Medi-Cal, the Medicaid program in California relies on prison labor to manufacture eyeglasses for beneficiaries. A recent LA Times article (also appearing in Kaiser Health News) deemed that program “short-sighted,” no pun intended. The eyeglasses are made by the California Prison Industry Authority, or CALPIA, whose contract with Medi-Cal dates back to 1988.
Wednesday Links
- How an economist thinks about abortion. Well, at least one economist.
- Why is Google investing in health care?
- Is developing Covid vaccines a profitable venture for drug companies? “The answer is a resounding ‘no’. In fact, in most cases, developing mRNA vaccines for a portfolio of emerging diseases would be a money loser.”
- How common is prior authorization?
- Price controls on insulin: The (intended?) result will that be that consumers will pay more, diabetes complications will get worse, and incumbent manufacturers will make more money.
- Almost a quarter of Americans over the age of 18 are now medicated for one or more of these conditions. (HT: Tyler)
- Canada’s health care providers say their system is “collapsing.”
Will the Covid Emergency Ever End?
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO It’s supposed to end on Friday. But the Wall Street Journal says that continued extensions are the left’s best way of expanding the welfare state. One reason is that in March 2020 Congress barred states from kicking ineligible people off Medicaid rolls during the emergency in return for more federal funding. Medicaid enrollment has ballooned to…
Medical Debts Have Many Causes; Not Always a Lack of Money
An article in Medical Economics broke down the data from a recent survey by Kaiser Health News on medical indebtedness. Why don’t patients pay their medical bills? It’s not just a lack of money. Of consumers with medical debt, about two-thirds (67%) said they did not fully pay a medical bill due to a lack of money. However, a similar proportion (68%) didn’t pay it because they expected their health plan to pay it. Meanwhile 44% didn’t fully pay their bills because they thought them inaccurate.