Press Releases: Health Care

New Study Calls for Re-thinking Massachusetts' COVID-19 Care Standards

Pioneer's new study raises concerns about the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s (DPH’s) Crises Standards of Care (CSC) issued earlier this month, which bear the earmarks of a state bureaucratic effort and should be rethought under a process that includes a thorough vetting by Massachusetts citizens.
April 2, 2020

New Report: Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) Methodology Discriminates Against Older Americans, Threatens to Deny Seniors Access to Life-Saving Care

New report asserts that with older americans more vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic, all health plans should avoid using the QALY methodology when assessing the value of care for older patients
March 25, 2020

Baker needs to expand telehealth further

This op-ed appeared in Commonwealth magazine on March 25th, 2020. Coronavirus crisis is an opportunity to get it right GOV. CHARLIE BAKER and his team have been rolling out almost daily emergency orders and guidance to react to the spreading of COVID-19. Many...
February 10, 2020

New Report & Legal Analysis Suggests ICER’s Quality Adjusted Life Years Methodology Violates the Americans with Disabilities Act

A new report, "The Legality of QALY under the ADA," outlines several potential legal violations and negative implications for disabled individuals related to the adoption of the QALY approach to drug value assessment, used most prominently by ICER.
November 4, 2019

Pioneer Poll: MA Healthcare Consumers Overwhelmingly Want Price Information on Services, but Few Know How to Get It

A new Pioneer poll shows seven out of ten Massachusetts workers who get their health insurance through their employers want to know the price of a healthcare procedure before they obtain it, but most of them do not how to obtain such information, even though information is already available through their insurers’ cost estimator tools.
October 31, 2019

Pioneer Institute to Present Results of New Consumer Poll Monday at State House Healthcare Price Transparency Event

BOSTON – Pioneer Institute will present the results of a new consumer poll at “A Roadmap to Healthcare Price Transparency,” a forum by Pioneer and several partners, to be held Monday, November 4th from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in the Great Hall...
June 24, 2019

New Report Addresses Distinct Challenges in Utilizing ICER to Assess Value of Rare Disease Treatments

Pioneer Institute Discourages Policymakers & Payers from Adopting ICER to Evaluate Rare Disease Treatments Media inquiries: Contact Micaela Dawson, 617-723-2277 ext. 203 or mdawson@pioneerinstitute.org BOSTON, MA – Today, Pioneer Institute released a new report, Looming Challenges for ICER in Assessing the Value of Rare...
May 16, 2019

Public statement on new federal rule eliminating “skimming” of dues from caregivers’ Medicaid payments

Pioneer Institute applauds a new rule announced by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that prohibits state governments from automatically deducting union dues from Medicaid payments intended for those caring for loved ones or relatives. Prior to this action,...

Making Healthcare Prices Accessible

Today, Pioneer Institute filed a Public Comment with the federal government urging the U.S.  Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to launch a much-needed national effort to make healthcare price transparency consumer friendly and easily accessible to both insured and uninsured consumers...
April 8, 2019

U.S. HHS Secretary Alex Azar to Be Featured Speaker at Pioneer Institute’s 2019 Hewitt Healthcare Lecture

BOSTON – Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Alex M. Azar II will be the featured speaker at Pioneer Institute’s 2019 Hewitt Healthcare Lecture tonight (Monday, April 8th) on “the Future of Healthcare in America.” Secretary Azar will...