Bettina Hamelin’s Post

National List of Essential Medicines, MOHFW, GOI The National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) is a critical document maintained by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India. Here's an overview of what the NLEM entails and its significance: 1) Purpose: The NLEM is a list of essential medicines deemed necessary for ensuring access to safe, effective, and affordable medicines for the population. It serves as a guide for healthcare providers, policymakers, and procurement agencies to prioritize the availability and affordability of essential medicines. 2) Selection Process: The medicines included in the NLEM are selected based on their therapeutic value, public health relevance, evidence of efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness. The selection process involves expert committees and is periodically reviewed and updated to reflect changes in therapeutic trends, emerging diseases, and advancements in medical science 3) Scope: The NLEM includes medicines across various therapeutic categories such as anti-infectives, cardiovascular drugs, analgesics, antidiabetics, vaccines, and others essential for managing common health conditions and diseases prevalent in India 4) Regulatory Implications: The inclusion of a medicine in the NLEM influences various aspects of healthcare policy and regulation, including: # Pricing and procurement decisions by government health programs and public sector healthcare facilities. # Inclusion in insurance schemes and reimbursement policies. # Regulation of manufacturing, marketing, and distribution to ensure quality and availability. 5) Accessibility and Affordability: By prioritizing essential medicines, the NLEM aims to improve accessibility for patients, especially in underserved and economically disadvantaged populations. It supports initiatives to promote generic medicines and reduce the burden of out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. Overall, the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) is a cornerstone in India's healthcare system, guiding efforts to ensure equitable access to essential medicines while promoting rational use and cost-effective healthcare delivery. Please find the annexed National List of Essential Medicines, MOHFW, GOI.

Health, Fitness and Wellness Pros - do you provide services for Older Adults? Very interesting read today from Becker's Payers Issues... Medicare spending on weight loss drugs through the roof... Medicare total spending hit $5.7 billion in 2022 for GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, up from $57 million in 2018, according to a March 22 KFF analysis. GLP-1 drugs were originally developed to treat Type 2 diabetes but have since gained popularity as medications used to tackle obesity.  While Medicare is not allowed under existing law to cover the drugs for weight loss, Medicare Part D plans can cover them for other medically accepted indications, such as reducing cardiovascular risk, according to a recent CMS memo.  Medicare spending on Ozempic also saw an increase from $2.6 billion in 2021 to $4.6 billion in 2022, according to the analysis.  Medicare Part D authorized use coverage of GLP-1 drugs could point to higher spending, especially as policymakers look at legislation that would allow Medicare to cover obesity drugs. While the drugs offer possible health benefits, strong demand, new usage and high treatment prices could put pressure on Medicare spending, Part D plan costs and Part D coverage premiums, according to KFF. Source: Becker's Payers Issues, March 27, 2024 #wellness #lifestyle #medicalwellness #olderadults

🚨 **A concerning trend emerges in Pakistan with an alarming price increase in healthcare costs. Medicines, doctor fees, and services are becoming unaffordable for many. Urgent action is needed to ensure accessibility for all!** #HealthcareCrisis #PriceIncrease #Pakistan

Catholic Health Australia supports the Australian Medical Association's call for greater access to out-of-hospital care for patients.   We know from our own polling that 82 per cent of patients would consider hospital in the home if it was delivered by a private hospital.    That means treatments like chemotherapy, dialysis, wound care, palliative care and post-surgical rehab could be conducted safely at home with better outcomes.   The most immediate and practical approach to improve patient access is to expand default benefits to out of hospital care. This will provide funding certainty so that decisions on the appropriate care setting can be made by patients and their doctors. Notably, this decision would cost the Government nothing, and the insurers have shown that expanded out of hospital care can save the system $1.3b annually. Read our media release ➡️ https://lnkd.in/g8THadF5 cc. Jason Kara Alex L. Dr Katharine Bassett Adrian Kerr Laura Haylen Brigid Meney Cody Nugara Annabelle W. Isolde Kauffman #cha #health #agedcare #mission

Addressing the Medication Gap in the quest for health equity, reducing medication costs for seniors and the disabled within Medicare pharmacy benefits is a key piece. This recent article Newsweek describes the outcome of the Inflation Reduction Act from 2022 with quantitative #analysis. By leveraging transparency and collaboration within the healthcare supply chain, healthcare access can be ensured and not determined by socioeconomic factors. #HealthEquity #MedicationGap #Medicare #TechnologyInHealthcare #HealthcarePolicy 🔗 read the article -> https://lnkd.in/ejatrGhR

Following up on Jasmin Lau’s post, I thought I should share some of the thinking behind why Value Based Care is becoming increasingly important in Singapore. I started my training in an era 40 years ago when public healthcare in Singapore could not afford treatments for dialysis, cancer or HIV. Healthcare services were severely restricted with only one hospital, TTSH having a CT scan, that all hospitals shared. Housemen of that generation will remember having to call up irate (I don’t blame them) radiologists at night to beg for a CT scan. If approved this would entail accompanying your patient in an ambulance to TTSH in the middle of the night, staying a few hours and then buying back supper for your colleagues who would have had to manage your cases in your absence. The environment has changed radically since then but despite the massively increased wealth of Singapore, the rising costs of healthcare far outstrip GDP growth. While people often think that ‘the government’ pays for covered healthcare, it’s actually us paying either through our taxes or insurance premiums. To avoid relentless increases in GST and premiums, it’s therefore necessary to spend wisely, the way we think carefully about our spending in all other areas of life. It is generally accepted that the wastage in healthcare is 20-30%. That’s to say a large amount of what we do doesn’t actually improve the patient’s outcomes and may in fact worsen it. The amount of new information coming in every day is immense. Therefore although we train our students and residents in a fairly standardized manner, within a few years of completing residency, we notice substantial variation in how 2 doctors, even in the same department, might treat the same patient presenting to them. With all this in mind, MOH will be launching a new Appropriate and Value Based Framwork in 2025 focused on improving patient outcomes while using resources effectively. Stay tuned! Jasmin Lau Soo Min Wong Jeremy Lim Margaret Lee Yee Juan Lim Terrance Chua Joe Sim Hairil Rizal Abdullah Ruban Poopalalingam Jing Jih Chin Diarmuid Murphy Albert Ty John Abisheganaden Bernard Thong Chien Earn Lee Chen-Ee Lee Lydia Loh

"While a record 780 doctors have withdrawn from the public system in Quebec, only 14 in the rest of the country have opted out of medicare, according to the latest report on the state of the Canada Health Act. What’s more, in March 2023 Ottawa fined Quebec nearly $42 million — by far the highest of any province — for allowing patients to be charged illegally out of pocket for “medically necessary diagnostic services” that should be covered under medicare. The annual report provides the strongest evidence to date of the extent to which health care has been moving more and more toward the private sector under the Coalition Avenir Québec government... In the meantime, Dubé has created Santé Québec, recruiting “top guns” from the private sector with the goal of running the health system more efficiently. But critics have accused Dubé of further opening the door to private care by appointing Geneviève Biron, whose family runs the Biron Health Group of private medical laboratories, as chief executive officer of Santé Québec. “The private sector is now in control of our health network,” Québec solidaire health critic Vincent Marissal said at the time of Biron’s appointment in April." by Aaron Derfel for the Montreal Gazette #bioethics #healthcare #medicine #patientsrights #santéquebec #Canada #patientsafety #quebec #Montreal https://lnkd.in/et3diZxz

Below are CBO estimates if Medicare covered GLP-1 for obesity.   In 2026:  2% or 300k eligible Medicare beneficiaries would take GLP-1 $5600/beneficiary annual cost in 2026 totalling $1.68 B If 300,000 people are charged $5600 per year in the first year and $4300 per year eight years later the total cost if reduced linearly per year is $11.88 B. The incremental healthcare cost savings from $50 per year in 2026 to $650 per year in 2034 would result in a total 8-year incremental savings of $840 million (linear over the 8 years) for these 300,000 Medicare beneficiaries if they stayed on for the entire eight years. Conclusion: $11.88 B spend for $840 M incremental healthcare cost savings

The article below "Public experiences and perspectives of primary care in Canada: results from a cross-sectional survey" makes the following weak recommendations. Reforms should strive to expand access to relationship-based, longitudinal care in a team setting. Future reforms should be co-designed with patients and the public and preferentially support the creation and expansion of relationship-based, longitudinal models of primary care. What I lament are the weak suggestions and lack of direct criticism of Provincial and Federal Governments to do more. This sadly is characteristic of Canadian Healthcare Leadership culture, we preach advocacy, but rarely do we criticize when we clearly should. How about labelling this as a crisis, demanding Government at all levels spend more and do more. When I arrived in Ontario as an IMG in 2006, 1 million Ontarians didn’t have a family physician that number is now 2 million, who is accountable for this? Canadian Medical Association look at the British Medical Association and how it truly adovates for reform.

📢 **Breaking News: Expanded Measures for MediShield Life Premium Recovery!** The Singapore government is taking significant steps to ensure the sustainability of MediShield Life by expanding avenues to recover premiums from defaulters. 🏥 Key highlights from the latest announcement: - **New demand notices** will be issued to defaulters, even when traditional methods are unavailable. - **Expanded coverage** for treatments and services, allowing more medical institutions to serve notices. - A **new framework** will empower the authorities to recover unpaid premiums, ensuring continued access to healthcare for all. This move is crucial in ensuring that no one is left behind in our healthcare system. 💪 What are your thoughts on these new measures? How do you think they will impact healthcare accessibility in Singapore? Let’s discuss! 👇 #b'artner #pdpleagacy #BernardLim #HealthcareReform #MediShieldLife #Singapore Affordability a key point raised by MPs during debate on MediShield Life scheme https://lnkd.in/gf-gDuan