Nutrition,
diet
and
Medicare
Advantage
plan
ethics
were
prominent
themes
in
this
week’s
episode
of
the
Debunked
podcast.
MedCity
News
Editor
in
Chief
Arundhati
Parmar
was
joined
by
Paul
Markovich,
president
and
CEO
of
Ascendiun
—
the
nonprofit
parent
company
of
Blue
Shield
of
California.
Debunked
co-host
Samir
Batra,
managing
partner
of
Health
Innovation
Pitch,
was
away
on
vacation.
When
he’s
not
scrapping
medical
research,
Secretary
of
Health
and
Human
Services
Robert
Kennedy
Jr
is
keen
on
reducing
food
additives,
such
as
artificial
flavors
and
colors,
as
part
of
the
administration’s
initiative
Make
America
Healthy
Again
(MAHA).
In
June,
Texas
Gov.
Greg
Abbott
signed
a
bill
into
law
requiring
that
groceries
containing
one
or
more
of
40
ingredients
include
a
warning
label
in
addition
to
requiring
nutrition
education
and
exercise
to
be
taught
in
elementary,
secondary
schools
and
medical
schools.
Other
states
are
looking
into
similar
legislation.
That
kicked
off
a
wider
discussion
about
the
relationship
between
diet,
exercise
and
obesity.
Markovich
cited
a
Duke
University
study
that
looked
at
“correlations
between
economic
development,
daily
energy
expenditure
and
the
rise
in
a
country’s
obesity
level”.
The
study
concluded
that
changes
in
diet
is
the
main
cause
of
obesity
in
the
U.S.
and
other
developed
countries.
Arundhati
and
Paul
also
discussed
some
of
the
highlights
of
the
July
House
Ways
and
Means
Joint
Health
and
Oversight
Subcommittee
Hearing
on
Medicare
Advantage
plans.
One
issue
is
that
providers,
unhappy
with
reimbursement
rates,
are
dropping
MA
plans.
But
a
larger
concern
rests
with
a
DoJ
investigation
into
alleged
MA
plan
practices,
such
as
sending
physicians
to
home
visits
and
reporting
diagnoses
codes
with
increased
risk
adjustment
scores
without
providing
the
treatment
based
on
those
diagnoses.
Check
out
the
complete
Debunked
Podcast
below!