February 5, 2018 Vital Signs - Idaho - Pharma wins, Kellyanne moves, Pharma wins again
I'm waiting for the details of TrumpCare. I love policy and thinking about ramifications and consequences. A full-blown plan will provide insights into which healthcare technology initiatives are ahead of the curve. As an example, things like teleheath and analytics have some momentum but could get a lot more if healthcare increasingly becomes pay for performance versus pay for procedure. The key to most initiative will be the ability to quantify results. It's a little like banking on M&A "synergies": if you can't quantify them, they don't exist.
I remember reading and hearing that Trumpcare is going to be greater, better, and cheaper for everyone. Call me a skeptic, but that'll be tough. One easy reason is that without something like the individual mandate which lowers the risk of the insured market the government will have to subsidize higher risk, lower income folks to keep costs down at the same ObamaCare coverage levels. I'm betting the government won't and will allow for less coverage.
On the other hand, maybe TrumpCare will be funded with the billions of dollars that Mexico pays for The Wall. Yeah, let's go with that.
Here's an excerpt from an article about what Idaho would like to do in re scaling back healthcare coverage. It's illegal, but if the feds don't prosecute and the insurance companies want to take a risk, who knows?
"A bold bid by Idaho to become the first state in the nation to allow the sale of health plans that do not comply with key Obamacare rules could lead to the oldest, sickest customers facing prices up to 15 times the rates charged the youngest and healthiest in the new plans, experts say.
Still, it's not clear whether any insurers will even accept the state's permission to issue the skimpier plans along with their existing Obamacare coverage - because of the risk they could be fined staggering amounts by federal health regulators.
Several insurers told CNBC on Friday they had concerns about the legality of issuing non-compliant plans in Idaho despite the state's new directive authorizing them to do so. The state's move is designed to get more people insured who now are put off by Obamacare prices.
Idaho says it will allow insurers to be able to issue separate plans that charge older customers much more than they currently can in Obamacare plans, and permit insurers to charge people higher premiums if they have health problems - which is barred by Obamacare. The state would also allow insurers to set a $1 million cap on what they have to pay out in health costs for customers, which also is now barred by Obamacare.
And the new plans would be allowed to cover fewer benefits that are currently mandated by the Affordable Care Act.
"It's wildly illegal," said Sam Berger, senior adviser at the liberal Center for American Progress, and a former health-care advisor in the White House during the Obama administration. "There's no argument that anyone's put forward that it's not illegal."
He said insurers that issue the new plans could be fined $100 per customer, per day, by federal regulators for violating the Affordable Care Act's standards. That works out to $36,500 in potential fines per customer every year - putting insurers at risk of insolvency.
Officials at the U.S. Health and Human Services Department have not responded to CNBC's request for comment about Idaho's move. That silence is raising the question of whether the Trump administration will end up tolerating Idaho's policy because of the Trump White House's hostility toward Obamacare."
URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/26/idaho-will-allow-health-plans-outside-obamacare-rules.html
ONWARD EVER
Drugs for all y'all: And folks wonder why I'm thinking of moving to Williamson for my Golden Years. I just hope the pharmacy offers home delivery because I won't be getting out much. Did you catch the number of pain pills shipped? Time to git some!
"At a press conference Tuesday, Walden held up pages of heavily redacted documents that the DEA had sent to the committee.
"We are done waiting for their cooperation," Walden said. "We've had it with the DEA."
The questions were part of a bipartisan investigation into "pill dumping" of massive amounts of prescription opioids, which kill thousands of people each year from overdoses.
The committee found that in one case drug companies shipped 20 million pain pills over 10 years to two pharmacies in Williamson, W.Va., a town of just 3,000 people."
Kellyanne's On It!: Where's Omarosa? Apparently The Wall and "just say no" are the solutions to the opioid epidemic.
Do you want to stop the opioid "epidemic"? Prosecute pharmaceutical companies and doctors. Think that'll happen? Wanna buy a bridge which connects Manhattan and Brooklyn? PM me.
"Though the president has paid plenty of lip service to the drug addiction epidemic-including in the State of the Union address last week-providers and experts have been critical of the White House administration's steps to combat the issue. Trump named the opioid epidemic a national public health emergency, a declaration that was extended by HHS last month, but providers have characterized the move an "empty promise," as it includes little in the way of funding.
Instead of following the recommendations from his opioid commission, Trump and his advisers have posited the opioid epidemic as additional evidence to back his calls for a border wall, and he has called for a stronger law enforcement response, according to the article. His administration has also called for a "just say no" educational campaign.
Conway told Politico that she is focusing on policy-driven work and that her team is working to "finalize and centralize strategy, coordinate policy, scheduling and public awareness" across different administrative agencies. The ONDCP's acting director, Richard Baum, has not been invited to meetings with Conway and her advisers, according to the article."
Drugging: What's always great is that no politician will come forward claiming credit for eliminating legislation which only benefits pharmas, but just check to see who get the most pharma money as almost all politicians get some.
"Drug pricing advocates are decrying the budget deal announced Wednesday for leaving out a bipartisan drug pricing measure that they had pushed for.
The measure would prevent branded drug companies from using delay tactics to prevent cheaper generic competitors from coming onto the market.
It is one of the few drug pricing measures that has bipartisan support in Congress, but it did not end up being included in the bipartisan budget deal announced Wednesday.
Drug pricing advocates are blaming the pharmaceutical industry, which has been lobbying hard against the measure. They point out that much of the rest of the health-care world supports it.
"Who's opposing it? Big pharma and front groups that are bought and paid for by big pharma," said Chip Davis, CEO of the Association for Accessible Medicines, which represents generic drug companies. 'There's your answer.'"
OBITER DICTUM
The worst thing about some men is that when they are not drunk they are sober. - William Butler Yeats
The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand. The fight we are in here, make no mistake about it, is a fight of individualism versus collectivism. - Paul Ryan
Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorrow just as well. - Mark Twain
It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it. - Maurice Switzer
The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read. - Mark Twain
If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself. - Albert Einstein
See you in a few weeks.