Data Stream
A Steady PhD-cline
From 1979 to 2010, the number of post-docs in biomedical
sciences in the United States had risen steadily, climbing
from just over 10,000 to more than 40,000. However,
the past three years have seen a reversal in that trend,
according to the U.S. National Science Foundation Survey of
Graduate Students and Postdoctorates.
That’s Trillion, With a T
Global drug spending on medication is
expected to grow as much as 32% over
the next 5 years, reaching $1.4 trillion in
2020, according to a report from the IMS
Institute for Healthcare Informatics.
This is a projected increase of $349 billion
over 5 years – a marked increase from the
previous 5 years, when the increase in
global spending was $182 billion.
Between
2010 and 2013,
the number of U.S.
post-docs dropped
5.5%
38,719
+32%
What’s leading to this upsurge? A
combination of greater patient access
to chronic disease treatments and new
breakthrough drugs, according to authors
of the report.
1.4
$
TRILLION
Source: IMS Health, “Global Medicines Use in 2020: Outlook and Implications,” November 18, 2015.
to
The losses increased
over each year,
the authors noted.
Tell Your Patients They Better Shop Around
A report from the Kaiser Family Foundation warns that failing to shop around for a 2016 health insurance on
the federal marketplace could lead to buyer’s remorse.
Because the lowest-cost plan in 2015 is not guaranteed to be the lowest-cost option in 2016, staying with
the same plan could leave enrollees paying an average of $322 more in premiums over 1 year.
Average increases for a 40-year-old sticking with versus buying new coverage
(depending on income level) were:
The biggest decline
was in male post-docs,
whose numbers fell by
10.4%
$28 vs. $1
for income of
$20,000
}
$28 vs. $1
for income of
$30,000
$44 vs. $17
for income of
$50,000
}
This is an “unprecedented situation,” the authors of the
study wrote, with “important implications for the biomedical workforce.”
Source: Garrison HH, Justement LB, Gerbi SA. Biomedical science postdocs: an
end to the era of expansion. FASEB J. 2015 October 6. [Epub ahead of print]
20
ASH Clinical News
Source: Kaiser Family Foundation, “Potential Savings from Actively Shopping for Marketplace Coverage in 2016,” November 18, 2015.
January 2016