Saving for a rainy day

The American College of Physicians finds that people — a lot of people — save their antibiotics (or get them from friends and family) and end up taking them without a prescription. They’re calling it a “prevalent public health problem.” (More on the story from Reuters, if you like.)

Deductible gene tests

DNA-testing service 23andMe reports that the IRS will allow the company’s health-related information to be paid for through a flexible-spending or health savings account. These are now “qualified medical care expenses.” (Note that this kind of report is separate from the company’s ancestry reports.)

And also note yesterday’s story about British physicians warning about relying too much on those tests….

Chuck and Ron’s Big Adventure

As promised, senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Wyden unveiled a bipartisan plan for lowering Medicare costs — a plan that includes some big changes for Part D, including removing the “doughnut hole” and setting co-pays at 25 percent of drug costs, with an out-of-pocket cap of about $3,100 in the first year (then indexed to inflation).

Here’s a biggie from the bill that appears to index to inflation what Medicare will pay for drugs:

This provision would require prescription drug and biological manufacturers to pay a rebate to Medicare for the amount that their Medicare Part B drugs or biologicals increased above the inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

It’s estimated the changes will save Medicare $85 billion over the 10 years, and save Medicaid about $15 billion.

Lyrica goes generic

The patent ran out and the FDA has approved nine copies of Pfizer’s blockbuster.

Aspirin reminder

If you have a patient who doesn’t have heart disease, the risks of daily low-dose aspirin outweigh any benefit. In fact, both the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology say ‘Don’t do it unless your physician tells you to.’

Why the reminder? A new study finds that “one quarter of adults 40 and older who don’t have heart disease are taking aspirin regularly.”

The long read: Death from diabetes… at home

“Turning 26 Is A Potential Death Sentence For People With Type 1 Diabetes In America”

Skyrocketing out-of-pocket insulin prices, crippling student loans, unaffordable health insurance, rising deductibles:

“Turning 26 — there’s a looming fear that you’ll be spending $500 a month, $5,000 to $6,000 a year, to stay alive. This isn’t an option. Type 1 diabetes is a fatal disease if you don’t have insulin.”