• One-third of the total U.S. prescription-drug spending in 2014 went to specialty drugs which made spending grow by 27 percent to $124 billion.
• The cost of insulin has increased by 325 percent over the past 4 years. This increase has and will hinder the efforts of preventative care and add to the cost and quality of life because limb amputation, heart disease, and the need for dialysis. I believe that it will take state and federal intervention regarding the rising cost of drugs in our country.

IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics

• 28 percent of Americans who said obtaining cheaper or better health insurance would be a reason to relocate to another county or state. Do you hear this lawmakers?

Survey by financial news Website Bankrate

• An increase from $12,000 to $14,500 for a hospital stay for adults with multiple chronic conditions between 2003 and 2014.

Healthcare Costs and Utilization Project

• 4 percent...Physicians’ self-rating of their confidence level, on a 1 to 10 scale, in accurately diagnosing a difficult case, despite only 6 percent of them getting the diagnosis right.

Study published in JAMA Internal Medicine

• 7 percent increase in the availability of primary-care appointments for Medicaid beneficiaries after reimbursement levels were raised to Medicare levels.

New England Journal of Medicine

• 29 percent...increase in emergency visits from 103.1 million to 133.6 million from 2000 to 2013.

American College of Emergency Physicians, American Hospital Association

• 13 percent...increase in behavioral-health-related hospital emergency department visits between 2005 and 2012, while the number of inpatient psychiatric facilities declined 7.8 percent between 2005 and 2013.

American College of Emergency Physicians, American Hospital Association

• Financial markets have sent another signal that the coming era of precision or

personalized medicine could wind up making cancer care unaffordable for millions of people.

Modern Healthcare March 9, 2015.

• 48,900…projected surplus of pharmacists by the year 2025, with an expected demand for 306,400.

Health Resources and Services Administration

• For the second year, that CMS has awarded bonuses to one in four accountable care organizations working under a Medicare model intended to spur providers to deliver lower-costs care. They will share $422 million out of the $833 million they collectively saved the government in 2014.
• ACO networks get to decide for themselves how to distribute the money and primary-care appear to be benefiting the most according to a review of disclosures by ACOs participating in Medicare Shared Savings published in August 31, 2015, Modern Healthcare.
• “We don’t have a good distribution model for ACO savings,” said Dr. Kavita Patel, managing director of clinical transformation at the Brookings Institute’s Center for Health Policy, citing a study published in August, 2015.
• Since, October of 2009, the HHS Office for Civil Rights has fined healthcare organizations 1142 times for data breaches affecting at least 500 people.

• Largest healthcare fraud settlements from 2014

1. DaVita Healthcare Partners $400.0 million
2. Endo Health Solutions and Endo Pharmaceuticals $ 192.7 million
3. Amedisys $150.0 million
4. Omnicare $124.2 million
5. GlaxoSmithKline $105.0 million
6. Community Health Systems $98.2 million

• Healthcare’s biggest spenders on lobbying in 2014

1. American Hospital Association $20,763,146
2. American Medical Association $19,650,000
3. Pharmaceutical Research and Manufactures of America $16,640,000
4. America’s Health Insurance Plans $9,200,000
5. Amgen $8,560,000
6. Pfizer $8,470,000
7. Biotechnology Industry Organizations $8,280,000
8. Eli Lilly & Co. $8,216,000
9. Johnson & Johnson $7,667,500
10. Novartis $6,520,000
11. Bayer $6,180,000
12. Sanofi $5,973,000
13. Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association $5,880,000
14. Medtronic $$5,310,000
15. Roche Holdings $4,953,000
16. AbbVie $4,940,000
17. Merck & Co. $4,790,000
18. GlaxoSmithKline $4,370,000
19. DaVita Healthcare Partners $4,330,000
20. Fresenius Medical Care $4,075,000

Sources: Healthcare Prostitutes, J William Appling, U.S. Senate Lobbying

Disclosure Act Database

Bill Appling, FACMPE, ACHE, is founder and president of J William Appling, LLC.  He is a national speaker, presenter and a published author.  He serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Memphis and is on the boards of Hope House and Life Blood.  For more information contact Bill at j.william.appling@outlook.com.