Medicare officials have just announced rate increases in prescription drug premiums for beneficiaries in stand-alone Part D plans.  Starting next year, the average monthly premium will mean $3 more per month for beneficiaries out of pocket.  CMS is quick to buttress news of this increase with the acknowledgement that the popular program continues to function in the financial black.

There are three reasons behind the premium increase, [Kerry Weems, acting administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] said.

“First, there is a trend in prescription drug cost growth generally — prices tend to increase because of price increases for existing drugs, the growth in the average number of prescriptions per person, and the introduction of new drugs,” he said.

Second, the 2008 premiums were calculated as part of a demonstration project that has now expired. This project resulted in premiums being 50 cents less in 2008 than had been projected.

“That change is now reflected in the 2009 premium,” Weems said.

Third, drug distributors participating in Part D have found coverage for catastrophic care to be higher than expected. “So they have adjusted their 2009 bids to reflect those higher-than-anticipated costs,” Weems said.

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If there were no other reason to support the fact that African-Americans are an underrepresented demographic with respect to the access to healthcare in this country, one would have to look no further than statististics outlined in a recent report [PDF] prepared by the healthcare think tank, Black AIDS Institute.  Besides characterizing the inadequate healthcare support for blacks living with HIV in this country as “lethargic and often neglectful”, one of the report’s co-authors calls for what, in essence, would be a global “shout out” to healthcare leaders of the dire circumstances of this disease’s most numerous silent minority. | LINK

• The latest benefits of caffeinated coffee, explained.
• Will a drug for baldness prevent prostate cancer?
• Citing issues of ethics, the AMA shuns the use of “secret shoppers” in gathering quality and patient satisfaction data.

“We should use real patients as sources of real information we need about quality of care,” said Dr. George Anstadt, an AMA delegate from Pittsford, N.Y., who is representing the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. “This goes against the grain of the doctor-patient relationship.”

• Actor Paul Newman apparently “fighting for his life” against his diagnosis of lung cancer.
• The emerging discipline of pharmacogenomics/genetics emphasizes compelling findings for the assertion that not all cholesterol medications work the same in all patients.

The U.S. government is getting bolder.  For a while now, the CMS has posted on its website quality parameters designed to give patients-as-consumers even more information when comparing one healthcare plan or entity with another — the idea of transparency.  Today, in over 50 of the largest media markets, the government agency has taken to putting out full page ads in newspapers, essentially pushing this information to healthcare consumers.  Feeling bored?  Or just inquisitive?  The Dept. of Health & Human Services’ site and explanation are here.

Google Health was unveiled yesterday (google.com/health), and it’s the latest entrant into the increasingly crowded online personal health records marketplace.  When the product was in beta, its 1600 closed invitations were quickly snatched up, and anticipation only increased from there.  Like other services, say WebMD, Google hopes to capitalize eventually on the trend of increasingly seeking health information online, and the potential of Internet tools to help consumers manage their own health care and medical spending.

The user is completely in control with his/her own personal record, as allows the user can send personal information, into the clinic record or to pull information from the participating clinic’s records into the individual’s Google personal file.  Also, the healthcare consumer has the ability for his/her uploaded information to provide an online health profile and seek out second opinions with the click of a mouse. | LINK

It’s Valentine’s Day all over the world, and most importantly — all over the blogosphere. So in the tradition of the obligatory holiday post, here goes: Happy Valentine’s Day from Doctor Pundit, and as a bonus, how ’bout a recipe for a heart-healthy love potion?