Do Not Resuscitate: How We Spend Trillions to Enrich Intermediaries Instead of Making Ourselves Healthier

How to extract rent from the health biz (Do Not Resuscitate #363) Sep 27 2024

In “Do Not Resuscitate" we pore over through the mainstream and specialty healthcare news media to see how we spend trillions of dollars making intermediaries rich instead of making ourselves healthier. This week’s theme is, How to extract billions from healthcare while providing lousy services? 
Here are all the articles mentioned this week:  
Paige Minemyer, “Employers are bracing for healthcare costs to spike in 2025. Here’s why,” Fierce Healthcare, Aug 20, 2024 https://bit.ly/4dkhijS
Jenna Carlesso, “Cost to rise for health plans sold on and off Connecticut’s Affordable Care Act Exchange,” CT Mirror, Sep 9, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XVSfPR
Lynne Terry, “Individual, small company health insurance plans will cost hundreds more a year,” Oregon Capital Chronicle, Sep 6, 2024 https://bit.ly/4etSwPG
Lora Pellegrini, “Medical costs are driving insurance premiums,” Franklin (MA) Observer, Sep 14, 2024 https://bit.ly/3ZERrQQ
Tina Reed, “Insurers’ big profits stem from care delivery, not core business, Axios, Aug 8, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XXAbFc
Paige Minemyer, “ACA exchange enrollees could see steep premium increases if enhanced subsidies expire,” Fierce Healthcare, Jul 29, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XXmrdm
Julie Appleby, “New lines of attack form against the Affordable Care Act,” KFF Health News/ABC News, Aug 15, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XXVFll
Margot Sanger-Katz, “The campaign issue that isn’t: health care reform,” New York Times, Sep 13, 2024 https://nyti.ms/3XxdQNa
Berkeley Lovelace Jr., “U.S. ranks last in health care compared with nine other high-income countries, report finds,” NBC News, Sep 19, 2024 https://nbcnews.to/3MXWyDX
Tony Leys, “Patient underwent 1 surgery but was billed for 2. Even after being sued, she refused to pay,” KFF Health News, Aug 20, 2024 https://yhoo.it/3MVy7ap
Sarah Varney, “Her life was at risk. She needed an abortion. Insurance refused to pay,” KFF Health News/NPR, Aug 26, 2024 https://bit.ly/4deArnu
Ken Alltucker, “Nearly half of insured Americans get surprise expenses in medical bills, survey finds,” USA Today, Aug 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/3TE0ayI
Brianna Abbott & Peter Loftus, “Cancer is capsizing Americans’ finances: ‘I was losing everything,’” Wall Street Journal, May 28, 2024 https://on.wsj.com/45mIH2g 
Anjalee Khemlani, “Medicare Advantage could lead to lower hospital credit ratings: S&P,” Yahoo News, Aug 22, 2024 https://yhoo.it/3TKyTLc
Christopher Weaver, Tom McGinty, Anna Wilde Mathews & Mark Maremont, “Insurers pocketed $50 billion from Medicare for diseases no doctor treated,” Wall Street Journal, Jul 8, 2024 https://on.wsj.com/3ZCzRNi
Michelle Crouch, “Atrium Health cancels thousands of past medical debt judgments,” Charlotte Ledger/North Carolina Health News, Sep 20, 2024 https://bit.ly/3BrfM2c
Noam N. Levey & Ames Alexander, “How North Carolina made its hospitals do something about medical debt,” KFF Health News/Charlotte Observer, Sep 23, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Bh8U7P
Rachel Crumpler, “Copays pose a barrier for incarcerated people seeking medical care,” North Carolina Health News, Sep 17, 2024 https://bit.ly/3TJJTZ7
Patricia Kime, “VA sets up website, call center to protect vets from fraud as more companies profit from benefits claims,” Military.com, Aug 22, 2024 https://bit.ly/47CE2KZ
Paige Minemyer, “CVS’ Oak Street to pay $60M to settle kickback allegations,” Fierce Healthcare, Sep 18, 2024 https://bit.ly/3TJhNNw
Annie Waldman, Maya Miller, Max Blau & Duaa Eldeib, “Finding a therapist who takes your insurance can be nearly impossible. Here’s why,” ProPublica/NPR, Aug 25, 2024 https://n.pr/3XVtsLD
Max Blau, “‘I don’t want to die.’ He needed mental health care. He found a ghost network,” ProPublica/NPR, Sep 22, 2024 https://n.pr/3zxfLcw
Eleanor Klibanoff, “What Texas can learn from Italy’s big bet on tiny community health homes,” Texas Tribune, Sep 3, 2024 https://bit.ly/4gAK9n7
Madelyn Beck, “Should the state provide life support to Wyoming’s ailing ambulance services?” WyoFile, Aug 26, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XUqE1x
Eileen Applebaum, Emma Curchin & Rosemary Batt, “Structural determinants of health: Hospitals’ unequal capital investments drive health inequities,” Center for Economic and Policy Research, Jul 25, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XEbjAP
 
 

What Does Project 2025 say about healthcare? SPL #361

Project 2025 is the conservative think tank universe's blueprint for Trump II Administration. This week, I review its healthcare chapter instead of my usual rundown of the news on how we spend trillions of dollars making intermediaries rich. Project 2025 has plans to further privatize Medicare, throw more people off Medicaid, and harass women seeking abortions. “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise” does have some surprises in it, including the guy they picked to write the HHS chapter, so I cover all that. The usual single-payer news review of the mainstream and specialty media will return next week. 
Here's the link to Project 2025:
<https://www.project2025.org/2025­MandateForLeadership­FULL.pdf>
 
And if you would like to get my digest direct to your inbox, write me at <tfrasca@yahoo.com> 

Can "public" health survive in the US? Do Not Resuscitate #360 Sep 6 2024

it’s time to reexamine the sorry state of our public health establishment, which in the best of times should provide a strong sense of a collective commitment to “promoting the general welfare” as a balance to the pursuit of individual self-interest. But these, needless to say, are not the best of times, and the profound discrediting of the very idea of public health bodes ill not just for the goal of a single payer/Medicare for All health system but for the Republic itself.
On "Do Not Resuscitate," I talk about how we spend trillions of dollars making intermediaries rich instead of making ourselves healthier. Links to all the articles mentioned in this episode are listed below along with my email if you would like to get my full weekly digest direct to your inbox. There is also an archive of back issues of all the 360 digests I produced over the last 7 years. 
Aron Solomon, “Summer COVID surge shows we may have to return to 2020 pandemic measures,” The Hill, Aug 29, 2024 https://bit.ly/4ectELN
Beth Mole, “The Covid-19 summer wave is so big, the FDA might release new vaccines early,” Ars Tecnica, Aug 19, 2024 https://bit.ly/47aKcln
Associated Press, “Sprinter Noah Lyles collapses after 200-meter race, wins bronze medal,” Aug 9, 2024 https://www.vpm.org/news/2024-08-09/noah-lyles-200-meter-coronavirus-paris-olympics
Brenda Goodman, “Free Covid tests, treatments will return to help the country cope over fall and winter, US officials announce,” CNN, Aug 23, 2024 https://cnn.it/3ThsSFD
Natasha Korecki & Elyse Perlmutter-Gumbiner, “The Democratic convention’s surprise guest: Covid,” NBC News, Aug 26, 2024 https://nbcnews.to/3ATGsbN
Emily Baumgaertner, “On the Covid ‘off-ramp’: No tests, isolation, or masks,” New York Times, Aug 27, 2024 https://nyti.ms/4eaExy0
Mary Kekatos, “There may be an increase in COVID cases this summer. Experts say this is why many shouldn’t be concerned,” ABC News, Jun 19, 2024 https://bit.ly/3ARo6rY
Lexi Lonas & Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech, “Health experts warn against COVID complacency in schools amid surge,” The Hill, Aug 25, 2024 https://bit.ly/4gfrYDs
Apoorva Mandavilli, “What causes dangerous inflammation in children with Covid?” New York Times, Aug 7, 2024 https://nyti.ms/3ZemO4i
Ariana Eunjung Cha, “‘Unusual’ cancers emerged after the pandemic. Doctors ask if Covid is to blame,” Washington Post, Jun 6, 2024 https://wapo.st/4dFVQHf
Maureen Tkacik, “Why is NIH perpetuating long COVID denial?” American Prospect, Jun 6, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cTBWHA
Hillary Smith, “UK researchers find Alzheimer’s-like brain changes in long Covid patients,” University of Kentucky, Aug 30, 2024 https://bit.ly/3B3k3so
Katie Bach, “New data shows long Covid is keeping as many as 4 million people out of work,” Brookings, Aug 24, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cMzkew
Philip Marcelo, “Police in a suburban New York county have made their first arrest under a new law banning face masks,” Associated Press, Aug 28, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XfBZHI
Lambert Strether, “Eight reasons mask bans are beyond stupid,” Naked Capitalism, Aug 8, 2024 https://bit.ly/3MBASxn
Maggie Fox, “H5N1 bird flu isn’t a human pandemic—yet. American contrariness could turn it into one,” Scientific American, Jun 5, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Zf0PKt  
David Wallace-Wells, “We’re applying lessons from Covid to bird flu. That’s not good,” New York Times, Aug 7, 2024 https://nyti.ms/4cVcZvn
to get my digest by email, write me at tfrasca@yahoo.com
Back archive at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news-archive
 

350,000 nasty chemicals sloshing around and we're banning masks? Aug 16 2024

On “Do Not Resuscitate (This System”) this week (ending August 16, 2024), I focus on how our health is affected by environmental factors, which don’t get much attention in our reimbursement-based payments system. The regulatory apparatus is rigged by laws forcing the government to prove harm rather than requiring industries to prove safety. And all the while we're flooded with tendentious propaganda about "environmental zealots" interfering with noble industries. To top it all off, Nassau County in New York has just decided to ban. . . masks! A harmless protective measure is the target while we let all sorts of junk merrily penetrate us through air, water, and food. 
You can get my print digest by writing to tfrasca@yahoo.com, and here are links to all the articles mentioned: 
William Boyd, “How environmental law created a world awash in toxic chemicals,” Law and Political Economy Project, May 28, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WC4f7i
Naomi Oreskes, “Asbestos is finally banned in the U.S. Here’s why it took so long,” Scientific American, May 14, 2024 https://bit.ly/44Zi3g1
Jack Guy, “Microplastics discovered in human penises for the first time,” CNN, Jun 19, 2024 https://cnn.it/3M0zsMF
Kate Aronoff, “Is big oil putting microplastic in your testicles? And if they are—should someone do something about that?” The New Republic, May 22, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cjBD9h
Alex Brown, “States need to keep PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ out of the water. It won’t be cheap,” Stateline, May 21, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Vo3cbO
Micah Toll, “The ‘one simple trick’ Paris used to reduce air pollution 40% ahead of Olympics,” Electrek, Jun 12, 2024 https://bit.ly/3AnXJcZ
They kicked out cars, provided alternative forms of transportation, tripled parking fees for large SUVs. I guess that’s three tricks.
Susan Pulliam, “The EPA cop who became a warrior for ‘forever chemicals,’” Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2024 https://on.wsj.com/3yX58yX
Hannah Norman & Patricia Kime, “Exposed to Agent Orange at US bases, veterans face cancer without VA compensation,” KFF Health News/USA Today, Apr 29, 2024 https://bit.ly/3yyKx3N
Zoey Becker, “With ruling, Pfizer can escape some claims in legal battle over Chantix carcinogen allegations,” FiercePharma, May 29, 2024 https://bit.ly/3SJ4JY4
Andy Miller, “Toxic gas adds to a long history of pollution in southwest Memphis,” KFF Health News/USA Today, May 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WLHm15  
Hiroko Tabuchi, “EPA pulls from the market a weedkiller harmful to fetuses,” New York Times, Aug 6, 2024 https://nyti.ms/3X28Gtp
Deborah Mary Sophia, “US agency puts onus on Amazon for sale of hazardous third-party products, Reuters, Jul 30, 2024,” https://reut.rs/3yGo1Xh
Ted Alcorn, “Alcohol industry panics as healthier habits cut sales,” Think Global Health, Jul 24, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WNkGxA
Dietrich Knauth, “Scientist defeats J&J lawsuit over cancer research,” Reuters, Jul 1, 2024 https://reut.rs/3SILaiH
Kiley Bense, “Pennsylvania, Ohio residents affected by East Palestine derailment say needs still not being met,” Inside Climate News/Pennsylvania Capitol-Star, Jun 8, 2024 https://bit.ly/3X0Z5mA
Suzanne Robotti, “The FDA should withdraw approval of more than 400 tainted medicines,” STAT, Aug 12, 2024 https://bit.ly/3X1oWuD
Julie B. Zimmerman et al., “How tobacco companies use chemistry to get around menthol bans,” Scientific American, Jun 3, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WHYchE
Nicholas DeVito, “Ultra-processed foods: the tobacco of the 21st century?” STAT, Aug 14, 2024 https://bit.ly/3M27SyB
Anne N. Thorndike, “Small changes in food ‘choice environments’ in stores can make a healthy difference,” STAT, Aug 9, 2024 https://bit.ly/4fGD8k9
Lambert Strether, “Mask bans slowly spread [cough, cough] in states and localities,” Naked Capitalism, Aug 11, 2024 https://bit.ly/3X2Qosc
 
 

Rich hospitals, poor hospitals (Do Not Resuscitate #358) Aug 9 2024

This week on “Do Not Resuscitate (This System”), your round-up of how we spend trillions of dollars making intermediaries rich instead of making ourselves healthier, I look at the two-tiered hospital system evolving: on the one hand, prosperous Godzillas (including pseudo-nonprofits), and on the other, collapsing smaller, rural, or independent outfits that serve regular folks and can’t compete as businesses (which, incidentally, they shouldn’t have to).
You can get my full written digest by writing to me at tfrasca@yahoo.com and the back archive is hosted at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news-archive
Here are links to all the articles mentioned in the podcast: 
Tina Reed, “Gulf widens between rich and poor hospitals,” Axios, Aug 6, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YCf0t4
Andrew R. Jones, “‘They must leave’: Coalition begins push for HCA to relinquish Mission,” Asheville Watchdog, Jul 27, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YAMCHv
Susanna Vogel, “State healthcare cost caps could further pressure hospital operating margins,” Healthcare Dive, Jun 4, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WVauob
Elisabeth Rosenthal, “Why many nonprofit (wink, wink) hospitals are rolling in money,” KFF Health News/Washington Post, Jul 29, 2024 https://bit.ly/4ddyetm
Taylor Sisk, “Closing of rural hospitals leaves towns with unhealthy real estate,” KFF Health News/USA Today, Jun 26, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WzITHz
Dietrich Knauth, “Massachusetts warns of health crisis amid Steward hospital sale delay,” Reuters, Jul 31, 2024 https://reut.rs/3ylb0T1
Gretchen Morgenson, “After private equity takes over hospitals, they are less able to care for patients, top medical researchers say,” NBC News, Jul 31, 2024 https://nbcnews.to/3LWrOTl
Susanna Vogel, “Steward will lay off more than 1,200 workers in Massachusetts,” Healthcare Dive, Aug 5, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cbLHAw
Steve Leblanc, “Massachusetts Senate approved bill intended to strengthen health care system,” Associated Press, Jul 18, 2024 https://bit.ly/3yxLPwp
[Editorial], “Health care consolidations: Bad for your health and wallet,” Dallas Morning News, Jul 12, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Acl6WJ
Katy Golvala, “Another lawsuit alleges Hartford HealthCare stifled competition,” CT Mirror, Jun 25, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WXoOvh
Heather Landi, “TowerBrook, CD&R take health tech company R1 RCM private in $8.9B deal,” Fierce Healthcare, Aug 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/3AdhdB1
Alex Weprin, “New York’s largest hospital system is setting its sights on the entertainment business,” Hollywood Reporter, Jul 24, 2024 https://bit.ly/3LORlhj
Marty Makary, “Medicare’s crazy payment system is creating monopolies in health care,” Washington Post, Jul 8, 2024 https://wapo.st/3WViPIy
Susanna Vogel, “North Carolina to offer enhanced Medicaid funds to hospitals that help eliminate medical debt,” Healthcare Dive, Jul 31, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WWW8Ul
Jeff Amy, “Former Georgia insurance commissioner sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to health care fraud,” Associated Press, Jul 13, 2024 https://bit.ly/3SBYHZe
Avni Gupta, Sara R. Collins, Shreya Roy & Relebohile Masitha, “Unforeseen health care bills and coverage denials by health insurers in the U.S.,” Commonwealth Fund, Aug 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/46He20n
 

Pharma's Many Scams & Hustles (Do Not Resuscitate #357) Aug 2 2024

On “Do Not Resuscitate" we look at the mainstream and specialty healthcare news media about how we spend trillions of dollars making intermediaries rich instead of making ourselves healthier. This week’s focus is pharmaceuticals: their crazy cost, the corrupted system of approvals, patent abuse, regulatory laxity, and the PBM scam in which yet another set of intermediaries extracts monopoly rents and destroys neighborhood pharmacies. 
You can get my full written weekly digest by writing to me at <tfrasca@yahoo.com>.
It's archived at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news-archive.
Here are links to all the articles mentioned this week: 
Joe Biden & Bernie Sanders, “Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly must stop ripping off Americans with high drug prices,” USA Today, Jul 2, 2024 https://bit.ly/4fsRR1W
Andy Hirschfeld, “What is behind the insulin shortage in the US?” Al Jazeera, May 2, 2024 https://bit.ly/4fjDAVv
Stephanie Nolen, “South Africa runs out of insulin pens as global supply shifts to weight-loss drugs,” New York Times, Jun 19, 2024 https://nyti.ms/3WpMqIv
Alan Yu, “A discontinued asthma medication has patients scrambling, some to the ER,” NPR/WHYY, Jul 22, 2024 https://n.pr/3StsYJR
Megan Henney, “Prescription drug prices have surged almost 40% over the past decade,” FOX Business, Jul 2, 2024 https://fxn.ws/3SszUXz
Rebecca Robbins & Reed Abelson, “The opaque industry secretly inflating prices for prescription drugs,” New York Times, Jun 21, 2024 https://nyti.ms/3ylmaak
Reed Abelson & Rebecca Robbins, “FTC slams middlemen for high drug prices, reversing hands-off approach,” New York Times, Jul 9, 2024 https://nyti.ms/4d378oK
Jared S. Hopkins, “Mail-order drugs were supposed to keep costs down. It’s doing the opposite,” Wall Street Journal, Jun 25, 2024
Bhanvi Satija, “Boehringer-GoodRx partner to offer Humira rival at 92% discount,” Reuters, Jul 18, 2024 https://reut.rs/3SsJx8y
Anna Claire Vollers, “Angry patients spur new state watchdogs to bring down drug prices,” Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service/Stateline, Jul 23, 2024 https://bit.ly/4fsE9fM
Rosemary Westwood, “Louisiana reclassifies drugs used in abortions as controlled dangerous substances,” KFF Health News/WWNO, Jul 24, 2024 https://bit.ly/46uuYY8
Melissa Barber, Joseph S. Ross & Reshma Ramachandran, “One way to pay for weight loss drugs: CMS could buy Novo Nordisk,” STAT, Jul 23, 2024 https://bit.ly/3yafFHk
Matt Bevins, “A real world Dr. Evil: Big Pharma’s conspiracy to game medical literature,” Racket News, Jun 15, 2024 https://bit.ly/4fnBm7o
Jason Mast & Matthew Herper, “Top FDA official Peter Marks overruled staff to approve Sarepta gene therapy,” STAT, Jun 20, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WrD7b9
Liam Bendicksen, Edward Cliff & Aaron S. Kesselheim, “This gene therapy may not work. So why did the FDA fully approve it?” Washington Post, Jul 22, 2024 https://wapo.st/4bZY42w
Adam Feuerstein, “Sarepta demanded Duchenne patient advocacy group censor video critical of the company,” STAT, Jul 29, 2024 https://bit.ly/4dl0FoF
Devi Shastri, “Rural pharmacies fill a health care gap in the US. Owners say it’s getting harder to stay open,” Associated Press, Jun 7, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WIGLyq
Ian Karbal, “Prescription for trouble: Pennsylvania pharmacists say PBMs are driving pharmacy closures,” Pennsylvania Capital-Star, Jun 2, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WL1n9B 
Jessica Grose, “It’s time to ban pharmaceutical advertising,” New York Times, Jun 19, 2024 https://nyti.ms/4drgDOl
Ruth Reader, “Opioid deaths rose 50 percent during the pandemic. In these places, they fell,” Politico, Jun 26, 2024 https://politi.co/3YsO9PQ

What would Harris do? Do Not Resuscitate (This System) #356 Jul 26 2024

The week ending July 26, 2024, was pretty wild, so I'll try to catch up with what the new options in November might mean for healthcare policy. The Biden record wasn't great, which doesn't mean things can't get worse! But there were glimmers of positive news out there, so all is not lost. 
Here are the links to all the articles discussed in this episode: 
Nathaniel Weixel, “Where Kamala Harris stands on health care issues,” The Hill, Jul 22, 2024 https://bit.ly/3A4MTIs
Josh Nathan-Kazis, “What Kamala Harris’ ascendance means for healthcare investors,” Barron’s, July 22, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YdJUrm
Matt Stoller, “What would Kamala Harris do about corporate power?” BIG, Jul 23, 2024 https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/what-would-kamala-harris-do-about
Caitlin Owens & Adriel Bettelheim, “Biden’s fragile legacy on health care,” Axios, Jul 22, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WAkbbk
Clara Bates, “Pediatricians say Missouri children are losing Medicaid coverage at alarming rate,” Missouri Independent, Jul 21, 2024 https://bit.ly/4feUdBz
Sudhin Thanawala, “Judge refuses to extend timeframe for Georgia’s new Medicaid plan, only one with work requirement,” Associated Press, Jul 16, 2024 https://bit.ly/4diIqAv
Ian Randall, “US health care now unaffordable for nearly half of Americans,” Newsweek, Jul 17, 2024 https://bit.ly/3zWZnSD
Elisabeth Rosenthal, “Her hearing implant was preapproved. Nonetheless, she got $139,000 bills for months,” KFF Health News/NPR, Jul 17, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cUpfwO
Dave Muoio, “FTC probing DaVita, Fresenius Medical Care’s noncompetes for dialysis clinic medical directors,” Fierce Healthcare, Jul 15, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WANHxL
Michael Juliano, “DaVita agrees to pay $34.5m for kickbacks,” Benzinga, Jul 19, 2024 https://bit.ly/3zSLXqO
Joseph Choi, “Biden faces heavy lift with pledge to end medical debt,” The Hill, Jul 20, 2024 https://bit.ly/3LCYp0l
Julie Appleby, “Biden Administration tightens broker access to healthcare.gov to thwart rogue sign-ups,” KFF Health News, Jul 19, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YAyQ83
Julie Appleby, “HealthSherpa and insurers team up to curb unauthorized ACA enrollment schemes,” KFF Health News, Jul 16, 2024 https://bit.ly/4bWIvsy
Jakob Emerson, “15 health systems dropping Medicare Advantage plans,” Becker’s Hospital Review, Jul 24, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YkumSM
Sonali Kolhatkar, “Project 2025’s plan to gut Medicare and Medicaid,” Counterpunch, Jul 19, 2024 https://bit.ly/3y8MXXf
F. Douglas Stephenson, “Trump’s Project 2025 abolishes Medicare; We need to fight back and expand it,” Informed Comment, Jul 21, 2024 https://bit.ly/3ybqR6m
Wendell Potter, “Private Medicare plans and vertical integration yield UnitedHealth $15.8 billion in profits between January and June,” Healthcare Un-covered, Jul 16, 2024 https://bit.ly/3yq8Np7
Find my entire archive of article summaries and links at <www.nypan.org/single-payer-news-archive> You can also get my written digest direct to your inbox by writing me at tfrasca@yahoo.com
I'll be back next week with more on how we pay trillions to make intermediaries rich instead of improving our health! 

How the Supreme Court's Chevron ruling will screw up healthcare

Do Not Resuscitate (This System) #355 is about last month’s Supreme Court ruling that will weaken if not cripple the administrative/regulatory state, and the impact of that decision on the healthcare sector. The case in question is known as “Loper Bright,” and the precedent it overturned is called Chevron Deference or just “Chevron.
This podcast is about how we spend trillions of dollars making intermediaries rich instead of making ourselves healthier. And the Supremes have really outdone themselves this time by stripping federal agencies of the benefit of the doubt in interpreting laws relevant to their mandates. Listen for a quick summary of what the ruling said and why it matters. Here are all the articles mentioned in this week's podcast.
Matt Stoller, “What is Chevron Deference, and how much does it matter?” BIG, Jul 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/3LwQp0U
Kaye Pestaina, Michelle Long & Justin Lo, “Supreme Court decision limiting the authority of federal agencies could have far-reaching impacts for health policy,” KFF Health News, Jul 01, 2024 https://bit.ly/3y1eM3G
Chuck Dinerstein, “The morning after Chevron: Courts tell the FDA how to do its job,” American Council on Science and Health, Jul 03, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WubLlC
Amy Howe, “Supreme Court strikes down Chevron, curtailing power of federal agencies,” SCOTUSblog, Jun 28, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cLUSbV
Verge Staff, “What SCOTUS just did to broadband, the right to repair, the environment, and more,” The Verge, Jun 28, 2024 https://bit.ly/3SfwgQN
Andrew Cass, “How the Supreme Court's Chevron deference ruling could affect healthcare,” Becker’s Hospital Review, Jun 28, 2024 https://bit.ly/3LB8YRn
“What does the end of Chevron Deference mean for federal health care programs?” Foley & Lardner LLP, Jul 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/3Y9gTgp
Brownstein Client Alert, “Health care impacts following Chevron decision,” Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, Jul 3, 2024 https://bit.ly/3y1sW4S
Noah Tong, “How Chevron’s demise could impact employers, purchasers, and health payers,” Fierce Healthcare, Jul 11, 2024 https://bit.ly/3zP8DrX
Dave Muoio, “Hackensack Meridian Health cites Chevron’s demise in new lawsuit over DSH pay formula,” Fierce Healthcare, Jul 2, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cLTAhg
Noah Tong, “Court pauses CMS broker compensation rule for Medicare Advantage plans,” Fierce Healthcare, Jul 11, 2024 https://bit.ly/3YaToDQ
You can also find the entire archive of my digests at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news and get the full newsletter direct to your inbox by writing me at tfrasca@yahoo.com
 
 

Rube Goldberg Invented Our Healthcare Payment System (SPL #354)

Putting for-profit intermediaries in charge of our healthcare spending (all $4.5 trillion of it) is nuts, but the trend is toward making a failing system worse--and not just here. The new Labour government in the U.K. is set to accelerate privatization of its once-heralded National Health Service. And from all indications, the undermining of Medicare continues apace here as well. We can only keep up with the details of these perverse trends and stay alert to possible ways of pushing back or at the very least alerting people to why they are a terrible idea.
Here are all the links to articles mentioned in this podcast. If you want my full newsletter, write me at tfrasca@yahoo.com and you can also check the full archive at www.nypan.org/single-payer-news
 
Nick Corbishley, “It is now Labour’s turn to expand the piecemeal privatization of the UK’s National Health Service,” Naked Capitalism, Jul 9, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cuNku2
Dave Muoio, Emma Beavins & Noah Tong, “CMS' proposed 2.8% physician pay decrease for CY2025 earns quick condemnation from docs,” Fierce Healthcare, Jul 10, 2024 https://bit.ly/3xQ6YBL
Kristine Sorensen, “UPMC, leaders celebrate acquisition of Washington Health System,” CBS News, Jun 12, 2024 https://cbsn.ws/4cSrSyW
Paul van Osdol, “Months before announcing 1,000 layoffs, UPMC leases new $50 million jet,” WTAE/ABC News, Jul 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cSicEE
Dave Muoio, “Steward Health Care spent millions spying on critics amid failing finances,” Fierce Healthcare, Jul 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/4f02hG0
Michelle Crouch, “North Carolina unveils plan to incentivize hospitals to forgive medical debt and beef up charity care,” Charlotte Ledger, Jul 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/461h5Ai
Taylor Knopf, “‘Something from a horror novel’: U.S. Senate slams owner of N.C. psych hospitals,” North Carolina Health News, Jun 27, 2024 https://bit.ly/3VX9uy0
Tina Reed, “Smallest businesses feel crush of health care costs,” Axios, Jun 27, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XWIvoM
Judith Graham, “Lack of affordability tops older Americans’ list of health care worries,” KFF Health News/CNN, Jul 3, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cVFJo9
Wenonah Hauter, “The corporate greed behind bird flu,” The Progressive, Jul 3, 2024 https://bit.ly/3zEj81a
“We’ve put all our eggs in one basket,” literally, says this author. “Industrial factory farms cram hundreds of thousands of animals with near-identical genetics into desperately tight quarters, creating perfect breeding grounds for infectious disease.” Once upon a time, we acquired our food from diversified, small-scale farms that could withstand new infectious agents. No longer.  
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Megan Molteni, “Bird flu snapshot: Live H5N1 virus grown from raw milk samples as Delaware moves to legalize its sale,” STAT, Jul 8, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cCZQb8
Lori Kersey, “West Virginia’s soft drink tax is repealed this week,” West Virginia Watch, Jul 2, 2024 https://bit.ly/4bCHrtt
Brenda Goodman, “In new Alzheimer’s criteria, some see progress while others fear profit-driven ‘diagnostic creep,’” CNN, Jul 1, 2024 https://cnn.it/3W1jZAe
Maya Goldman, “Health insurers take on the affordability crisis—in housing,” Axios, Jun 5, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cA3L8i
Andrew Goudsward & Tyler Clifford, “US charges 193 people in $2.75 billion health care fraud bust,” Reuters, Jun 27, 2024 https://reut.rs/3VX76Ht

Here's why people don't trust healthcare institutions (Do Not Resuscitate #353)

For the week ending June 28, 2024, we look at how people cope with healthcare institutions that abuse them, betray their trust, and give them lousy serices, all while exhorting us to trust The Science™. But we lead with a victory for New York City retirees who successfully fought off attempts to shove them into for-profit Medicare (Dis)Advantage in breach of their contracts. Also, a lot on our unpreparedness for a bird flu epidemic if one were to emerge. More examples of how we spend trillions of dollars making intermediaries rich instead of making ourselves healthier. 
To see the full archive of my years of written digests on these subjects, go to www.npan.org/single-payer-links.
To get my digest to your inbox, write me at tfrasca@yahoo.com
Here are links to all the articles mentioned: 
Bob Hennelly, “After rebuff from retirees, UFT’s Mulgrew bails on Medicare Advantage,” City & State NY, Jun 23, 2024 https://bit.ly/3VOCnwu
Joey Rettino, “These big health insurers covered fewer people in the commercial market in 2023 than they did in 2013. Yet profits were up. Here’s how,” Health Care Un-covered, Jun 20, 2024 https://bit.ly/4cihnoO
Danielle Ofri, “Even doctors like me are falling into this medical bill trap,” New York Times, Jun 17, 2024 https://nyti.ms/3xBGDqP
Elizabeth Dwoskin, Daniel Gilbert & Tatum Hunter, “Doctors couldn’t help. They turned to a shadow system of DIY medical tests,” Washington Post, Jun 9, 2024 https://www.democraticunderground.com/114234697
Associated Press, “Being a patient is getting harder in a strained and complex U.S. health care system,” Jun 2, 2024 https://bit.ly/45IdbMp
Peggy Lowe & Bram Sable-Smith, “Super Bowl parade shooting survivors await promised donations while bills pile up,” KCUR/KFF Health News, Jun 21, 2024 https://bit.ly/3zmoUEw
Rachana Pradhan & Samantha Liss, “Medicaid for millions in American hinges on Deloitte-run systems plagued by errors,” KFF Health News/Fortune, June 24, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XHcEZp
Susanna Vogel, “Under the watch of the attorney general, Northwell overhauls charity care policy,” Healthcare Dive, Jun 5, 2024 https://bit.ly/3L4x3QE
Dave Muoio, “HHS finalizes info blocking disincentives for hospitals, clinician groups and ACOs,” Fierce Healthcare, Jun 24, 2024 https://bit.ly/3VyVB96
Brett Kelman, “Tennessee gives this hospital monopoly an A grade—even when it reports failure,” KFF Health News/States Newsroom, May 29, 2024 https://bit.ly/3zstX66
Rebecca Pifer, “Walgreens-backed CityMD settles with Justice Department over alleged COVID fraud,” Healthcare Dive, Jun 10, 2024 https://bit.ly/3xIh2fR
Chris Bing & Joel Schectman, “Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic,” Reuters, Jun 14, 2024 https://reut.rs/3zdGnyI
Marianne Cooper & Maxim Voronov, “We’ve hit peak denial. Here’s why we can’t turn away from reality,” Scientific American, Jun 18, 2024 https://archive.md/YNK3D
Evan Blake, “The destruction of public health and the growing threat of an H5N1 bird flu pandemic,” World Socialist Web Site, Jun 20, 2024 https://bit.ly/4eCUUnV
Julia Doubleday, “COVID infection endangers pregnancies and newborns. Why aren't parents being warned?” The Gauntlet, Jun 21, 2024 https://bit.ly/3XKDSOD
Jessica Wildfire, “Years into a pandemic, we’re stuck in long denial,” OK Doomer, Jun 21, 2024 https://bit.ly/3RKOn0t
Andrew Joseph, Rachel Cohrs Zhang, Helen Branswell & Megan Molteni, “Three months into bird flu outbreak in U.S. dairy cows, experts see deep-rooted problems in response,” STAT, Jun 26, 2024 https://bit.ly/3ztqCUm
Neil Barsky, “Does the American Diabetes Association work for patients or companies? A lawsuit dared to ask,” Guardian, May 2, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WI39Zn
Rebecca Beitsch, “Potatoes will remain classified as a vegetable, not a grain, Collins says,” The Hill, May 1, 2024 https://bit.ly/3WNKFXj