Peter Rost is running a story about potential murky dealings in Pfizer’s subsidiary in India, which smack of (perhaps typical) corrupt practices in emerging economies. Essentially the story seems to be that local management ripped off shareholders, lone accountant raised stink with Corporate in NYC, and got fired for his trouble. Here’s part one and two. Of course Peter is trying hard (perhaps too hard?) to link this to the current Chairman and CEO, but it’s all good fun reading. I do think that sometime around now Pfizer probably wishes that it had just given Rost the job he wanted when they bought Pharmacia, and reacted with less paranoia. But you make your bed, and….
Above the Fold
HEALTH PLANS/POLICY: Bob L– keeping you in touch on Medicare Advantage
While I’ve been running a little frantic over the Health2.0 Conference and some other stuff you’ll hopefully hear about soon, Bob Laszewski has been keeping you in touch with the latest on Medicare Advantage Funding.
And somehow he managed to host Health Wonk Review yesterday without me noticing. I’ve now noticed!
TECH: Virtual HIMSS show is up
HIMSS is having a virtual trade show…. it looks quite interesting, go take a look. It takes a minute to register, but looks quite interesting.
TECH: Exercise while working
The WSJ’s Health Blog actually features something about health (normally it’s just about drugs). It’s about a doctor at Mayo who’s working with Steelcase to create a treadmill that you walk on while standing at a desk. While we’re talking about wellness programs at work this might be one. But of course treadmills are bad for some people with bad knees (such as me)—ellipticals would be much better.
Of course he’s not the first. Here’s the set up that VC Brad Feld has in his office.
Now Feld is nuts (in a good way) in that he runs marathons, is a
fitness freak, and does conference calls from his “treadputer” using
bluetooth et al while running. But if it works for him….
As for me? I do most of my phone calls while walking the dog….
POLICY/HEALTH PLANS: Marsha Gold, spoilsport communist!
At Health Affairs Mathmatica’s Marsha Gold takes a look at the expansion of Medicare PFFS plans. Those are the ones that our friends at AHIP are so keen on, because of all the benefits they bring to poor elderly seniors (stop that sniggering at the back!). My word, is she “fair and balanced”!
Perspectives on current MA trends are largely in the eye–and orientation–of the beholder. If one believes that all choice is good and competition brings prices down, MMA has clearly been successful in expanding choice and competition. Because higher payments are driving the market, beneficiaries who enroll also benefit because benefits, even in the more limited plans, probably compare favorably against those of Medicare alone for not that much more premium. It could be that once attracted to MA, enrollees can be moved to more managed products, as some firms have indicated that they want to do.If one tends to believe less in the market, some aspects of current trends are a concern. Most narrowly, the current expansion is fueled by MA payment rates that exceed what traditional Medicare now pays. At least in the short run, this means that Medicare pays more for each beneficiary that is attracted to MA. The added fiscal burden on Medicare is especially high for PFFS plans, because firms are benefiting from "floor" payments. Although individual enrollees may gain, beneficiaries as a whole may be harmed if higher payments add to the fiscal stress on Medicare, making the program less viable in the long run. Choice also makes demands on beneficiaries’ time, is challenging for many not familiar with the issues or those with cognitive limits, and adds the risk that coverage will be unstable if the forces that facilitate firms’ development of PFFS plans also make it easy for them to exit MA.Do the benefits exceed the risk? Although people will differ in their calculations, I suggest that the answer could well be negative.
The joke is that her piece is called Medicare Advantage In 2006-2007: What Congress Intended?
Err, yes Marsha, it pretty clearly was what Congress (or at least the staffers who wrote the law at AHIP’s behest) intended. We, the taxpayer, meanwhile just need to drop trou and bend over.
POLICY: DOJ/DEA insanity runs amok
Meanwhile over in the through the looking glass world of Federal drug policy–Ed Rosenthal has already been convicted & sentenced. Now he’s being tried again — double jeopardy—for performing not only laudable but actually legal activities in a city where 87% of the population thinks that he’s in the right and in a country where more than 70% of the adults most likely to be ill thinks he’s right. Given what we know about the impact of different drugs on different people, is there any excuse at all for the continued persecution of those who believe that medical marijuana helps them?
POLICY/INTERNATIONAL: The best health care system in the world!
God Bless America.
Zeke Emmanuel is a pretty prominent ethicist and with my former economics teacher/prof Vic Fuchs author of a not bad proposal for universal health care. He’s more famous as the least famous Emmanuel brother—the one who’s not in The West Wing or Entourage. And he thinks that the health care system is a mess. Now you’d assume that if he was fired one of his two very, very rich brothers could step in to keep his family out of the workhouse. But apparently not.
President Bush frequently has said Americans have the world’s best health care system, but Emanuel stopped short of calling Bush clueless in his essay (behind JAMA firewall)and during an interview with The Associated Press. “I work for the federal government. You can’t possibly get me to make that statement,” Emanuel said in the interview.
But don’t worry, the AP found a rent-a-quote to make the article fair and balanced:
David Hogberg, senior policy analyst at the National Center for Public Policy Research, said a strong case can be made that the U.S. health care system is the best. “It depends on what measures you use,” Hogberg said. Life expectancy is influenced by many factors other than health care, he said, and nations measure infant death rates inconsistently. Other measures show the United States performing well, he said.
Just in case you wondered the National Center for Public Policy Research may sound like its some official well respected non-partisan body but its header title describes it as a “A Conservative Think Tank” (an oxymoron perhaps). Yeah, those guys know all about health care, I’m sure.
However the reason for this fuss is the latest edition of the Commonwealth Fund’s six-nations report. What does it say? Same thing it’s said for ages. (Shorter version here) The US system costs more and is no better—nay, it’s worse. But Karen Davis and pals have this little zinger in the tail
Findings in this report confirm many of the findings from the earlier two editions of “Mirror, Mirror”. The U.S. ranks last of six nations overall. As in the earlier editions, the U.S. ranks last on indicators of patient safety, efficiency, and equity. New Zealand, Australia, and the U.K. continue to demonstrate superior performance, with Germany joining their ranks of top performers. The U.S. is first on preventive care, and second only to Germany on waiting times for specialist care and non-emergency surgical care, but weak on access to needed services and ability to obtain prompt attention from physicians.
Did you notice that? We’re not even Number One in shortest waiting times for elective surgery. Want to get your hip replaced most quickly? Move to FrankFurt!! I assume that David Gratzer and Sally Pipes are brushing up on their Deutsch right now.
And in other news…apparently Michael Moore isn’t a thorough fact checking reporter and according to his supporters(!) leaves behind a “trail of broken promises to colleagues, exaggerations of facts, and footage used out of context. Hmm, I’d never have guessed that (actually I’ve read one of his books and yup his “research” is incredibly sloppy. In fact so sloppy that apparently PhRMA and AHIP are on to him:
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America issued a statement attacking Moore’s record. "A review of America’s health care system should be balanced, thoughtful and well-researched," the statement said. "You won’t get that from Michael Moore.
And given the quality of “research” from those two organizations, do I have to add the next sentence for you?
TECH/QUALITY: Are Employers the Future Leaders in Chronic Care Management
My article in Digital Healthcare & Productivity about the NYC meeting about remote monitoring and chronic care management is called Are Employers the Future Leaders in Chronic Care Management? As you may know I’m not that optimistic about the role of employers but Jeremy Nobel thinks differently, and certainly EMC at least is well out ahead of basically anyone else.
TECH: A top 10 list from Quadramed
Health tech vendor Quadramed sent me this Top 10 list about Consumers and Health Information Technology
10. Health Information Technology Improves the Quality of Care Received
9. Health Information Technology is Critical in the Event of a Nation-Wide Emergency
8. Health Information Technology Increases Accountability from Providers
7. Health Information Technology Prevents Medical Errors and Saves Consumers’ Lives
6. Health Information Technology Can Empower Consumers to Make Smarter Healthcare Decisions
5. Health Information Technology Saves Consumers Money
4. Health Information Technology Allows Nurses to Spend More Time with Patients
3. Health Information Technology Increases the Health of the Entire American Population
2. Health Information Technology Keeps Hospitals Profitable
1. Health Information Technology Decreases Billing Errors
You may not agree with all of these! Fire at will!
TECH: David Pogue inadvertently pimps Whoissick
Pogue’s techy columns are usually great. This one is too, but he had missed WhoIsSick in his quest to Ask the Crowd to Spread the News about health care online. Of course we’re all over the Health2.0 phenom at THCB because, well, we’re hosting a conference on it.
More details on said conference such as the agenda and location will be out later this week (hopefully tomorrow). I know I’m boasting but the agenda and quality of speakers rocks.
