News and Views

Yesterday, the Office of Management and Budget ("OMB") released the Fall 2018 semi annual regulatory "and deregulatory" agenda. Here are a link to the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) current regulatory plan which is not strong on de-regulation in the FEHBlog's view and a link to OPM's list of projected regulatory actions.

Govexec.com and Federal News Radio seek to read the tea leaves on the status of the Trump Administration's federal government reorganization plan as it impacts OPM. In the FEHBlog's view, an important factor is that OPM's acting director remains in charge of implementing the White House's government reorganization plan at OMB. The FEHBlog advises against underestimating Margaret Weichert.

The FEHBlog calls his readers attention to this wide ranging Medpage Today interview with Barbara McAneny, MD, American Medical Association president, and a practicing oncologist/hematologist in New Mexico. Very illuminating.

In other views

• Fidelity Investments offers ideas about how to use health savings accounts over the years. People need education about how to use HSAs.
• Employee Benefit News discusses the current state of implementing bundled payments.
• Healthcare Dive reports on a recent AHIP conference discussing the role of government in healthcare.  
• Health Data Management talks about the importance of personalized incentives in healthcare. 

In other news

• Sen Claire McCaskill (D Mo.) issued a press release on a fascinating Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee report on another shameful episode in the opioid crisis. From the executive summary -- 

During the height of the prescription opioid crisis in the United States [beginning in 2012], Insys Therapeutics, Inc., adopted and intensified sales and marketing techniques Purdue Pharma pioneered in the 1990s for OxyContin and applied them to Insys’ powerful fentanyl drug Subsys. Like Purdue, Insys aggressively used speakers programs—in which the company paid physicians to discuss Subsys with colleagues—and compensation programs for sales representatives to boost sales for Subsys.

• Beckers Hospital Review and Fierce Healthcare offer interesting reports on this week's United Healthcare report on third quarter earnings.  Grabbing the FEHBlog's attention is the news that United plans to roll out its own electronic health record next year and that Optum has acquired another specialty pharmacy.
• Health Affairs blog discusses a new Senate bill combatting the scourge of surprise billing.