The Wall Street Journal reports that mental health chatbots are replacing therapists without any scientific evidence behind them. The writer provides an anecdote about a psychology student, Eri Petherbridge, who sees a therapist three times a week. The therapist suggested she talk to a chatbot between visits.
Category: Devon Herrick
Heat Kills More Europeans Annually Than American Deaths from Gun Violence
If you watched YouTube this past month you have no doubt seen reaction videos of Europeans visiting the United States for the World Cup soccer match. The games were not the highlight of the videos. The topic that caused the videos to go viral was the reaction to American culture, including the size of stores like Buc-ees, Costco, Walmart, and Bass Pro Shop, and the portion size at restaurants. European experiencing Texas barbeque for the first time was a hot topic, as was air conditioning. It is currently sweltering in Europe, and it was relatively hot in the Southern U.S. the past several weeks. Europeans appreciated the use of air conditioning, including inside some arenas.
Health Insurance Affects Hospital Length of Stay
When I worked at an urban hospital many years ago, we had a saying for the people who presented to the emergency room with violent injuries. We called them the “knife and gun club.” They represented people whose lifestyle was more dangerous than yours or mine. They rarely had health insurance and created sizable uncollectable debts. A Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Health News analysis found that one-quarter of gunshot victims were uninsured, at least in Florida. Furthermore, uninsured gunshot victims have hospital stays that were shorter than those covered by some type of health insurance.
ACA Enrollment Will Plummet Under Tighter Verification and Reduced Subsidies
The Wall Street Journal reports that nearly four million Obamacare enrollees dropped coverage once the generous subsidies ended. In 2014 enrollment was just under 13 million. Between 2020 and 2025 enrollment about doubled to 24 million. Part of that could have been worry about the lingering risk of Covid, but generous enhanced subsidies undoubtedly boosted people’s willingness to enroll. Now people are dropping coverage.