If the NAACP wants to identify states where policy is hostile to blacks, it should turn its eyes to states and cities run by Democrats. At the end of 2022, the national black unemployment rate stood at 6.1%. In Florida, it was more than two points lower at 3.8%. Meanwhile, black unemployment was higher than the national average in California (7.5%), Illinois (10.9%), and New York (8.3%).
Saturday Links
- On average, nearly 25,000 regulatory restrictions are put on the books annually. The Code of Federal Regulations is now so long that it would take a dedicated reader at least three years to get through the whole thing.
- Bad news on fertility: For the very first time in the history of humanity we are below replacement rate – worldwide.
- If the Census Bureau adopts a new poverty definition, millions more Americans could automatically be made eligible for benefits—leading to at least $124 billion in additional government spending over the next decade.
- Every fall, during open-enrollment period, over 100 million families can choose a health plan. Most people make bad choices. (WSJ)
- Chicago now has a lower population today than 100 years ago even though the U.S. population has more than tripled over that time period.
- Cochrane on work requirements: there are four million able-bodied adults without dependents on food stamps, and three in four don’t work at all. Less than 3% work full-time.
Are Weight-Loss Drugs Right for Medicare?
Should Medicare cover weight-loss drugs under Part D plans? Currently Medicare drug plans do not cover drugs for weight-loss.
Medicare coverage of obesity services and treatments currently includes obesity screening, behavioral counseling, and bariatric surgery, but not drugs that are prescribed for weight loss. The 2003 law that established the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit explicitly prohibits Part D plans from covering drugs used for weight loss, along with some other types of drugs, including agents used for cosmetic purposes or hair growth, fertility drugs, and drugs prescribed to treat sexual or erectile dysfunction.
Friday Links
- CBO: 6.2 million people will become uninsured due to the Medicaid unwinding as about 15.5 million people transfer away from the program. In Priceless, I argued that we should have government funded premium support for private insurance instead of privately managed Medicaid.
- Both Biden and Trump favor industrial policy. Here is why economists are skeptical.
- Why giving to public health in poor countries is sometimes better than giving people cash. (Yglesias)
- One in five adults experience chronic pain. (NYT) it may not be all in your mind, but your mind is definitely involved.
- More from the CBO: federal tax subsidies for employer-provided health insurance cost $2,075 per person in FY 2023 — significantly less than the federal cost of both Medicaid expansion ($7,069) and Obamacare premium subsidies ($6,169).
- Paragon: The expected drop in Medicaid enrollment, as people migrate to employer plans, is a large net positive for the federal budget.