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What We’re Reading: Amazon Drone Medication Deliveries; Inflation on Health Insurance; Mental Health Proposal Opposition
Amazon Prime air service is testing delivery of medication within an hour or ordering; Surging insurance costs are affecting 150 million Americans; Opponents of President Joe Biden's mental health care proposal argue potential rules could hinder access to quality care.
Amazon Tests Drone Deliveries for Prescriptions
Amazon is testing a new drone delivery service in College Station, Texas, allowing customers to receive prescription medications within an hour of ordering, according to The Associated Press. The Prime Air division has been piloting drone deliveries of common household items since December in College Station and Lockeford, California, and the service is expanding into prescription deliveries based on customer demand. Amazon aims to speed up health care access by reducing the time between diagnosis and treatment, which can be especially beneficial for acute illnesses.
US Family Insurance Plans See Highest Rate Increase in a Decade
The presence of inflation is being felt in the health insurance sector, according to USA Today. The average cost of family health insurance plans provided through employers surged by 7% in 2023 to $23,968, marking the highest rate increase in a decade, according to a survey from KFF. Insurance costs for individuals also rose by 7%, to $8435. With more than 150 million Americans obtaining health insurance through their workplaces, higher prices could lead to larger paycheck deductions for employees, exacerbating the impact of inflation.
Insurers, Employers Oppose Biden's Mental Health Care Proposal
The Biden administration's recent proposal to enhance coverage of mental and behavioral health care is facing opposition and pushback by insurers and employers, according to Axios. The proposal aims to strengthen enforcement of a 2008 law mandating insurers to provide mental health services at the same level as they do physical health care services. However, health care payers argue that some elements of the plan, including a new formula to assess the limitations on access to mental health care, are overly burdensome and may lead them to reconsider the scope of their mental health benefits.
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
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CMS' 340B Repayment Proposal May Harm Vulnerable Hospitals, Reward Those With Higher Revenues
April 26th 2024The 340B hospitals not receiving an offsetting lump-sum payment from CMS following 2018-2022 cuts later ruled unlawful are disproportionately rural, publicly owned, and nonacademic, according to a new study.
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Navigating Health Policy in an Election Year: Insights From Dr Dennis Scanlon
April 2nd 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with Dennis Scanlon, PhD, the editor in chief of The American Journal of Accountable Care®, about prior authorization, price transparency, the impact of health policy on the upcoming election, and more.
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Kaiser Permanente was hit by a data breach in mid-April, impacting 13.4 million health plan members; GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) sued Pfizer and BioNTech for allegedly infringing on its messenger RNA technology patents in the companies’ COVID-19 vaccines; the CDC announced the first-known HIV cases transmitted via cosmetic injections.
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