- The physician shortage in our future.
- About one in five enrollees were disenrolled from Medicaid coverage at some point in 2023, but about 3/4ths of those either re-enrolled or found other insurance. Bottom line: the pandemic was an excuse to waste a lot of taxpayer money.
- Biden finally ends Covid mask mandate (imposed for federal facilities whenever a meaningless CDC metric is exceeded in a county).
- Why we don’t walk as much as we used to and why it matters.
- Against the idea that over-prescribing caused the opioid crisis.
Category: COVID-19 and Public Health
Millions Dropped from Medicaid Rolls. How Much does it Matter?
With the end of the covid emergency millions of Americans enrolled in Medicaid found they were no longer eligible. Medicaid eligibility fluctuates over time for many families. Medicaid is a patchwork of 50 state programs with eligibility that varies by age and income. Pandemic-era protections against disenrollment began expiring in the Spring of 2023 with Medicaid coverage coming to an end for many Americans. An important question public health advocates have is what happened to people dropped from the federal-state health program?
Experts: More Dogs are on Prozac, but that Says More about their Owners’ Mental Health than the Dogs’
The apparent mental health crisis in pets parallels a human one. Veterinary psychiatrists said the evidence is anecdotal but the increase in mood stabilizers mirrors the increase in humans and there are other parallels. However, it appears to be something of a chicken and egg dilemma. It’s not clear if pets are more depressed or if their owners just know more about the drugs available.
Monday Links
- The politics of school closings during Covid: At the pandemic record high in December 2020—when vaccines were still not available—fewer than one-fifth of districts Trump won took the precaution of temporary closures; and until mid-March 2021, less than one-fifth of Biden districts were fully open.
- Against DEI in medical school.
- Fertility is falling below the replacement rate all over the world. But cross-sectioned by income, fertility is U-shaped. When I can find the time, I will give my own explanation for this.
- Ross Douthat: the left is unhappy. (NYT)
- My own thoughts: 20th century liberalism explained.