The FDA’s approval of the first therapy to treat Alzheimer’s Disease in over twenty years brought attention to a not-yet-convened debate of U.S. health care costs and spending, innovation, and return-on-the-investment (as well as “for whom” do the returns accrue). In my latest post for Medecision, I explore different angles on the Aduhelm and Alzheimer’s… Read More »
Dive Brief: Providers are continuing to recover from the economic trauma inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but that recovery remains uneven, according to the latest monthly hospital and physician reports from Kaufman Hall. Overall, patient volumes and revenue have made dramatic leaps compared to a year ago, when the country was all but shut down… Read More »
As patients returned to in-person, brick-and-mortar health care settings after the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic, they re-enter the health care system with heightened consumer expectations, according to the Beryl Institute – Ipsos Px Pulse report, Consumer Perspectives on Patient Experience in the U.S. Ipsos conducted the survey research among 1,028 U.S. adults between 23… Read More »
Whether healthcare spending in 2021 increases by double-digits or falls by one-third directly depends on how the coronavirus pandemic will play out over the rest of 2020, based on PwC’s annual report on medical cost trends for 2021. The three cost scenarios are based on assumptions shown in the fine print on the first chart:… Read More »
Why does health care cost so much more in the United States than in other countries? As health economists love to say: “It’s the prices, stupid.” As politicians continue to lament the system’s expense, and more Americans struggle to pay the high and often unpredictable bills that can accompany their health problems, it’s worth looking… Read More »
Gene therapy drug Zolgensma has become the world’s most expensive drug, with the one-time treatment priced at $ US2.1255 million ($ A3 million). Swiss drugmaker Novartis has won US approval for its gene therapy Zolgensma for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the leading genetic cause of death in infants. Novartis executives defended the price, saying that… Read More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders sent a letter to Catalyst Pharmaceuticals on Monday asking it to justify its decision to charge $ 375,000 annually for a medication that for years has been available to patients for free. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders speaks during a news conference on Yemen resolution on Capitol Hill in… Read More »