A new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that out-of-pocket costs for childbirth run nearly $3,000 for insured women in large group plans. Out-of-pocket costs represented about 15% of the average cost for pregnancy, childbirth, and post-partum care, which were nearly $19,000 on average. This was supposedly a travesty.
Monday Links
- Good news: The FCC is cracking down on robocalls.
- The case for Novavax.
- Lancet study: rising global temperatures since 2000 have caused 116,000 more heat deaths annually, but also led to 283,000 fewer cold deaths.
- The doctor doesn’t know best: health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers are switching mental health patients from a prescribed medication to one that may not work as well.
- How well does Paxlovid really work?
- Why is America’s mortality rate higher than that of other nations? Study considers every possibility except the obvious one: our population is heterogeneous. Last time I looked, Americans of northern European descent have the same life expectancy as northern Europeans.
California is Going to Make its own Insulin
Gov. Gavin Newsom says California will spend $100 million to develop low-cost insulin and build an in-state manufacturing facility.
How to Market an OTC Breathalyzer (that doesn’t work)
Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban is in the news lately for his drug company startup, Cost Plus Drugs. Over the years Cuban was also on a show called Shark Tank, where would-be inventors and small business owners pitched their business ideas, competing for an investment.
While being interviewed for the “Full Send” podcast Mr. Cuban revealed his “worst” investment that he made on Shark Tank. An entrepreneur named Charles Yim appeared on the show to demonstrate his Breathometer, a smartphone breathalyzer app he claimed could test blood alcohol levels accurately.