- MAHA at CPAC: Kennedy went after Froot Loops and bemoaned how Americans don’t know how to cook anymore. Mehmet Oz, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services chief, warned about hospice fraud in California. And Jay Bhattacharya, the director of the National Institutes of Health and the acting director (of a sort) of the CDC, explained the value of repurposing already-approved drugs for new diseases. “This sounds geeky,” he told the crowd, “But it is really, really important.”
- If you are low-skilled, poor, and overly optimistic, federal student loans are likely bad for you.
- AI doing tax returns: “They struggled, hard, miscalculating the refund or amount owed to the Internal Revenue Service by an average of more than $2,000.” (NYT)
- Some states are making up some or all of the reduction in federal subsidies for Obamacare. (NYT)
- Sharing your health records with Microsoft’s Copilot. What could go wrong? (NYT)
Category: Authors
Knowns and unknowns of the Trump family’s financial dealings
Here’s a known: President Trump announced on Truth Social at 7:05 a.m. on Monday, March 23, that he would postpone strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure for five days, canceling his 48-hour deadline issued the Friday before. Bloomberg News reports that at 6:49 a.m., “at least 6 million barrels of Brent and West Texas Intermediate were sold in … two minutes.” Bloomberg adds, “The average for the same time period over the previous five trading days was about … 700,000 barrels.”
So, 8.5 times the average volume of oil futures changed hands just 15 minutes before Trump made an announcement guaranteed to send oil prices down — and stocks up.
Tuesday Links – 31 March 2026
- Steuerle on student loans: The overall effect of replacing direct support from the state and federal governments with loans mainly led to a decline in net worth for young people, minimal gains in “human capital” (knowledge) and a significant increase in financial liabilities.
- Can abortion restrictions affect the cost of housing?
- CPAC conference. (Yawn)
- Study: weight loss drugs dull the taste buds.
- German drug prices beat TrumpRx prices more often than not.
Medicare Hospice Fraud is Rampant, in California and Elsewhere
House Republicans are going after rampant hospice fraud in the Medicare program in California. The only problem is that they are targeting a deep blue state rather than fraud in all 50 states. Hospice fraud and abuse is widespread in the Medicare program.