When UnitedHealth bought doctor practices, Medicare Advantage spending rose but care stayed the same, study finds The findings of the working paper offer a behind-the-scenes look at what can happen as major health insurers expand into owning and operating physician practices.

A #BrownSPH team tracked more than 200 doctor practices that were bought by UnitedHealth and compared them to similar practices that were not taken over. They estimates that in 2022 alone, the acquisitions were associated with roughly $265 million in additional Medicare Advantage payments.

Always fun to visit USC. Home of past and future Olympics, and 2002 or so western zones meet.

Always fun to visit the Inter Continental and the 1920's art deco pool!

THE CHATS - SMOKO (OFFICIAL VIDEO) YouTube video by The Chats

www.youtube.com/watch?v=j58V...

This is horrible if policymakers actually care about health care affordability.

A bit late posting, but great way to end 2025 and start 2026 with annual 100x100. Desc 1-3 on 1:30 this year.

"We, as a country, can improve health care affordability,” Professor @rozmurray.bsky.social says.
Oregon was the first US state to limit how much hospitals can charge. Hit the link to learn how much $$$ caps saved (without impacting quality).
sph.brown.edu/news/2025-12-02/hospital...

Early morning visit to the best pool in the country. Great 3500 IM/sprint workout with Indy masters!

Re-upping this informative @nihcm.bsky.social chart. Most people have very little health spending. A small number account for nearly all. If we want the people at the top to have access to insurance, then we have to subsidize an insurer to take them and/or require everyone to purchase insurance.

Raising the Stakes: Physician Facility Investments and Provider Agency (Forthcoming Article) - Principal-agent problems often extend beyond what can be directly addressed through conventional incentive arrangements. We examine a context where physicians are likely under-...

Forthcoming in the AER: "Raising the Stakes: Physician Facility Investments and Provider Agency" by Elizabeth L. Munnich, Michael R. Richards, Christopher M. Whaley, and Xiaoxi Zhao. www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=...

A colonoscopy costs nearly eight times more at one RI hospital than another. Why? Should a colonoscopy cost nearly eight times more at one hospital than another? Why hospital pricing is less about quality and more about market power.

“In general, we find that there’s really not a strong relationship between price and quality,” CAHPR Professor @cwhaley.bsky.social says. “And in many cases… providers who are much more affordable have higher quality.”

Congrats and well deserved!!

Hospitals experience productivity and revenue gains after investing in surgical training programs, from Michael R. Richards, Jonathan Seward, and @cwhaley.bsky.social www.nber.org/papers/w34365

Great opportunity. Great colleagues. (Note: Oct. 24 application deadline)

www.aeaweb.org/joe/listing....

Summer trip back to where it began! Glad to never have to do 10x400 LCM again!

But what if hackers steal that link and somehow do all of my referee reports for me???

For no reason at all reminding folks that the Oregon Medicaid experiment was severely underpowered to detect mortality effects and generally underpowered to detect health effects, but recent statistical innovations uncovered health improvements not reported in the original papers

Oregon Medicaid – Power problems are important | The Incidental Economist This is a joint post by Aaron Carroll and Austin Frakt. This is part of our continuing coverage of the new Oregon Medicaid study paper. Prior posts are here: Post 1, Post 2, Post 3. More are forthcomi...

2013 called and wants this stupid "debate" back

Medicaid and Mortality: New Evidence From Linked Survey and Administrative Data* Abstract. We use large-scale federal survey data linked to administrative death records to investigate the relationship between Medicaid enrollment and mor

@mfcannon.bsky.social Don't we have good evidence that Medicaid expansions do improve health? Example: academic.oup.com/qje/article-...

Figure. Actual vs Predicted Trends in Employment Levels, 2016-2024

Health care employment growth decreased amid the COVID-19 pandemic but fully recovered by 2024.

#ARM25

https://ja.ma/4kvYjaL

It is amazing how much nicer NYC is with fewer cars.

Third day at Wilson this year! Great AM set. A crowded pool is a sign of a popular pool!

First day of long course at KMCAC. One of the best days of the year! 5k LC METERS to celebrate.

The Corporate Backdoor to Medicine: How MSOs Are Reshaping Physician Practices | Milbank Memorial Fund Private equity firms, insurance companies, and other corporate entities are using MSOs to bypass state prohibitions on the corporate practice of medicine, allowing large corporations to functionally o...

In a new issue brief, researchers from @brownpublichealth.bsky.social Center for Advancing Health Policy through Research examine the impact of management service organizations (MSOs) on health care delivery/market consolidation, & the regulatory gaps that allow them to operate w/ minimal oversight

I guess the story doesn't hold water 😀

NIHCM Foundation logo

Yashaswini Singh, Geronimo Bejarano Cardenas, Hamid Torabzadeh, Christopher Whaley, and Durga Borkar publish a new Health Affairs study on the effects of private equity on ophthalmology.

Read for more information on this #NIHCM-supported research: bit.ly/449EwbU | @yashaswini.bsky.social

@michaelvpina.bsky.social Did Jokic play water polo growing up (huge in Eastern Europe)? Much of the passing from the nail game is similar to water polo actions.

Back at Wilson pool in DC for an early 3k!

really sorry to hear. A huge loss for those who want the US health care system to operate efficiently.