- Pharmacist admits he routinely ships medication for Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia to members on Capitol Hill.
- Zvi Mowshowitz on the Hanson/Alexander debate over the value of health care spending.
- Scott Sumner on how regulation lowers our standard of living.
- WSJ: Medicare paid Medicare Advantage (MA) plans $50 billion for untreated ills.
- Douglas Holtz Eakin: net overpayments in the MA program are small and they are three times worse in traditional Medicare.
- Casey Mulligan: Why raising the price of opioids may cause people to consume more of them.
Category: Cost of Healthcare
Thursday Links
- Doctors as holograms. (NYT)
- Study: Nearly one-third of those age 60 or older without cardiovascular disease are using aspirin, even though the risks outweigh its benefits for many of those patients.
- Why we have a debt problem: average revenue as a percent of GDP over the past 50 years = 17.3%. Average spending = 21%. (CBO/WSJ)
- The White House flip flops on gender-affirming medical procedures and then flips again.
- Restrictions on flavor-vaping products cause youths to switch to cigarettes instead.
Wednesday Links
- “High blood pressure is responsible for more deaths than any other risk factor, including smoking.”
- Why banning “bad foods” from food stamp purchases won’t work.
- The IRA bill: most beneficiaries are unlikely to see a substantial reduction in their out-of-pocket costs from the federal price setting, and for many, costs will actually increase.
- “Before members of the new Congress even walk through the doors of the Capitol to be sworn in, almost every dollar of revenue for the year has already been committed.”
- Covid was bad for physician incomes.
The Weight Loss Gold Rush Created a New Type of Claim Jumper
There is a new Gold Rush of sorts that is quite different than the one that began in California in 1848. Weight loss drugs, like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Saxena, are selling like hotcakes, with demand far outstripping supply. These drugs are lucrative, costing $1,000 a month or more, depending on the rebate or health plan discount.