Have you ever noticed that liberal news outlets can trip over the facts and fail to see their relevance? Even in the rare event they stumble onto relevant facts they draw the wrong conclusions. CNBC just discovered (nearly 60 years after economists warned of the danger) that health insurance may have resulted in higher heath care prices. In the article, “How health insurance may have made health care more expensive,” the reporter quotes a variety of health policy analysts. Dr. Kongstvedt, an expert she interviewed, gave her all the information she needs to know.
Category: Consumer-Driven Health Care
Saturday Links
- Dr. Marty Makary: devastating critique of NIH and Fauci.
- How Twitter rigged the Covid debate.
- David Henderson solution for the Southwest airlines debacle: Let foreign carriers compete in our domestic market.
- Can you actually eat a discarded Christmas tree?
- No tailgating at the national College Football championship game? This is College Football’s answer to Ebeneezer Scrooge.
New Drug for Obesity May Become Biggest Selling Drug of All Time
A new drug by Eli Lilly is poised to become the biggest selling drug of all time. However, a writer at NBC News is worried about whether Americans can afford it. The drug tirzepatide has completed its final stages of testing and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is likely to approve it for weight loss in 2023. Tirzepatide is the third drug from a new class of diabetes drugs called GLP-1 agonists, which includes the drugs Wegovy and Saxenda.
Health Plans Now Required to Provide Price Comparison Tools and Transparency
As of January 1st insurers and health plans are required to provide online tools to help enrollees estimate the cost of common medical services and procedures. As an aside, a future iteration of the law should also discourage medical professionals who work in hospitals or large practices controlled by private equity from only referring inside their systems without giving patients an opportunity to use the tools to shop elsewhere. I’ve never had a problem with doctors steering me to hospital-based services. Yet, I’ve heard horror stories about doctors being compensated or punish based on so-called keepage and leakage. This from Kaiser Health News: