Hope everyone enjoyed President’s day. In other news, apparently President Trump is technically clinically obese.

5 Big Stories

1. Keep your Healthcare terms straight

As the 2020 election heats, up, it’ll be important to keep straight the various healthcare terms tossed around. For instance, many have joined the ‘Medicare for All’ rally cry without knowing whether or not they specifically support what that means. Here’s a little cheat sheet for you:

• Medicare For All – Medicare is expanded to cover everyone; not just those aged 65+. This healthcare system would be run by the government publicly, presumably abolishing all private healthcare plans. This would be a type of single-payer system.
• Universa Coverage – Everyone in the healthcare system is covered regardless of income or job status. Note that this doesn’t necessarily mean ‘free.’ Multiple payers could exist in this system. By requiring healthcare coverage, this term implies that healthcare is seen as a fundamental right.
• Single Payer – The entirety of healthcare is covered under one payer, whether that payer is Medicare or managed by a private company. Again, not free.
• Medicare/Medicaid Buy-in – A current proposal where regular U.S. citizens who are not currently eligible for Medicare or Medicaid could buy into these coverages, functioning as a regular health plan.
• Medicaid work requirements – Another proposal where proof of work must be given in order to be covered under Medicaid. Kentucky is one of the most recent states to pass such a proposal.

2. Gen Z hates physicians

Crusty old healthcare.

So it turns out that younger people don’t really like going to see their family physician in a ‘typical’ care setting. They’re all about convenience, technological capabilities, and price transparency when it comes to receiving healthcare services. The study conducted by Accenture highlights the fact that younger generations (i.e., Gen Z and Millennials) are the least likely generations to have a stable primary care physician as compared to older generations. It makes sense that younger generations are the ones least satisfied with healthcare, since healthcare tends to be a slow-moving industry when it comes to technological adoption.

Ying and Yang.

Gen Z is, however, super into yoga and other wellness practices (think acupuncture, meditation). The overall trend goes to show that convenience is becoming the predominant factor in primary care. Primary care providers that can take advantage of apps and other tech (urgent care, virtual care) will see themselves staying ahead of the curve, and hopefully benefitting healthcare overall, too.

3. Supplements face the wrath of the FDA

Watch out, 5 Hour Energy.

The FDA announced this week its plans to crack down on dietary supplements. Certain supplements that claim to help with a certain ailment or disease are gonna get the FDA’s wrath. Take, for instance, the 17 (seventeen!) companies that claimed their product(s) helped treat Alzheimer’s disease. That won’t fly with the FDA anymore. I’m personally curious to see if 5 Hour Energy will be thrown into the mix, or if they’ll be let off the hook with all their disclaimer language. The supplement industry has grown to encompass over 50,000 products and $40 billion worth of sales, so we’re not talking about small dollars here, either.

4. Vaping, Brah

Edgy.

Teens are smoking e-cigs (think Juul, vaping) and even regular cigarettes at an alarmingly increased rate, reaching epidemic levels, according to the CDC. In fact, 2 in every 5 high schoolers, and even 1 in every 3 middle schoolers are using 2 or more tobacco products. More concerning: 27% of high schoolers are using e-cigs 20 days or more a month.

Tobacco’s comeback.

Don’t forget that Altria bought a 35% stake in Juul at $12.8 billion, valuing the vaping company at a whopping $38 billion. That’s a bigger valuation than AirBnB ($31 billion), SpaceX ($30.5 billion), Lyft ($15.1 billion), Epic Games ($15.0 billion), and Pinterest ($12.3 billion). You get the idea – addiction is good business? 

5. Weird Medicaid Expansion in Utah

Partial Expansion.

After Utah voters approved a proposal for Medicaid expansion back in November, lawmakers are scaling back  the level of that expansion. Initially, the proposal called for expansion of Medicaid to people up to 138% above the poverty line. Now, the proposal has been reduced to 100% of that line. Utah government officials claim that the people caught up in the difference can get subsidized insurance on the federal ACA exchanges. Proponents of the expansion say that the scale-back is a violation of democracy,  while opponents think the expansion will bankrupt Utah. Utah seeking funds from Uncle Sam, asking the federal gov to dish out the bucks for the one-of-a-kind partial Medicaid expansion.

Quick Hits

Athenahealth’s $5.7B acquisition by private equity players Veritas Capital and Evergreen Coast Capital was finalized this week. Speaking of cash, venture capital poured $2.6 billion of it into healthcare this January. Rounding out the deal making, Johnson & Johnson is buying Surgical Robotics Maker – currently a maker of an innovative robotic endoscopy procedure and other robotics tech, for $3.4 billion in cash (Paywall).

DaVita Earnings (Revenue miss, EPS in-line).

Quest Diagnostics Earnings (Revenue and EPS miss, soft 2019 guidance).

After acquiring Aetna, CVS Health is showing off its new HealthHUB store design in Houston. The concept store makeover includes dietitians, and wellness rooms for yoga. Take a look at some of the photos here.

A recent study published implies that physician consolidation doesn’t improve health care. Apparently, neither do hospital mergers. Also, private health insurance plans pay more, but that might be to make up for the lower payments present in government funded payors. Finally, HCCI says that healthcare prices – not utilization of healthcare facilities – appear to be driving healthcare costs. The Commonwealth fund has an idea for hospital pricing transparency. People with Obamacare are more likely to keep up with their housing payments. Also, do hospitals mark up their outpatient drugs, or is this report misleading?

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Thanks for reading the 10th ever Healthy Muse.