- The Covid vaccine works against cancer.
- Why New Yorkers voted for a socialist mayor.
- Polling on what to do about Social Security finances.
- Beginning in January, Medicare will begin paying over $1,000 for an artificial intelligence product that analyzes CT scans of the heart for signs of harmful plaque that can cause a heart attack. (Statnews)
Category: COVID-19 and Public Health
What’s Wrong with Obamacare
In 2014, when the ACA’s key provisions took effect, individual market premiums rose nearly 50 percent.
From 2014 to 2026, premiums increased nearly twice as rapidly as employer plan premiums.
The ACA’s subsidies are ill-designed and inflationary. The enrollee’s share of the premium is capped, regardless of the total premium. Because enrollees pay only a small slice of the premium, insurers face virtually no price discipline—giving them incentives to inflate costs rather than improve value….
COVID-era subsidy boosts resulted in fully subsidized coverage and led to massive fraud.
In 2025, there are 6.4 million people enrolled in fully subsidized plans who are not eligible, costing $27 billion. In 15 states, there are more than twice as many enrollees in fully subsidized plans than are eligible.
Source: Senate Testimony of Brian Blase
Friday Links
- Wealth inequality has barely changed over the last 30 years if Social Security wealth is included.
- Private insurers are paying 78 percent more at hospital outpatient departments than they pay at ambulatory surgical centers. Medicare payments are 97 percent higher.
- Takaichi Sanae: She plays the drums and rides a motor cycle.
- With Covid-era subsidies, Obamacare is almost free.
- Gingrich and Jindal: Use the $50 billion for rural health care for prevention and primary care. rather than to extend the life of unsustainable facilities.
Thursday Links
- Johns Hopkins prof: arguments for letting the covid-era subsidies expire. (WSJ)
- French pensioners now have higher incomes than working age adults.
- The Economist says nicotine makes you smarter and has no downsides.
- Roughly 55% of the $276 billion of global pharmaceutical research and development investment in 2021 was by companies headquartered in the United States, compared with just 29% to Europe.
- Mississippi and Louisiana now have better reading scores than all blue states.