Health Care
Commentary
Shopping for Health Coverage Versus Shopping for Health Care
As I read the spirited debate over whether Obamacare will drive health insurers out of business (here and here), I wonder if we need to bring the discussion back to fundamentals: The key problem with U.S health insurance is that there is too much of it whether provided by ...
Health Care
Medicare Is Increasingly A Benefit Enjoyed By The “One Percenters”
The Congressional Budget Office just released a major new investigation into household income trends over the last three decades. Researchers found that while the total amount of benefits paid out by government social safety-net programs rose between 1979 and 2007, the share going to the poor actually shrank. In other ...
Commentary
Wal-Mart’s Entrance Into Health Care Is Great News for American Consumers
Earlier this month, Wal-Mart dropped a bombshell on the health care industry. A memo from the retail giant obtained by National Public Radio revealed that the company would seek partners to help it dramatically . . . lower the cost of health care . . . by becoming the largest ...
Health Care
Just Say ‘No’ To New Health Insurance Taxes
This month, consulting firm Oliver Wyman released a new study revealing that surprise, surprise health insurance premiums will increase by several thousand dollars over the next ten years. Thats bad enough news for consumers. Even worse? The study only looked at the cost impact of Obamacares new tax ...
Commentary
Only the Sick Need Apply
Can they be serious? Put aside the absurdity of the notion that a public plan would operate just like Blue Cross or one of the others. (After all, the whole purpose of the public plan is to transfer wealth among constituencies in ways that market competition precludes.) Instead, consider the ...
Health Care
The Medicare Auction Design and Incentives for Research and Development
Key Points: Government has incentives to focus far more heavily upon budget outlays than patient wellbeing in the operation of its health programs. So as to obtain medical devices and equipment for the beneficiaries of Medicare and Medicaid, the federal government uses auctions that are poorly designed, resulting in prices ...
Commentary
Can the PayPal Mafia Fix Health Care?
Last week, the Health 2.0 venture Practice Fusion held its second annual Connect conference in San Francisco. Practice Fusion is an exciting business for a few reasons: It provides a free electronic health record (EHR) to physicians and allied health providers. Its completely independent of the legacy healthcare business. (Competitors ...
Business & Economics
A Pfizer Break Up? That Would Be Something
What I intend to contribute at The Apothecary is somewhat different than what you’ll read in my other media, because I’ll be bringing financial analysis to bear on the healthcare space (although not ignoring what the politicians and bureaucrats are doing, of course. Any healthcare enterprise’s success will depend largely ...
Commentary
ObamaCare’s Substandard Health Care Subsidies
Last week, Ohios voters amended their states constitution to say that they wouldnt be bound by the federal individual health insurance mandate. The Buckeye State is now the 13th state to reject the mandate. Ordinary Americans arent the only ones incensed by the law. State officials are uncovering a laundry ...
Commentary
It’s Time to Blow Up the FDA’s Drug Review Process
The Food and Drug Administration just held its first public meeting to set the course for the future regulation of prescription drugs and medical devices in this country. Every five years, Congress must reauthorize the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), which governs many of the FDAs regulatory efforts. Some ...
Shopping for Health Coverage Versus Shopping for Health Care
As I read the spirited debate over whether Obamacare will drive health insurers out of business (here and here), I wonder if we need to bring the discussion back to fundamentals: The key problem with U.S health insurance is that there is too much of it whether provided by ...
Medicare Is Increasingly A Benefit Enjoyed By The “One Percenters”
The Congressional Budget Office just released a major new investigation into household income trends over the last three decades. Researchers found that while the total amount of benefits paid out by government social safety-net programs rose between 1979 and 2007, the share going to the poor actually shrank. In other ...
Wal-Mart’s Entrance Into Health Care Is Great News for American Consumers
Earlier this month, Wal-Mart dropped a bombshell on the health care industry. A memo from the retail giant obtained by National Public Radio revealed that the company would seek partners to help it dramatically . . . lower the cost of health care . . . by becoming the largest ...
Just Say ‘No’ To New Health Insurance Taxes
This month, consulting firm Oliver Wyman released a new study revealing that surprise, surprise health insurance premiums will increase by several thousand dollars over the next ten years. Thats bad enough news for consumers. Even worse? The study only looked at the cost impact of Obamacares new tax ...
Only the Sick Need Apply
Can they be serious? Put aside the absurdity of the notion that a public plan would operate just like Blue Cross or one of the others. (After all, the whole purpose of the public plan is to transfer wealth among constituencies in ways that market competition precludes.) Instead, consider the ...
The Medicare Auction Design and Incentives for Research and Development
Key Points: Government has incentives to focus far more heavily upon budget outlays than patient wellbeing in the operation of its health programs. So as to obtain medical devices and equipment for the beneficiaries of Medicare and Medicaid, the federal government uses auctions that are poorly designed, resulting in prices ...
Can the PayPal Mafia Fix Health Care?
Last week, the Health 2.0 venture Practice Fusion held its second annual Connect conference in San Francisco. Practice Fusion is an exciting business for a few reasons: It provides a free electronic health record (EHR) to physicians and allied health providers. Its completely independent of the legacy healthcare business. (Competitors ...
A Pfizer Break Up? That Would Be Something
What I intend to contribute at The Apothecary is somewhat different than what you’ll read in my other media, because I’ll be bringing financial analysis to bear on the healthcare space (although not ignoring what the politicians and bureaucrats are doing, of course. Any healthcare enterprise’s success will depend largely ...
ObamaCare’s Substandard Health Care Subsidies
Last week, Ohios voters amended their states constitution to say that they wouldnt be bound by the federal individual health insurance mandate. The Buckeye State is now the 13th state to reject the mandate. Ordinary Americans arent the only ones incensed by the law. State officials are uncovering a laundry ...
It’s Time to Blow Up the FDA’s Drug Review Process
The Food and Drug Administration just held its first public meeting to set the course for the future regulation of prescription drugs and medical devices in this country. Every five years, Congress must reauthorize the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), which governs many of the FDAs regulatory efforts. Some ...
