- Dr. Marty Makary: The best way to lower drug costs in the United States are to stop taking drugs we don’t need.
- The Longshoreman’s union negotiator makes nearly $900,000 dollars a year and owned a 76-foot yacht, and the modal longshoreman makes north of $150,000 a year. HT: Maxwell Tabarrok.
- After ten years, Bob Graboyes thoughts on health care system are highly relevant today.
- Who has it easier in the USA today? While 68% of Democrats believe men have the advantage, only 32% of Republicans agree.
- What quality ratings look like in the Medicare Advantage program. There are no quality measurements for traditional Medicare.
- What happens when private equity takes over the emergency room. (a negative opinion)
- Why telemedicine needs to cross state lines.
- Stem cell research was used to cure Type One diabetes.
Author: John C. Goodman
One More Effect of the IRA Bill
Medicare Advantage plans are not included in the Biden Administration’s “demonstration project,” which effectively bribes insurers to not raise their out-of-pocket costs for drug coverage.
Source: Statnews
Friday Links
- In 2023, the U.S. spent $4.8 trillion on healthcare. As much as half of that massive expenditure, $2.4 trillion, paid for activities unrelated to patient care called BARRCOME – bureaucracy, administration, rules, regulations, compliance, oversight, mandates, and enforcement.
- Medicare physician payments declined substantially from 2001 to 2024 — a whopping 29%.
- Currently, physicians are the only Medicare providers who do not receive annual, inflation-based payment updates.
- Head of the International Longshoremen’s Association explains what the strike is all about, along with a video showing how dockworkers can be replaced by automation. (it’s a long way from On the Water Front.
- Cato study: Marijuana doesn’t make you crazy.
- An Elon Musk device is allowing the blind to see.
Medicare’s Bribe to Coax Part D Insurers Not to Raise Their Premiums on the Eve of the Election Will Be Costly For Taxpayers
Yesterday, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its analysis of a newly announced Biden-Harris program intended to paper over the flaws of the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act” (IRA). Based on CBO estimates, this election-year stunt to artificially lower the cost of seniors’ Part D premiums will cost taxpayers at least $7 billion in 2025, including $2 billion in additional interest on our already ballooning debt. If implemented as planned, this program could cost taxpayers more than $21 billion over the three-year demonstration.
Source: House Budget Committee