By MICHAEL MILLENSON
January
In a blistering commentary, the American Medical Affiliation’s flagship journal, JAMA, condemns the corrosive impact on affected person care of the profit-seeking practices of well being insurers. Individually, the group proclaims that it’s promoting the 13 journals in its JAMA Community to a personal fairness agency for $375 million “as a way to improve our mission of selling the betterment of public well being.”
February
Rapidly following up on a marketing campaign pledge to slash the federal finances, the Trump administration proclaims a radical consolidation of assorted entities on the Division of Well being and Human Providers. The brand new group can be often called the Company and Bureau for Youngsters, Medication, Explosives, Firearms, Households and Meals (ABCDEFFF). Reflecting the brand new president’s robust private preferences, “alcohol” will now not be permitted in any company title.
March
Bipartisan laws demanding transparency from Pharmacy Profit Managers dies in committee after business executives clarify that secret rebates to PBMs are like secret political motion committee contributions to politicians: they help you loudly proclaim you’re an “advocate” for these supposedly paying you whereas truly serving the pursuits of those that are actually paying you.
April
Pfizer proclaims that its once-a-day tablet model of the wildly GLP-1 agonist weight reduction medication will shortly be submitted for presidency approval, and likewise that the corporate is transferring its headquarters from New York to Louisiana, a state with a 40 % weight problems fee. Coincidentally, Louisiana can also be the house state of Republican senators Cassidy and Kennedy, senior members of the Senate committees overseeing well being care and all federal appropriations.
Might
The brand new non-public fairness house owners of the JAMA Community say that each one workers besides one editor at every journal can be changed by ChatGPT. A supply on the non-public fairness agency tells the Wall Avenue Journal that OpenAI gained out over Gemini “as a result of our CEO is a Leo” and over Claude “as a result of no person likes the French.”
June
Controversial right-wing firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, lengthy the topic of rumors that she’s had beauty surgical procedure, is recognized with a critical an infection after an unspecified process. The Home shortly schedules its first listening to on medical error in over twenty years, however then cancels when the American Hospital Affiliation factors out the official time period for what the Georgia Republican contracted was a “healthcare-related an infection,” so it’s solely doable she by chance introduced the an infection together with her to the pristine hospital. In the meantime, with Home management telling Members they have been free to vote their conscience, a decision to ship Greene a “Get Properly” card passes unanimously after deletion of the phrase, “Quickly.”
July
Following by means of on years of guarantees to disclose a “actually nice” alternative for the Reasonably priced Care Act, President Trump on July 4 proclaims the “100-100-100” Make America Wholesome Once more plan. Consistent with the GOP’s advocacy for “skinny” plans with low premiums that encourage “customers” to “comparability store,” the plan will cowl one hundred pc of any medical invoice for as much as $100 a day for a premium of simply $100 a month. Individually, Elon Musk tells a gathering of medical health insurance executives the plan may exchange each Medicare and Medicaid, enabling the federal authorities to chop spending by virtually as a lot because the market capitalization of Tesla.
August
Earlier than Congress recesses, a coalition of progressive organizations points a press launch declaring that each one fundamental well being providers, whether or not offered by authorities companies or the non-public sector, must be “obtainable to your entire inhabitants in line with its wants.” Shortly afterwards, the coalition is compelled to make an embarrassing retraction after ChatGPT alerts the lone editor of JAMA that the coalition by chance re-released a bit of the report of the Committee on the Prices of Medical Care, shaped in 1927.
September
The Enterprise Roundtable says its members are dedicated to enhancing the standard of well being look after all staff as a result of “high quality well being care is nice enterprise.” An 85-year-old freelancer for The New York Occasions notes that this was the precise title of a September, 1997 coverage paper by a Roundtable job pressure through which an government for Sears, which on the time operated over 3,500 shops, declares, “We consider that high quality well being care is lower-cost well being care.” Sears at the moment has a couple of dozen shops.
October
Medicare Benefit plans step up their promoting expenditures after public opinion polls present that no person anymore believes the portrayal of completely satisfied and wholesome seniors taking part in pickleball as a substitute of writing tear-soaked letters pleading for approval of hip surgical procedure. The commerce associations for hospitals, drug and system corporations and PBMs name on Congress to offer better oversight of grasping insurers. The editor of JAMA resigns after ChatGPT writes an editorial extolling the deserves of MA plans run by for-profit corporations.
November
The Nationwide Rural Well being Affiliation says that within the spirit of the Thanksgiving vacation, its members will settle for stay turkeys in partial cost of the medical money owed that now have an effect on 99.99 % of all Individuals after passage of the administration’s “100-100-100” Make America Wholesome Once more plan. A KFF survey explains that the quantity isn’t one hundred pc as a result of Congress retained standard medical health insurance for itself and prime federal officers and since America’s billionaires had opted for self-pay.
December
A Washington Put up editorial declares, “The underside line is that if we need to comprise spending, we must make crucial decisions about how care is delivered, to whom, and underneath what circumstances.” Totally different chatbots differ on the place that quote initially got here from, however agree that if any people consider the American public is able to make crucial decisions, they’re hallucinating.
Michael L. Millenson is president of Well being High quality Advisors & a daily THCB Contributor
