- The Licensing Racket
- Trump Adm. downgrades state approved medical marijuana.
- The No Surprises Act: When the law passed, government officials estimated that about 17,000 cases would go to arbitration a year. Instead, doctors brought 1.2 million such cases in the first half of last year, and won around 88 percent of them (NYT)
- “We find that Millennials had a real median household income that was 20% higher than that of the previous generation, a slowdown from the growth rate of the Silent Generation (36%) and Baby Boomers (26%), but similar to that of Generation X (16%).”
- Claim: “Nicotine can cure or prevent Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, glioblastoma brain tumors, hypothyroidism, and even atrial fibrillation.” (NYT)
- Around 14% of those who enrolled in ACA plans this year didn’t pay their first monthly bill.
NYT: Independent Dispute Resolution Appears Biased and Out of Control
Arbitrators are not free to set fees. Rather, the process is a type of baseball arbitration. Each side offers what is supposed to be their best offer and the IDR board accepts one or the other, presumably the offer that is the most reasonable. Except that is not happening. Arbitration boards are awarding physician groups fees that are hard to fathom, often an order of magnitude above usual & customary in-network rates.
Friday Links – 24 April 2026
- Henderson: what driving on roads and highways can tell us about the proper role for government.
- Did Trump inadvertently create the optimal global carbon tax?
- Dual classification: hospitals can maximize their Medicare revenue by becoming “rural” for some purposes and “urban” for others.
- The Patients Deserve Price Tags Act would give employers transparency into where their premium dollars are going.
- What difference does price transparency in health care make?
WSJ: American Doctors Moving to New Zealand for Slower Paced Medical Practice
WSJ reports that American physicians’ interest in moving to New Zealand has boomed in the past few years. English is the primary language. Many medical specialties require no additional training or certifications. Working for a public health system may feel quite different than working for a U.S. hospital. WSJ did not say this but whereas American hospitals expect employed physicians to see as many patients as possible to boost revenue, the opposite is often true in countries with a single payer health care system. Patient care is a cost center, not a revenue center.