Several years ago I got a full-body CT scan. It found a spot on my liver that was “statistically unlikely” to be anything serious. It also found something else that was just a typical anomaly and told me my coronary arteries were in great shape for my age. I don’t recall what else it found but it wasn’t something that changed my life. A few years earlier a relative got a full-body CT scan because of pain in his side that his doctor wasn’t taking seriously. It found kidney stones. Someone else I know got his & her body scans. What all these scans have in common was they were all direct-to-consumer, with no input from their doctors. They were also all paid for in cash.
Category: Cost of Healthcare
Monday Links
- How political gridlock could kill the best global health program the US ever passed.
- The cost of Semaglutide, a medication used for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity, can range from $800 to $1,000 per month, on average. Since roughly 35% of Medicare patients are overweight or obese, Medicare spending is poised to go up by more than 17% overnight and stay at that level for a long time to come.
- The airlines lose 2 million bags a year.
- Fauci: no science behind the 6 ft distancing guideline.
- $5 trillion was spent on covid relief. The real increase in the federal debt was $5.8 trillion.
Is Your Doctor’s Advice Influenced by Money? Probably More Than You Realize
The Department of Health and Human Services, and many other federal agencies, love having experts to advise them. But are the experts always unbiased? Some are, while others are probably not. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is made up of 16 primary care experts, all volunteers who make recommendations about cost-effective preventive medical services and screenings….
Saturday Links
- Biden touts record Obamacare enrollment. Reasons not mentioned: (1) they are giving away health insurance for free and (2) millions are being kicked out of Medicaid.
- What Malthus got wrong. And why that is still relevant today.
- Jamie Dimon is pessimistic about the economy and the world.
- Why is the VA giving out free medical care to illegal immigrants while 418,000 veterans claims are waiting in the backlog?