A few highlights from the news in our industry…
The superbug that doctors have been dreading just reached the U.S. READ
“For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that the top U.S. public health official says could mean “the end of the road” for antibiotics.”
Poll Says Majority of Americans Prefer ‘Medicare For All’ Health Care READ
“A growing number of Americans now support the idea of federally-funded healthcare, according to a new poll conducted by Gallup measuring response to each of the three remaining Presidential candidates’ proposed healthcare policies.”
Covered California Helps Keep Premiums in Check, UC Berkeley Study Finds READ
“Covered California’s Obamacare exchange has helped consumers get a better deal on health insurance in part because of its negotiating power — power that other Affordable Care Act marketplaces don’t have — according to a new analysis published Monday… California is one of the few states that created an “active purchaser” exchange, where the marketplace negotiates premiums and benefits with insurers. Most other states, as well as the federal healthcare.gov, accept any plan that seeks to participate”
How a tool to help patients save on health care backfired READ
“Bringing light to health care prices, an area that is famously opaque and hard to navigate, offers for the first time the prospect that patients will truly be able to shop around and save themselves — and the health care system — money… The study followed health care spending at two large employers that offered a web tool that allowed patients to easily shop around and save on health care costs. The stark truth: Researchers found that the tool was barely used — only 10 percent of the 150,000 people at the two employers ever logged in to the price-shopping website over the course of a year”