U.S. Patients Have Much Greater Access to New Cancer Drugs Than Others Do

New research by scholars at the University of Pittsburgh shows how much better access American patients have to new cancer medicines than their peers in other developed countries:

Of 45 anticancer drug indications approved in the United States between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2013, 64% (29) were approved by the European Medicines Agency; 76% (34) were approved in Canada; and 71% (32) were approved in Australia between January 1, 2009, and June 30, 2014. The U.S. Medicare program covered all 45 drug indications; the United Kingdom covered 72% (21) of those approved in Europe— only 47% (21) of the drug indications covered by Medicare. Canada and France covered 33% (15) and 42% (19) of the drug indications covered by Medicare, respectively, and Australia was the most restrictive country, covering only 31% (14).

(Y. Zhang, et al., “Comparing the Approval and Coverage Decisions of New Oncology Drugs in the United States and Other Selected Countries,” Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy, 2017 Feb;23(2):247-254.

Feel The Bern! No Right to Health Care in Canada

On Wednesday, I watched the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions (HELP) Committee’s courtesy hearing for Dr. Tom Price, MD, whom President-elect Trump has nominated to be the next United States Secretary of Health & Human Services. As a game of “gotcha,” the hearing played out predictably.

However, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) stood out for asking a pointless “question” (actually a statement), which was because it was based on an error. As he has many times, Senator Sanders made the false claim that health care is a right in Canada and other countries outside the United States. According to Mr. Sanders, this is a unique stain on the United States.With respect to Canada, it is simply and plainly not true that health care is a “right.”

A Holiday Health Policy Vignette: Eye Surgery

If the Christmas dinner table has a cross-border contingent, different national characteristics are sure to come up for discussion. I enjoyed Christmas in Naples, Florida with a mixed group of Americans and Canadians. One couple consisted of a Canadian husband and an American wife. She insisted Canada’s single-payer health system was superior in every way (despite the couple’s living in Florida, not Canada).

I had sailed with her husband the day before, and he had invited me to pay tennis and golf, too. I was exhausted. How did he have so much energy? “Ever since I was five years old, I was blind as a bat, wearing Coke-bottle thick glasses. I could never play any sports. About seven years ago I had surgery to replace my lenses, and since then I play every sport I can. It has been a liberation.”

A Modest Proposal To Reduce The Price Of EpiPens

(A version of this Health Alert was published by Forbes.)

Posturing politicians on Capitol Hill conducted a hearing a few days ago, in which they grilled Heather Bresch, CEO of Mylan. N.V., which makes EpiPens. Prices of EpiPens have skyrocketed in the last few years. According to Aaron E. Carroll, writing in the New York Times, the real (inflation-adjusted) price of EpiPens has risen 4.5 times since 2004.

The politicians were more interested in wagging their fingers and tut-tutting at Ms. Bresch for the amount of money she has made, than actually figuring out a way to lower the price of EpiPens. (By the way, Ms. Bresch testified she has no intention of reducing prices in response to their badgering.)

Single-Payer Setback: Canadian Doctors Without Contract for Two Years

Physicians in Canada’s largest province, Ontario, have rejected a contract negotiated between the Ontario Medical Association and the provincial health ministry. The more than two-year old dispute shows no sign of ending.

Every Canadian is covered by his provincial government’s health plan. So, doctors have only one plan with which to contract. Each doctor cannot decide how much he wants to charge his patients. Instead, he is dependent on a centrally bargained contract which determines fees for every procedure and practice from the skyscrapers of downtown Toronto to windswept hamlets on the frozen shores of Hudson’s Bay.

A Brief Note on the Canadian Election and Health Care

This is a screenshot of an ad run by the New Democratic Party (NDP) in the Canadian federal election held last Monday, October 19. Although the single-payer Canadian system is run by the provincial governments, the question of funding it dominates federal elections.

Read the entire entry at NCPA's Health Policy Blog.

"Free" Canadian Health Care Costs $12,000 Per Family

The Fraser Institute has released a study estimating the costs of Canada’s government monopoly, a.k.a. single-payer health system. A typical Canadian family of four will pay $11,735 for public health care insurance in 2015.

The study also tracks the cost of health care insurance over time: Between 2005 and 2015, the cost of health care for the average Canadian family (all family types) increased by 48.5 per cent, dwarfing increases in income (30.8 per cent), shelter (35.9 per cent) and food (18.2 per cent).

Read the entire entry at NCPA's Health Policy Blog.

Private Cost of Public Queues for Health Care

Suppose you lived in an otherwise free country where you were forced to get medical care from a government-controlled monopoly funded by your taxes. Suppose that country made it almost impossible, by law and regulation, to get medical care outside that monopoly within its borders.

Because the government’s rationing of care would affect your ability to work or otherwise enjoy life, it would impose a private cost upon you greater than the tax burden. That country would be Canada, and the average cost imposed on patients by the government monopoly is $1,289, according to The Fraser Institute.

Fraser Institute: Canadians Leave Canada for Medical Care

Canada’s government monopoly of health insurance leads to long waits, and an increasing number of Canadians have to leave the country to get care, according to The Fraser Institute:

In 2014, more than 52,000 Canadians received non-emergency medical treatment outside Canada.

Read the entire column at NCPA's Health Policy Blog.

Wait Times for Health Care in Canada Doubled Since 1993

This blog has discussed the evidence that Obamacare is reducing access to medical care. For those interested in the future of American health care, a look north of the border may be in order.

The Fraser Institute, an independent, non-profit Canadian research institute has published an annual report measuring data that the governments would prefer that the citizens ignore: How long it takes to get health care. It now takes over four months for Canadians to see a specialist after referral from a primary-care doctor.

Read the entire column at NCPA's Health Policy Blog.

Health Spending Has Grown Slower In U.S. Than Other Countries (But It Won't Last)

We have been skeptical that Obamacare explains the slow rate of growth in health spending. A new research paper by Luca Lorenzoni and colleagues, from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development confirms not only that the slowdown occurred well before Obamacare, but that the effect was stronger in the U.S. than in Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.

The report shares some disturbing data.

Read the entire column at the Independent Institute's Beacon blog or the National Center for Policy Analysis Health Policy Blog.

Is The Canadian Middle Class Doing Better Than The American Middle Class?

The New York Times made a splash last week with an analysis that purportedly shows that the U.S. middle class is declining relative to the middle class in other countries. Especially, the data make it look like Canadian median income surpassed U.S. median income in 2010, when U.S. median income was $18,700.

The conclusion is somewhat aggressive, because it does not take a couple of important factors into account.

Read the entire column at The Independent Institute's Beacon blog.

Americans Control Fewer of Our Own Health Dollars Than Swiss, Swedes, or Canadians!

What is unique about U.S. health care? Well, not only do we control fewer of our own health care dollars directly than our friends in other developed countries do, but we've also been going in the wrong direction for over two decades.

After defeating Obamacare, breaking this long-term trend will be a critical objective of the real health reform that replaces it.

Read the entire article here.

U.S. Senator David Vitter Must Decide Which Side of Big-Government Health Care He's On

Earlier this month, U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) ostentatiously accepted a petition with over 1.6 million signatures demanding the repeal of Obamacare. Good for him. But Senator Vitter is inconsistent in his response to big government in health care. When it comes to prescription drugs, he has frequently proposed legislation that expands the power of the federal government in questionable and irresponsible ways.

Read the entire column at National Review Online.

Canada Still Working Towards Universal Health Care

You probably didn’t notice, but Canada is having a federal election today. It’s a big deal up there — and the number one issue is — you’ll never guess — health care! It’s eleven percentage points more critical than jobs and the economy.

Read the entire post at John Goodman's Health Policy Blog.

American Health Care & American Productivity

One of the great myths about American society is that our lack of a “universal” health plan harms our competitiveness. Even Lee Scott, former CEO of Wal-Mart, a company that has introduced some headline-making innovations in health benefits for its workforce and customers, bemoans the cost of U.S. health care as a burden on the economy.

On the other hand, we don’t hear Mark Zuckerberg complaining that Facebook’s health care costs are preventing him from competing against foreign social-media businesses.

Sharia-Compliant Canadian Public Hospital?

This may be the strangest Canadian health-care story I've every read.  Not only do my countrymen suffer under government monopoly health care, but the government appears to be imposing sharia law in one hospital in Kingston, Ontario.

A man, his wife, and newborn, were expelled from the maternity ward because a muslim woman was also there and breastfeeding her child.  Men who are not relatives are not permitted to be present under such circumstances, apparently, in this taxpayer-funded hospital.

So, they were sent to a private room and then received a bill for $750!  (I wonder what would have happened if a non-muslim woman had made the same demand...)

Electronic Health Records and Government Health Care

A toxic mix, as the Ontario experience shows: My comment at State House Call.

The Premier of Newfoundland's Heart Surgery

As everyone now knows, the premier of Newfoundland is coming stateside for heart surgery, which is fodder for the health-care debate by soundbites. What we don't yet know is who is paying for it.

Tales from the Antipodes: When the Government Runs the Hospitals

I discuss a study by a physician at Sydney Hospital, and compare it to previous research in Canada.