- The Obamacare-created Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) was expected to save $2.8 billion in its first decade. In fact, it increased spending by $5.4 billion.
- Health risks of marijuana.
- Walmart offers telehealth for pets. Amazon may be next.
- Are we paying people not to work?
- One in 10 cancer patients have seen their treatment affected by drug shortages. Of those, 68% had trouble finding substitute medications and 59% reported treatment delay.
Hospitals Are Not a Local Jobs Program
Since before Covid hospitals have been complaining about low profit margins and low cash reserves. This is especially true of rural hospitals that face multiple threats from: 1) more uninsured 2) more publicly insured patients and 3) smaller markets, with less economies of scale.
Tuesday Links
- The Biden administration has given the Palestinians more than $1 billion, following the Trump freeze on aid.
- Kaiser: Employer provided family coverage now costs almost $24,000.
- United Health discontinues an AI-type algorithm it was using to deny patients care.
- Bidenomics: The typical white family’s real income rose 1.3%, between 2019 and 2022. But Black and Hispanic families saw declines of 1.6% and 1.1%, respectively.
Is Dental Coverage a Bad Deal? Probably… and That’s a Good Thing
It has been 15 years since I had dental insurance through work. At the time my dental coverage cost $34 a month and had a $250 deductible. It provided one free teeth cleaning per year with routine dental care paid at 85%. Oral surgery, crowns and root canal procedures were covered at 50%. The maximum benefit was $2,500 a year as I recall. My dentist wouldn’t even take it. The next year I dropped coverage because it wasn’t worth the $408 annual cost.