending that would permanently loosen restrictions on telehealth...

February 22, 2022 Blog, Policy Proposals

It’s budget season in Sacramento. Governor Gavin Newsom’s spending proposal is the largest in the Golden State’s history. There’s no shortage of expensive and misguided policies in his budget. Chief among them is his push to expand Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, to cover all undocumented immigrants. Doing so would make Medi-Cal worse for its legacy beneficiaries and nudge the state closer to the government-run, single-payer system that is the long-term goal of Newsom and his progressive allies. The governor proposes spending...

February 14, 2022 Blog

When President Joe Biden nominated former Obama-era Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf to return to his old post, he made what was widely seen as a safe, if uninspired, choice. He easily sailed through a Dec. 14 Senate committee hearing to vet him. "[Califf] gushed about his love of high-quality data, skillfully navigated questions on hot-button topics like abortion and drug pricing, and even had personal anecdotes about COVID-19 testing and opioid prescribing at the ready," according to Stat. Since then,...

February 9, 2022 Blog

Imagine a visit to the local farmer’s market. When you’re about to pay the farmer for some fruit, a man in a suit and sunglasses interrupts the exchange and offers to negotiate a discount with the farmer. Cool, right? Not so fast. The man in the suit didn’t tell you who the discount was for. He gets the fruit for less, to be sure, but sells it on to you for the original price. He keeps the difference between his purchase price...

February 7, 2022 Blog

With pandemic fatigue becoming ever more intense, there is increasing speculation about when the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, might become “endemic” – a time when outbreaks will be more modest and manageable and we can “coexist” with the virus. That juncture has been described as when the virus has become “annoying but rarely deadly or disruptive.” Unfortunately, there are no quantitative milestones that tell us when we’ve arrived. It’s really a judgment by individuals and society, and prematurely concluding that we’ve...

February 7, 2022 Blog, Industry Trends

Upon facing declining revenue prospects, physicians are shuttering their private, independent practices to partner up with larger hospitals that have near-monopolies on care in the regions they serve. This trend is depressing news for most Americans. Further concentration of market power in these health systems ultimately results in less personalized care and higher overall costs for patients. The effect of the decrease in independent medical practice Medicare physician’s pay has increased by 11% over the past 20 years. The overhead costs of operating an independent medical...

January 31, 2022 Blog

Improving vulnerable populations’ access to medicines is clearly important. But something is amiss when a program that is supposed to improve access to healthcare has turned into a cash cow for hospitals. Yet, that is what has happened to the obscure 340B drug discount program. Too many hospitals across Massachusetts and the US are qualifying for large 340B financial subsidies while not providing greater access to care for the intended population. In Massachusetts, 340B hospitals include some large institutions such as...

January 10, 2022 Blog

By Henry I. Miller and Drew L. Kershen It's no secret that Congress sometimes does things – including creating laws – that make little sense and that are contrary to the public interest. One of the most egregious of those laws has just taken effect. The subject – labeling of foods that have been "genetically modified," or "bioengineered" — is somewhat obscure, but the measure, in the form of a Department of Agriculture regulation that was mandated by the law — affects...

January 10, 2022 Blog

On Jan. 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services increased fines for hospitals that have not complied with a rule enacted at the beginning of last year mandating they be transparent about their prices. As of December, more than half of hospitals were still flouting the rule. Patients deserve better. Transparent prices can help them make more informed decisions about their care — and drive down health costs. The 2021 CMS rule ordered hospitals to reveal their prices for 300 "shoppable services," ranging from...

January 3, 2022 Blog, Policy Proposals

Imagine you’re walking the aisles of your local supermarket, on the hunt for your favorite cereal. You usually purchase the generic version, since it tastes nearly the same and is much cheaper than the name-brand version. But today, you notice that the price of the name-brand cereal is just a few cents more expensive than the generic version. You remember that Congress just passed a law capping the price of name-brand cereal. Now, with the prices almost equal, you decide to purchase...

December 29, 2021 Blog

With Sen. Joe Manchin saying he won't vote for the Build Back Better Act, at least in the bill's current form, Democrats are scrambling to revise the bill. Patients and taxpayers can only hope they fail. The bill is packed with disastrous healthcare policies. For instance, Build Back Better would extend the exceedingly generous Obamacare subsidies that Congress approved earlier this year until 2025. Those tax credits, which are currently set to expire at the close of 2022, are a wasteful and...

December 29, 2021 Blog, Policy Proposals

By Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D. and Jeff Stier When President Joe Biden nominated Obama-era Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf to return to his old post, he made what is widely seen as a safe, if uninspired, choice. Califf is a distinguished cardiologist and clinical trial specialist, but the day-to-day regulatory decision-making happens at the organizational levels below the commissioner. The FDA, a huge and critically important but dysfunctional organization, now needs a bold, clear-thinking reformer, but Califf, the...

December 29, 2021 Blog, Policy Proposals

It's hard to find a silver lining in a pandemic. But COVID-19 has convinced the medical and policymaking establishments, perhaps unwittingly, that high-quality care can be delivered remotely. The telehealth revolution is upon us. Lawmakers waived numerous arcane and outdated regulations governing the use of telemedicine to make the service more available for everyday patients. Onerous restrictions that required patients to receive telehealth care in medical facilities and barred doctors from conducting appointments across state lines were as nonsensical before the...

December 24, 2021 Blog, Coronavirus - Alternate, Policy Proposals

By Henry I. Miller, M.S., M.D. and John J. Cohrssen Earlier this week, President Biden outlined new steps to confront the growing spread of Covid-19 from the new, more infectious Omicron variant, which, in only a few weeks, has soared from virtually nonexistent to 73 percent of all new cases. Unfortunately, Biden’s plan failed to include what could be the most important action of all: an all-out effort to make safe and effective anti-viral Covid-19 pills available—two of which have now...

November 29, 2021 Blog, Coronavirus, Price and Costs

This month, Delta Airlines began levying a $200 monthly surcharge on unvaccinated employees enrolled in the company’s health plan for the financial “risk” they are supposedly imposing on the company. The airliner is not alone. A major health-care system in Louisiana plans to do the same for unvaccinated spouses on its health plan next year. And a retailer in Utah announced last month that unvaccinated employees would have to pay extra for insurance. In other words, medical underwriting — the practice of...

November 29, 2021 Blog, Coronavirus, Innovation, Issues

Earlier this month, the Biden administration bought 10 million courses of Pfizer's new COVID-19 pill, Paxlovid. Thanks to the Food and Drug Administration, however, it may be months before anyone can take it, as the agency hasn't yet offered up a timetable for approving it. Its inaction will almost certainly result in scores of preventable deaths. In clinical trials, Paxlovid proved nearly 90% effective at preventing hospitalization and death. The results were so promising, Pfizer ended its trial of the drug early. It would have been...

November 18, 2021 Blog

The cost of employer-based health insurance continues to reach new heights. According to a report out this month from the Kaiser Family Foundation, premiums for a family health plan have risen 47% since 2011, and during that same period, employee earnings rose by 31%, while overall inflation ticked up just 19%. What's to account for the runaway cost of health coverage? There are a number of causes. Paramount among them is the fact that the government heavily interferes in the healthcare sector. Ever-more regulations plus massive...

November 18, 2021 Blog, Coronavirus

Dr. Henry Miller and John Batchelor talk about the coverage around COVID-19 surges in Europe and elsewhere and what that could mean for lockdowns and vaccinations. They discuss how the United Kingdom is handling a potential new surge including masking, vaccinations, and the arrival of new surges. Miller also talks about the various surges, especially related to the delta variant and the impact of long COVID symptoms. ...

November 17, 2021 Blog, Industry Trends, Issues

By Wayne Winegarden and Celine Bookin Billionaire investor Mark Cuban’s pharmaceutical company, the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, is hoping to disrupt the pharmaceutical benefit management (PBM) industry with a new venture that seeks to address some of the most criticized practices of the industry. These include PBMs pocketing rather than passing on negotiated rebates and not being transparent in how they negotiate said rebates. PBMs traditionally contract with governments and businesses to manage drug formularies, determine co-pays, administer plans, and negotiate...