- Officials believe hundreds of people … posed as customers in dozens of businesses across Chicago and elsewhere, all hoping to win favorable immigration status by becoming “victims” of pre-arranged “armed robberies.”
- Thanks to Medicare, Americans 65 and older in 2022 received medical services worth more than twice as much as those received by Americans aged 25 to 64 ($14,310 vs. $7,096) but paid less in premiums and out-of-pocket costs ($2,216 vs. $2,586).
- Study: Fewer child care regulations are associated with women having more children. (HT: Tyler)
- Robin Hanson continues his debate with Scott Alexander.
- Zero Tolerance laws (setting strict alcohol limits for drivers under age 21) have positive, lifelong effects on the health and income of adolescents.
Category: Doctors & Hospitals
What difference Has Telemedicine Made?
In 2020, Medicare patients receiving care at health systems in the highest quartile of telemedicine use had 2.5 telemedicine visits per person, compared with 0.7 telemedicine visits per person in the lowest quartile of telemedicine use.
Source: Edited from “Medicare Utilization, Spending, And Quality, 2019–22” in Health Affairs.
Doctors Shun Primary Care, Nurse Practitioners and Physicians Assistants Do Too
The physician shortage could reach 86,000 doctors by 2036, of which nearly half of the missing doctors could reflect shortages in primary care. One reason is demographics. The average age of physicians is 47 for women and 55 for men. Many of the older practicing physicians are among the Baby Boomer generation, who will be retiring soon and need care for themselves as they grow old. Another reason for the shortage is a 1996 federal law capping the number of graduate medical education training slots that Medicare will fund.
Wednesday Links
- Loneliness is unhealthy. (NYT) It is associated with Alzheimer’s disease, other types of dementia and even Parkinson’s disease.
- Are doctors withdrawing life support too soon?
- Why you may not get the best cancer care.
- Biden claims billionaires pay an average federal income tax rate of 8.5% “in almost every speech.” The Washington Post awards that claim two Pinocchio’s.
- Are females better doctors?
- The percentage of doctors imported from abroad has skyrocketed from 9 percent in 1981 to 25 percent in 2024.