Kaiser Health News reported that the Biden Administration is proposing new staffing standards for nursing homes. The new standards were prompted by assumptions that inadequate staffing led to the death of nearly 200,000 nursing home residents from Covid. I’m not convinced these data points are related but that never stopped government officials from using a natural disaster to boost regulations.
Friday Links
- California: People are leaving and the state’s income is falling.
- Web searches for “racial disparities in healthcare in the United States” produce nearly 40 million hits.
- Medicare 2023 Trustees Report: The hospital insurance (HI) trust fund is scheduled to become insolvent in 2031 when Medicare patients will face an 11 percent cut in their hospital benefits.
- Biden administration moves to partially decriminalize marijuana. I don’t think anyone is in jail for using or possessing marijuana. These prisoners have plea bargained to avoid sentencing for more serious crimes.
- Aaron Carroll: RFK Jr. is wrong. Vaccines are tested against placebos.
Is Public Disorder a Social Pathology that Causes People to Become Criminals?
Is crime a social pathology that can be mitigated with behavioral modification or changing one’s surroundings? Many social scientists and criminologists believe it is and most people would agree. The area of contention is the degree that crime is perpetuated because of community values versus numerous other variables.
Thursday Links
- Pharma: Medicare drug price negotiation could slow the search for a cure for cancer.
- Good summary of the case against Medicare price negotiation.
- Economic freedom is positively correlated with civic virtue.
- Countries with the highest economic growth rates have the lowest birth rates.
- Skip the next business meeting: Google Meet video lets you send a bot to attend the meeting on your behalf.
- The U.S. has at least 600 fewer nursing homes than it did six years ago.