Sunday morning at 2:00am the time in most of North America officially changed from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time. The bonus, 300+ million people got to sleep an extra hour and will be getting out of bed an hour later than they did during the summer. The negative, 300 million Americans will lose an hour of daylight heading into winter when there is already less daylight. I recall much of my career I would head home from work in the dark during Winter. Any errands I needed to do after work were in the dark. In late June it remains light until after 9:00pm. In Winter it starts getting dark around 5:30pm
Author: Devon Herrick
New Reports Suggests Abortions Barely Fell After Roe v. Wade Struck Down
Ever since news leaked out that Roe v. Wade would be overturned sales of pills to end a pregnancy increased from mail-order pharmacies abroad. In addition, women seeking abortions in nearby states that did not ban abortions also increased, resulting in only a very small decrease in overall abortions.
Are purchasing alliances the way to lower health care costs?
A few years ago, I wrote about a novel experiment in California that used reference prices to encourage CalPERS beneficiaries to choose lower-cost, high-quality facilities when seeking joint replacement. One experiment capped the price CalPERS was willing to pay for joint replacement at $30,000. Patients could seek care at any provider, but they would be responsible for all charges above the reference price. In addition, CalPERS gave beneficiaries a list of high-quality hospitals that would perform the surgery for $30,000. The result after two years was that patients shifted to the lower-cost hospitals. High-cost hospitals began matching prices for CalPERS patients.
Steps to Scrutinize a Medical Bill
A Chicago physician took a nasty spill while skiing in Wisconsin, resulting in a trip to the emergency room on New Years Day. Then came the bill, which was a nasty surprise. The $10,563.49 in initial ER charges from a Froedtert South hospital in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, seemed high considering he basically got only an exam,…