Thursday Links

Posted on by John C. Goodman

AEI: Return the savings from site neutral payments to the hospitals. It’s called taking from the rich and then giving back to the rich.

Where are we on the status of (legally) importing drugs from Canada? We’re getting close.

Update on hospital price transparency: “The widescale noncompliance of 75.5% of hospitals is due to most hospitals’ files being incomplete, illegible, or not having prices clearly associated with both payer and plan.”

A new model for cell and gene therapies: Medicaid pays only if they work.

AI Quote of the week:

So far I have explained why four of the five most often proposed risks of AI are not actually real – AI will not come to life and kill us, AI will not ruin our society, AI will not cause mass unemployment, and AI will not cause an ruinous increase in inequality. But now let’s address the fifth, the one I actually agree with: AI will make it easier for bad people to do bad things.

Marc Andreessen via Tyler Cowen

4 thoughts on “Thursday Links”

  2. I was quoted by the New York Times last Saturday at Senator Joni Ernst’s Annual Pig BBQ in Des Moines. I was bitching to my friend Billy Clark, “These 8 bozos running for President wouldn’t even mention Obamacare.” This guy walks up and says can I quote you? Then he gave me his card, Jonathan Weisman of the NYT.

    Dr. Goodman, check it out. A single-parent Mom working for the State of Iowa has $415/month taken from her check for Blue Cross PPO with rotten dental. Then if she gets cancer and is too sick to work her COBRA explodes to $2,157/month. If she is a Florida State employee her COBRA is $1,954/month. If she is an Indiana State employee her COBRA is $2,724month. If she is a Federal employee with Blue Cross Standard PPO her COBRA is $2,029.

    Trump’s low-cost individual insurance in Ames, Iowa for a 30-year-old woman and a 10-year-old son is $287/month with better dental. Trump’s dental pays up to $3,000 per person after the 2nd year. Of course, if she gets cancer her premiums remain constant with Trump’s plan so she will save over $1,700 a month from any of the Government plans listed above.

    Trust me John, a bald-headed woman fighting cancer needs a positive mental attitude to beat this battle. That’s hard to do when the Government has raised your premiums to over $2,000 a month and your income has stopped! Mike Pence installed Anthem Blue Cross into Indiana’s State Health insurance and Medicaid. Answer me this John, would a CHRISTIAN like Mike Pence raise a sick bald-headed single-parent Mom’s COBRA insurance to $2,724/month?

    The answer is yes. Then Mike Pence LIED in a Press Release as Governor and said he was creating Health Savings Accounts for his Medicaid Expansion in 2014. Once you catch a liar with one LIE then his CREDIBILITY is shot!

    John, all it really means is that when she is healthy the taxpayers are the ones paying the extra $2,000 per month per employee to Blue Cross. What a huge scam on the American people.

    John, The Federal Government is taking $724/month out of employees’ checks for ALL family plans on Blue Cross Standard PPO. So the single -parent Mom can switch to me and Trump’s plan and SAVE $446/month while she is health and we have better dental! Hell, a 30-year-old couple and 2 children in Ames, Iowa is only $527/month! So a Federal Employee with a 4 person family can switch to me and SAVE $197/month plus have better dental and just $250 deductible on accidents then 100% coverage. PLUS, after 2 years the accident deductible VANISHES to ZERO then 100% coverage. Blue Cross can’t compete on price or benefits!

    I don’t think the smartest person in the world could save these 37 Blue Cross companies and employer-based insurance. Their day is over. Soon Blue Cross will die out exactly like the dinosaurs, DoDo Birds, and insects with 3-foot wing-spans.

    Technically, John, The savings for the 4 person family is greater than $197/month cheaper than the Federal Government selling their own employees. That’s because Blue Cross with the Federal Government has 3-person families and the price is a little over $100 more than the $724/month for single-parent moms. That means a single parent Mom with 2 children pays more out of her Federal check than $724 a month. I could look up the price but I’m to lazy. What it means is the 4-person family doesn’t save $197/month bot over $300 a month!

    Can you see why I say Blue Cross Association and employer-based health insurance is dead coast to coast? Anthem’s stock was $20 a share when Obama was elected and it has sailed over $500 a share. Soon it will drop back to $20 before it VANISHES like Trump’s accident deductible or the dinosaurs! Got the Blues? Being SCAMMED? Are your politicians all bought?

    Reply

  3. Ron, I like your posts if any one is asking.
    However, I do like to look under the proverbial hood at your proposals.

    I went to the website for the United Health short term plans. (I honestly do not know if this is the best carrier, but the website was easy so here I am.)

    On this website, the premium for a 30 year old woman with one child in Ames IA was $150 per month for medical and $101 per month for dental. The medical coverage has a $10,000 deductible, and must be renewed every six months.

    Yes, this is radically cheaper than the employer’s Blue Cross. But if the woman slips on the ice or her child has a serious virus, etc., her exposure with a short term plan could be a lot worse than with Blue Cross.

    Reply

  4. What exactly is the “Trump low-cost individual insurance plan”? is it short-term, or indemnity, or some other category? It sure isn’t an ACA plan, which is fine, but I am curious what it is. Thank you.

    Reply

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