Ep. 36 - 2023 Medicare and PBMs make money

Have these podcasts delivered to your email inbox each week by subscribing. This week on the FLATLINING Podcast, Ron and Matthew discuss the 2023 Medicare fee schedule. Congress, in the omnibus spending bill last year, averted a 4.5% cut by giving providers a 2.4% increase thus bringing the total cut to 2.1%. (-4.5+2.4=2.1). Ron explains how the math is done and what Medicare looks like for 2024. In UnitedHealth Group’s 2022 financial report ($UNH ), it was disclosed that their pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), Optum, earned more profit than their insurance division, UnitedHealthcare. Ron and Matthew discuss how PBMs make their money and what Congress might do about it in 2023. Subscribe to the FLATLINING Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the iHeartRadio app, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Pandora, TuneIn, and Audible. Articles mentioned in this program: Omnibus bill halts PAYGO cuts to providers - Healthcare Finance The PBM defense playbook - Axios 🔒 UnitedHealth Group's 2022 Earnings are in, PBM Optum outperforms health insurance division - Wendell Potter via Wendell Potter NOW This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.flatlining.net