• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Come on, man.

Not all heroes wear capes.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

I didn’t have alien invasion on my 2023 BINGO card.

Republicans want to make it harder to vote and easier for them to cheat.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Even though I know this is a bad idea, I’m off to do it anyway!

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Mobile Menu

  • Four Directions Montana
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2024 Elections
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Anderson On Health Insurance / Good news everybody: 1st derivative edition

Good news everybody: 1st derivative edition

by David Anderson|  May 16, 20156:05 pm| 17 Comments

This post is in: Anderson On Health Insurance

FacebookTweetEmail

Just a few things that I found interesting:

The rate of growth in health prices continues to remain quite moderate: @Altarum_CSHS brief: http://t.co/IfZ1aYHI2n pic.twitter.com/0k9vMmuGtI

— Timothy McBride (@mcbridetd) May 16, 2015

Health prices are growing very slowly (except drugs). Physician fees are actually DECREASING. http://t.co/mo7DRHzOwv pic.twitter.com/Uy5ZTwR4hC

— Larry Levitt (@larry_levitt) May 14, 2015

Care costs are growing at a rate slower than nominal economic growth in every category but prescriptions. Hep-C is driving a good chunk of the prescription spending surge BUT the new Hep-C drugs are now significantly discounted from headline rates and they should reduce medical expenditures in the out-years.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « This Just Stinks
Next Post: Horsies + Elvis + Linguistic Evolution (Open Thread) »

Reader Interactions

17Comments

  1. 1.

    Davis X. Machina

    May 16, 2015 at 6:09 pm

    That’s all very good, but until the health-insurance industry is burned to the ground, the ruins buried, and the ground over them sown with salt, no true progressive can be happy

  2. 2.

    JPL

    May 16, 2015 at 6:17 pm

    That’s really good news. Thanks

    OT The weather at the Preakness is awful. I’m not necessarily a fan of horse racing but I hate to see the weather make a difference.

  3. 3.

    JPL

    May 16, 2015 at 6:25 pm

    Preakness Spoiler

    Well never mind. It seems like the favorite likes mud.

  4. 4.

    jl

    May 16, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    thanks for good news. This change in first derivative was considered to be The Unpossible, which could never ever happen, by many before the PPACA. So, it is a big deal.

  5. 5.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    May 16, 2015 at 6:38 pm

    What’s the deal with prescriptions? I can’t get my insurance to pay for my preferred rosacea cream (Noritate) because it has gone from $150 a tube 10 years ago to over $1,000 a tube. WTF are they making it out of, endangered beetles and Republican tears?

  6. 6.

    Davis X. Machina

    May 16, 2015 at 6:48 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): The active ingredient seems to be a common enough generic at the .75% strength.

  7. 7.

    Fair Economist

    May 16, 2015 at 6:55 pm

    And this moves the Medicare day-of-reckoning to – probably never. Wonder how much you’ll hear about that on the MSM?

    “With Obamacare passed, Medicare looks to be solvent indefinitely!” -true, but not coming to your TV set!

  8. 8.

    shell

    May 16, 2015 at 7:09 pm

    Damn, Richard. Still working on a Saturday afternoon? Take some time off.

  9. 9.

    cahuenga

    May 16, 2015 at 7:13 pm

    But would you agree that consumer out of pocket costs are still rising at a good clip?

    I can remember when a $1000 deductible was considered high. And co-pays… don’t get me started.

  10. 10.

    Wag

    May 16, 2015 at 7:25 pm

    The Pharmacutical industry will only be brought under control when the government is given the green light to negotiate prices similar to how every other country in the developed world does.

  11. 11.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    May 16, 2015 at 8:01 pm

    @cahuenga:

    Deductibles in bronze level plans went up 2% this year.

  12. 12.

    jannydarling

    May 16, 2015 at 9:07 pm

    I never fill a prescription without first going online for coupons. Sometimes the coupon is better than my insurance coverage, and I tell them to go with the coupon instead. Goodrx has been very good for me. Got my sons anti seizure meds down from $600 to $15/mo., and just two days ago, got $145
    antibiotic down to $20 with them. GD big pharma.

  13. 13.

    Stella B

    May 16, 2015 at 10:16 pm

    @Davis X. Machina: @Mnemosyne (tablet): This is the classic pharmaceutical scam. They get an indication for a slightly different dose and an old drug is back to name brand status. Metrocream 0.75% is $120, Noritate 1% is $950; paroxetine 10mg is $5, Brisdelle 7.5mg is $158. Doctors have no clue about the pricing, so tell ask your doctor to switch you to the generic. Or buy Noritate from Canada for $140 per tube. Or generic metronidazole gel from India for $24 per tube.

  14. 14.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    May 16, 2015 at 10:54 pm

    How much of the prescription drug increase can be attributed to the fact that the Medicare Part D program is proscribed from bargaining for discount rates like the VA does? Is the plan a big enough player to effect prices?

  15. 15.

    Richard mayhew

    May 16, 2015 at 11:11 pm

    @shell: I was emptying out my Twitter favorites during a thunderstorm delay at the soccer field

  16. 16.

    Mnemosyne

    May 17, 2015 at 1:36 am

    @Stella B:

    The generic doesn’t work for me — the base makes me break out, which kind of defeats the purpose. Commenter askew was telling me about a new script (Soolantra) that I may see if my doctor has a sample of. If not, it’s back to online buying from Canada.

  17. 17.

    J R in WV

    May 17, 2015 at 12:09 pm

    I had somewhat major surgery in February. I wrote a check to the hospital when I was there for a per-op physical exam, so they would know my physical condition for the operation a week later. I used a credit card to pay the surgeon’s office.

    Now, going on 3 months later, I’ve received several checks to reimburse me for over-payments I made – one was for $330 odd, which is a non trivial amount. Of course part of this is that they estimated how much the insurance would pay of the amount they intended to bill (as opposed to the chargemaster sky-is-the-limit cost).

    I also got a smaller check from the Surgeon, who earned every penny, so far it appears that he did a wonderful job. I was never ever in a hospital before, except for ER visits and to be with others admitted, and I was terrifically apprehensive about the whole thing. Not shy about it either, so everyone told me how great Dr. M was, what a good job he had done for their relative, etc. They weren’t blowing smoke!

    Sometimes my comment gets posted before I’m done writing it, does this happen to anyone else? Anyway, I’m done talking about how inexpensive my shoulder work was, because I do pay $400+ a month for insurance, which is not chicken feed. Where we live chickens scratch for their own living!

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat) on Monday Morning Open Thread: The Tariff We Pay for Civilization (Apr 15, 2024 @ 9:44am)
  • tokyocali (formerly tokyo ex-pat) on Monday Morning Open Thread: The Tariff We Pay for Civilization (Apr 15, 2024 @ 9:39am)
  • Chris T. on Monday Morning Open Thread: The Tariff We Pay for Civilization (Apr 15, 2024 @ 9:39am)
  • KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager)) on Monday Morning Open Thread: The Tariff We Pay for Civilization (Apr 15, 2024 @ 9:39am)
  • Chris T. on Monday Morning Open Thread: The Tariff We Pay for Civilization (Apr 15, 2024 @ 9:37am)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning
Proposed BJ meetups list from frosty

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8
Virginia House Races
Four Directions – Montana
Worker Power AZ
Four Directions – Arizona
Four Directions – Nevada

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
Positive Climate News
War in Ukraine
Cole’s “Stories from the Road”
Classified Documents Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Political Action 2024

Postcard Writing Information

Balloon Juice for Four Directions AZ

Donate

Balloon Juice for Four Directions NV

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2024 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!