Bring out the Xanax. Anxiety among Obamacare supporters is skyrocketing. The bad news just keeps coming. Aetna has joined UnitedHealthcare and Humana in announcing plans to exit almost all public marketplaces. Remaining health insurers are increasing rates by double-digit margins: most over 20%; some over 40%.
 

Midway through the Rio Olympics, the prowess of the diverse, raucous and remarkably talented U.S. team is on full display. We marvel at the athletes’ dedication. Their enthusiasm is infectious. Their athleticism is spellbinding. They represent America at its best, and all Americans can be justifiably proud.
 
It’s been one long samba line to the medals stand. With only 4.3% of the world’s 7.4 billion population, the U.S. has captured (through August 14th) almost 14% of the awarded medals.
 

In an iconic 1984 commercial for Wendy’s hamburgers, the diminutive octogenarian Clara Peller and two friends are eating hamburgers at the fictional “Home of the Big Bun.” Disappointed by their burgers’ small size, the friends call customer service and Clara demands to know, “Where’s the beef?”  The slogan went viral and propelled sales at Wendy’s upward by 31%.

With pride and promise just two short years ago, Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) introduced Prominence Health, a wholly-owned subsidiary,  that would “significantly advance CHI’s ability to excel in a pay-for-value environment.”
 

Earlier this month, President Obama took the unprecedented step of authoring an academic research article in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) to document the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) accomplishments and suggest improvements.
 

EconVue Q&A with David W. Johnson and his new book, Market vs. Medicine: America's Epic Fight for Better, Affordable Healthcare

Q: Who should read market vs. medicine?

A: Healthcare professionals and anyone interested in how the market will fix America’s very broken and very expensive healthcare system.

Q: You have interviewed many healthcare startups for this book, which company stands out the most and why?

Wisconsin may never be the same. Green Bay Packers star quarterback announced this month that he has stopped eating dairy products to “get healthier.” As Bart Simpson might observe, the State of Wisconsin is having a "collective cow".

The Packers are the only publically-owned NFL team. Wisconsin is “The Dairy State.” The Packers and dairy products are inextricably woven into the identity of Wisconsin residents. That’s why Packers fans proudly call themselves “Cheeseheads.”
 

Like hospitals that optimize revenues through complex assignment of charges, discounts and subsidies, aligned pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and pharmaceutical companies manipulate retail and net pricing on “branded” drugs to enhance organizational profitability.
 

The Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) released its annual report of healthcare prices last month. To no-one’s surprise, HCCI found huge variation in commercial prices for 240 common medical services across 41 states. Here’s an excerpt from HCCI’s press release:
 
In New Hampshire and Wisconsin, over 20 percent of health care services are twice the national average price. While in Arizona, Florida, Maryland and Tennessee, over 90 percent of health care services are priced lower than the national average.
 

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