- “The stand-alone Part D market is now in active collapse. Plan participation is plummeting. Options are shrinking. And costs are soaring despite skyrocketing subsidies from taxpayers.”
- “According to the CDC, nearly 8.6 million Americans 12 years and older misused prescription opioids in 2023.”
- The Department of Agriculture estimates that the country loses or throws away 30 to 40 percent of its food supply.
- Mass killings with guns drop to a 20-year low.
- Finnish guaranteed income experiment: recipients were no more likely to work and no less likely to commit crimes than the control group.
- “Studies show that delaying the Hep B birth dose by two months may lead to over 1,400 excess Hep B childhood infections.”
Dueling Health Care Bills Blocked in Senate
What is the health care debate all about? When Obamacare was passed in 2010 tax credit subsidies were limited to low-income individuals between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level. Some of those in the lowest income range also have access to Medicaid. Under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), the premium tax credits were enhanced well into middle class territory, while those with lower incomes were relieved of paying almost anything.
Friday Links
- The ROBINHOOD Act: How to keep the rich from avoiding income taxes.
- Even though almost all abortions are banned in Texas, roughly 38,599 women got one by using telehealth providers.
- “In this cohort study including 22.7 million vaccinated individuals and 5.9 million unvaccinated individuals, vaccinated individuals had a 74% lower risk of death from severe COVID-19 and no increased risk of all-cause mortality over a median follow-up of 45 months.”
- Canada’s median health care wait time hits 28.6 weeks—second longest ever recorded.
- Slovenia endorsed MAHA long before there was MAGA. (Statnews)
Thursday Links
- “Whether we pay through taxes, out-of-pocket outlays, lower cash wages, or government borrowing, we spend approximately 22 percent of personal income on health care.”
- Cancer-detecting blood tests: the cancers they don’t find exceed the number that they do find. (NYT)
- Since 1992, the diagnoses of eight cancers has doubled in the United States in patients under age 50. But finding more cancer isn’t necessarily a good thing.
- Why there is a shortage of primary care doctors: compared to the specialties: low pay, excess paperwork and medical education hurdles.
- Does expanding Medicaid reduce crime? No.