Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Arcanaut
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktVital Statistics:
| Last | Change | Percent | |
| S&P Futures | 1669.5 | 3.9 | 0.23% |
| Eurostoxx Index | 2817.3 | -4.3 | -0.15% |
| Oil (WTI) | 95.92 | -0.3 | -0.27% |
| LIBOR | 0.274 | 0.000 | -0.13% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 83.91 | 0.044 | 0.05% |
| 10 Year Govt Bond Yield | 1.93% | 0.01% | |
| Current Coupon Ginnie Mae TBA | 104.2 | 0.1 | |
| Current Coupon Fannie Mae TBA | 102.8 | 0.0 | |
| RPX Composite Real Estate Index | 199 | 0.2 | |
| BankRate 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage | 3.65 |
Markets are up again on no real news. Bonds and MBS are more or less flat
Mortgage Applications fell 10% last week as the recent rise in interest rates has taken its toll. The refi index was down 12% while the purchase index was down 3%. It appears that the 10 year has found a level here, at least for the short term.
McMansion builder Toll Brothers (TOL) reported better than expected earnings this morning. Revenues increased 38%. Contracts increased 57%. ASPs were up huge – 16%. Backlog was up 69%. Toll’s results more or less mirror what the other homebuilders have reported, although the growth was larger in the builders that focus on starter homes and first move-up buyers.
We had a lot of Fed-speak over the past couple of days. New York Fed President William Dudley said that it will take 3 to 4 months to make a determination over whether the economy is strong enough to stand an end to QE. St. Louis Fed Head James Bullard also said that purchases should continue. The Fed is concerned about the sequester’s effect on the economy, which will mainly be felt over the summer. Finally, the Bernank is scheduled to testify before Congress at 10:00. The minutes of the April 30 meeting will also be released today.
The New York Fed released its mortgage backed securities purchase advice recently. In spite of the hike in interest rates, the MBS purchases stayed the same: 3 million MBS a day, of which the lion’s share is conforming (something like 80%). You would think the Fed would be more aggressive when rates increase and back off when they fall, but that isn’t what they are doing.
It looks like Mel Watt faces an uphill climb to confirmation. The choice is seen as 100% political, while most Republicans think we need a technocrat who understands finance. The fear is that the partisan wrangling and posturing over Watt will poison the well so much that any sort of bipartisan housing bill will be more or less impossible. Principal mods aside, that would probably mean the end of HARP 3.0 which would extend HARP eligibility to late 2009 and 2010 vintages.
Filed under: Morning Report |
All Things in Moderation 
Markets are up again on no real news
I can’t figure out when to get off the train.
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I thought this was an interesting investigation from propublica. They looked into the over prescribing of certain medications for seniors through Medicare Part D. This is something I worry about, not for myself personally because I tend to shy away from any and all drugs until I’ve done a lot of research myself, but for others. Apparently, no one’s really minding the store.
But an investigation by ProPublica has found the program, in its drive to get drugs into patients’ hands, has failed to properly monitor safety. An analysis of four years of Medicare prescription records shows that some doctors and other health professionals across the country prescribe large quantities of drugs that are potentially harmful, disorienting or addictive. Federal officials have done little to detect or deter these hazardous prescribing patterns.
Medicare has access to reams of data about its patients, their diagnoses and the medical services they received. It could analyze all of this information to determine whether patients are being prescribed appropriate drugs for their conditions.
But officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services say the job of monitoring prescribing falls to the private health plans that administer the program, not the government. Congress never intended for CMS to second-guess doctors – and didn’t give it that authority, officials said.
“CMS’s payments don’t go to physicians, don’t go to pharmacies. They go to plans, which is how our oversight framework has been established,” Jonathan Blum, the agency’s director of Medicare, said in an interview. The philosophy “really has been to defer to physicians” about whether a drug is medically necessary, he said.
Asked repeatedly to cite which provision in the law limits their oversight of prescribers, CMS officials could not do so.
The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services has repeatedly criticized CMS for its failure to police the program, known as Part D. In report after report, the inspector general has advised CMS officials to be more vigilant. Yet the agency has rejected several key recommendations as unnecessary or overreaching.
http://www.propublica.org/article/part-d-prescriber-checkup-mainbar
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CMS, is, however, tracking pain meds
and a lot of work in that area is being done at the state and/or provider level. EHRs help with this.
Click to access SE1250.pdf
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Thanks Nova, what’s an EHR though? I always thought my mother was over medicated and addicted as well. Every time I tried to broach the subject with her doctor however he seemed to not know how to remedy the situation. If she needs pain meds, she needs them…………………yikes. I remember she would get mad at me on those visits.
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electronic health record. aka, electronic medical record.
it’s supposed to ping if there’s a medication issue. ideally, your doc will see what is already prescripted and act accordingly. that failing, the pharmacist should pick up on it.
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For MIchigoose – On PL last night you were arguing that Andrew Sullivan didn’t know what he was talking about with regards to genetics.
In case you are unaware, James Watson also caused a controversy in 2008 when he made the same observations.
Henry Louis Gates interviewed him afterwards about his views and published both the interview and a longer piece about his observations.
http://www.theroot.com/views/color-controversy-and-dna
http://www.theroot.com/views/science-racism
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Here is an interesting philosophical difference, I have zero trust in government officials using Medicare Part D Rx for anything useful. I believe the odds of something harmful coming out of their ability to analyze the data far outweighs anything useful.
I know it sounds flippant and snotty, i’m not trying to be.
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I think Nova is probably correct that the monitoring is best done through electronic records. Hasn’t part d been a boondoggle from the beginning anyway?
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Part D has succeeded in getting drugs to seniors at low out of pocket cost. particularly those who do not qualify for Medicaid coverage. for others, it’s largely cost shifting. I think the only reason democrats don’t like it is because they didn’t do it first.
the big issue is the non-interference clause, which prohibits HHS from negotiating for lower prices. the problem is that the gov does not negotiate. it sets prices. that said, there is plenty of negotiating going on in Part D.
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that said, there is plenty of negotiating going on in Part D
What does that mean Nova? I thought the reason it wasn’t popular with some people is the way it added to the deficit. My husband signed up for it even though I didn’t think he needed to and once we figured it out…………….he’ll break even once he reaches his deductible and pays the premium. We don’t take many drugs although he takes more than I do…………….which is zero right now.
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the part D plans deal directly with the manufacturer and pharmacies.
i’ll find a good 101 link for you
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I remember Watson’s comments, jnc, and disagreed with him at the time. I hadn’t seen the Gates pieces, so I’ll have to give them a read.
Thanks!
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http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/27/1/33.long
one of the other tings with Part D is the classes of protected drugs. it’s tough for a plan to push for a discount if you’re required to carry a particular drug.
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Hah!
Thought the Juiceboxer’s said these things are falling apart.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mhastings/advisers-urged-obama-early-on-to-release-comprehensive-bengh?s=mobile
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From the above link:
“”It was aggravating,” one administration official said. “It comes back to Kathryn Ruemmler, Kathyrn Ruemmler, Kathryn Ruemmler. I hate to say it, as it sounds like piling on, but it’s on her doorstep too.”
Ruemmler has also come under fire this week for not making the president and others aware of the IRS investigation.”
Pretty sure she killed Kennedy to, at least according to anonymous WH staffer Ben Rhodes.
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McWing:
Ruemmler has also come under fire this week for not making the president and others aware of the IRS investigation.
I am reminded of an Obama campaign boast from 2008:
I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m gonna think I’m a better political director than my political director.
But he apparently knows less than anyone about what the agencies under his control are actually doing.
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Heh, in reference to above.
“@iowahawkblog: After the WH’s anonymous back channel whisper campaign against Kathryn Ruemmler, I’m totally convinced they’d never abandon an ambassador.”
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Pretty sure she killed Kennedy
At least they aren’t trying pin Vince Foster or any ambassadors to Libya on her.
Corked by Troll above.
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My son works for a major EMR firm. They hire several dozen people a month.
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Guess we know what orders the Juiceboxer’s got.
@McCormackJohn: Josh Marshall (10:15a.m.): Lerner Must Go http://t.co/E4UfxnXKR0 Ezra Klein (9:45a.m.): Heads should roll at IRS http://t.co/VQR0bf8CWC
Sargent must be fuming. Didn’t Brock say he’d write anything?
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McWing:
Sargent must be fuming.
Greg wasn’t part of the loyal contingent invited to the West Wing yesterday? No respect.
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Wow! That’s quite an admission from the NYT.
“In the same week, Rush Limbaugh, the conservative icon and radio host, called a Georgetown University law student, Sandra Fluke, a “slut” for her comments about the availability of birth control. The fallout from that consumed Washington, and Mr. Obama eventually called Ms. Fluke.”
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Looks like the count is four now, but the administration claims three were mistakes:
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they didn’t mean it? need moar peace prize.
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Do we still have to pay 80 gajillian dollars to insure universal access to computers for kids?
http://m.nber.org/papers/w19060
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