Thursday, November 06, 2003
Prices And Availability Of Pharmaceuticals: Evidence From Nine Countries
A
Health Affairs web exclusive - " This study compares average price levels for pharmaceuticals in eight countries—Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom—relative to the United States. Our most comprehensive indexes, adjusted for U.S. manufacturer discounts, show Japan’s prices to be higher than U.S. prices, and other countries’ prices ranging from 6 percent to 33 percent lower than U.S. prices. The decline of the Canadian dollar and rise of the U.K. pound contribute to the finding of lower Canadian prices and higher U.K. prices in 1999 than in 1992. Our findings suggest that U.S.–foreign price differentials are roughly in line with income and smaller for drugs than for other medical services."
Filing frenzy: What to do to become HIPAA-compliant
American Medical News story - "Under the new electronic health care transactions standards of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Medicare and private insurers cannot pay doctors a cent if they submit non-HIPAA-compliant electronic claims." The article reviews the nature of HIPAA-compliant claims, electronic filing, claims systems and the recently announced extension of the deadline for HIPAA-compliant claims.
Among elderly, depression more prevalent in Hispanics and blacks
Northwestern University press release at
EurekAlert - "Elderly Hispanics and African Americans have higher rates of depression than their white counterparts, due largely to greater health burdens and lack of health insurance, a Northwestern University study has found. The study, published in the November online issue of the
American Journal of Public Health, showed that major depression was most prevalent among Hispanics – 10.8 percent -- followed by almost 9 percent in African Americans and approximately 8 percent in whites in this age group." An
abstract of the article is available frr of charge.
Medicaid deficit may lead to cuts (Florida)
Gainesville Sun story - "Florida's Medicaid program - which provides such services as health care to poor pregnant women and payments for nursing home stays - is running in the red, and the soaring costs threaten to blow a hole in next year's state budget. The news that there's a mounting deficit in the $12.5 billion program was made official this week. ... Bob Sharpe, the director of Florida's Medicaid office, said a growing problem is that one in three Medicaid patients are receiving drugs to treat mental health ailments. These drugs, however, are not covered by monthly drug restrictions previously imposed by state lawmakers."
Health officials defend high-cost items (Wyoming)
Casper Star-Tribune story - "State Health Department officials defended a $252.9 million increase in the agency's proposed budget. During a hearing by the Joint Appropriations Committee, agency director Deb Fleming said Tuesday the budget increase was mostly due to the rising cost of Medicaid, growing caseloads and the effects of the department's outreach efforts." The story also notes that part of the budget increase "would help the agency in part meet terms of a lawsuit that challenged the quality of the state's mental health services."
Community Leaders Call Current Mental Health Treatment System Major Problem
US Newswire press release - " A recent Peter D. Hart Research Associates survey of community leaders from the fields of law enforcement, education, business and health care, found that a majority agreed that the U.S. mental health treatment system is severely flawed and fails to provide adequate diagnosis, treatment, and services for adults and young Americans with mental illness. The failure of the system costs the nation more than $70 billion annually to lost productivity, and when the costs of the police officers, teachers, doctors and others acting as the front line in the mental health treatment system are added in, the cost rises to as much as $300 billion per year." The press release also references NAMI's
Campaign for the Mind of America announced last month. The Campaign is "a multi-year effort on many fronts to promote investment in recovery and to prevent the abandonment of yet another generation of Americans with mental illnesses to neglect and hopelessness. The Campaign highlights the need to build a comprehensive, efficient system to screen, evaluate, diagnose and treat mental illnesses at every stage of life." See also the page at the NAMI site on the
Mind of America Foundation.
More fed aid sought for states' mental health programs (Nevada) Las Vegas Sun story - "Nevada's mental health agency chief says Congress should provide more money to help the states deliver a coordinated system of services to people with mental problems. Carlos Brandenburg, administrator of the state Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services, told the House subcommittee on substance abuse and mental health services on Tuesday that the current system for helping mentally ill and addicted people is fragmented."
