Health Insurers On ‘Hot Streak’ Despite Worries Over Nasty Flu Season
One big reason for the Q1 windfall is the tax cuts passed by Congress last year, which in some cases more than halved what the insurers owe the government.
Bloomberg:
Health Insurers Had Their Best Quarter In Years, Despite The Flu
U.S. health insurers just posted their best financial results in years, shrugging off worries that the worst flu season in recent history would hurt profits. Aetna Inc., for instance, posted its widest profit margin since 2004. Centene Corp. had its most profitable quarter since 2008. And Cigna Corp., which reported on Thursday, had its biggest margin in about seven years. (Tracer, 5/3)
In other national health care news —
The New York Times:
Women With Breast Cancer Delay Care When Faced With High Deductibles
When Pam Leonard felt a lump in her breast last November, she hesitated, debating whether to get testing to see if she had cancer. She thought of her insurance policy, which carries a deductible of $2,600. She knew she would also have to spend as much as $5,700 on medical bills that would not be covered by an individual policy she bought under the Affordable Care Act. “I went back and forth for a couple of weeks,” Ms. Leonard recalled. “I had to do something,” she said. “It didn’t go away.” (Abelson, 5/4)
The Washington Post:
‘I Will Sign Immediately,’ Trump Promises On Proposal To Expand Private Health Care For Veterans
President Trump on Thursday promised he would “immediately” sign revamped legislation expanding veterans’ access to private medical care at taxpayer expense, if Congress passes a new plan being considered just weeks before the “Choice Program” runs out of money. In a tweet Thursday, the president noted that it has been four years since the wait-times scandal at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Phoenix. That controversy showed that hospital employees were lying about the amount of time veterans waited for urgent health care, including cancer treatment and mental-health counseling. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 5/3)
The Hill:
Trump Urges Congress To 'Fix' Veterans Health-Care Program
The Veterans Choice Program allows some veterans to see private doctors. It was created in the wake of the 2014 wait-time scandal that started with the Phoenix Veterans Affairs health-care system. Earlier Thursday, House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) reintroduced a bill that would overhaul private-care options for veterans enrolled in the Veterans Affairs health-care system, as well as expand caregiver benefits for older veterans and create a process for closing excesses facilities. The bill would expand which veterans are eligible to see private-sector health specialists, as well as entitle veterans enrolled in the system to see a private doctor without a co-pay twice a year. (Kheel, 5/3)
Bloomberg:
FDA Chief Floats Rethinking Of Laws Allowing Drug-Plan Rebates
Days ahead of the expected rollout of a White House plan to tackle soaring drug prices, a top U.S. health official asked whether the legal status of drug-plan rebates should get another look. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb asked in a speech what would happen if the U.S. government re-examined the safe harbor that drug rebates have under federal antikickback laws. (Edney, 5/3)
Stat:
Can Trump Use The Bully Pulpit To Lower Drug Prices? Don't Bet On It
President Trump has not yet made his much-ballyhooed speech on drug prices, and a rumored executive order never came to pass. And yet in Washington there are already suggestions among some administration officials that the political climate created by the president — to say nothing of his comments about drug makers “getting away with murder” — has helped keep prices in check. ...But experts argue that the slowdown has been driven by a series of factors unconnected to the White House. There have been relatively few (expensive) blockbuster drugs released over the past year. Fewer people are using some of the blockbuster drugs of years past. Pharmacy benefit managers continue to negotiate rebates to help bring down the prices people actually pay at the pharmacy counter. And generic prices are decreasing, too. (Mershon, 5/4)