Consulo Indicium - 1/3/23
Information for your Consideration…
The Covid-19 Pandemic of the Elderly – The New York Times recently posted an analysis by columnist David Wallace-Wells noting that the biggest challenge is among the immunologically challenged elders of society. OVERALL, since the start of the pandemic back in 2019, people 65 years and older have accounted for 75% of all American Covid deaths! But, even worse, Americans 65 years and older TODAY account for 90% of new Covid death – despite a 94% vaccination rate for these citizens! We are now seeing similar reports from China as the pandemic spreads there which exhibit the same pattern. The elderly are at highest risk! Review the article for a complete analysis. It’s got me wearing a mask again…
Health Spending Reaches $4.3 Trillion in 2021 – While health care spending only increased by 2.7% in 2021 over the prior year, it did reach a watermark of 18.3% of the overall GDP as 23 trillion according to a report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). While the rate of increase was a clear decline from the prior year’s spending due primarily to COVID-19, it still represented an ongoing escalation as an over percent of the GDP. This is troubling! Why? Because the overall cost continues to escalate while the quality and services continue to decline across the nation in increasingly disproportionate ways. I am projecting that we will face even more rocky times down the road due to global dissociation, economic headwinds, the decline of the American empire and the factors noted in my missive above on misinformation breeding misdirection to cause misunderstanding across society.
Primary Care First – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released their analysis of the new Pirmary Care First (PCF) initiative in December. At 201 pages, it’s a lengthy read but – important. PCF essentially encourages practices to take an upside/downside risk in caring for patients through a value-based care delivery program. The intent is to support value and quality while simultaneously reducing administrative burden. The evaluation revealed that practices gained a 20% income advantage over traditional fee-for-service model under traditional Medicare payments. The other important aspect of the report is that the practices that failed to make equivalent or better income also failed to make the proper investments in appropriate care management strategies to support quality, decrease readmissions and maintain better health outcomes. So, looking to the future – it seems to me that practices need to be very strategic in developing the proper infrastructure and support systems to be successful under the PCF program.
The Kiwi’s Get Tough – The New Zealand Parliament in December passed a law that would raise the age of smoking from its current age of 18 by one year until the Kiwi’s born after 2008 would be ineligible for legit purchases for life!! That’s called “Phased In Prohibition”. While the sentiment is on target, I’m not sure the anticipated outcomes will become real. New Zealand already has one of the lowest smoking rates in the world with just 8% of the Kiwi’s smoking on a daily basis. The government wants to get the figure down to 5% by 2025. At present, the cost for a pack of smokes in New Zealand is running $20.00 per pack. It would seem better in my estimation to increase the tax and until the purchase of cigarettes becomes an unbearable expense AND use the tax funds to pay for health care. It would likely work better than outright prohibition…
Fentanyl Kills – While I’m big on creating a non-smoking environment, it’s even more of an imperative to begin managing the Fentanyl crisis better. In 2021, there were more than 107,000 overdoses in the USA with two-thirds related to Fentanyl. Furthermore, 196 Americans died every day in 2021 or, double the number from 2019. It is now the leading cause of death among the 18 – 49 year old crowd. The Fentanyl crisis is sucking life out of the younger crowd.
