The U.S. health care system has a cost problem. There is little in the way of competition because third parties pay about 89% of medical bills, while patients pay the remaining 11%. Long before patients enter their doctor’s office, third parties have decided which tasks they will pay for and how much they will pay. Federal and state laws mandate certain benefits that health plans must pay, but the rules are subject to interpretation.
Category: Affordable Care Act
Friday Links
- In 2020, the 10 percent tax bracket applied to incomes up to $9,875 for individuals and $19,750 for couples. Now, those thresholds have increased to $11,925 and $23,850 to account for inflation. But what if our inflation measure is wrong?
- AI scribes are helping doctors up code. (Statnews)
- In the first six months of the Trump administration, deregulation saved $86 billion in costs and 52.2 million hours of paperwork reductions.
- A plurality of Blacks and Native Americans live.in distressed ZIP codes with these characteristics:
More than one in five residents lives in poverty. The median local household earns nearly $30,000 less annually than the median household nationally. One in seven homes is vacant or abandoned, one-third of prime age adults are not working, jobs are disappearing, and businesses are closing even as the national economy booms.
Report: Medical Prices Vary Tremendously for No Valid Reason
Health care prices vary tremendously from one hospital to another, and from one region to another. While it is not uncommon for prices to vary in consumer markets, there is usually a reason. For instance, a cold beverage from a convenience store by the highway is more expensive for a reason – namely convenience – compared to the same beverage on a shelf at room temperature at the local grocery store. In addition, the difference in price is probably not a multiple of one versus the other. Not so with medical care…
Saturday Links
- The average large hospital CEO earned $1,037,182 in 2023
- Trump’s father knew how to build affordable housing.
- What has wokeism actually accomplished?
- Why are there so many flight delays?
- Obamacare’s enhanced subsides: In 2024 alone, taxpayers spent billions subsidizing coverage for 7.8 million full-year enrollees who never used their insurance. Every dollar went to insurers and middlemen, with zero benefit to patients.
- Between 2000 and 2018, the gap in life expectancy between people with low (high school diploma or less) compared with high (college degree) levels of education increased by three years among men and five years among women. Alcohol is a reason.