- The Crapo-Cassidy plan: Eligible individuals age 18 to 49 with incomes below 700 percent of the federal poverty line would get $1,000 annually in 2026 and 2027, while those age 60 to 64 would get $1,500. Those amounts are far less than the $7,500 average deductible for bronze coverage in 2026 or the $10,600 required by the ACA’s catastrophic insurance plans.
- Rural areas lost 1 in 9 physicians over a six year period.
- Scott Sumner explains the Great Depression.
- CDC: Covid shots decreased the risk of needing medical care in the first six months after vaccination by 76 percent in children under 4, and by 56 percent in children 5 to 17.
Saturday Links
- “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)