It did not have to be this way. The COVID-19 pandemic cost American citizens their lives, their livelihoods, education, mental health, reputations and, ultimately, civil and religious freedoms. “The U.S. accounts for less than 5% of the world’s population, but more than 25% of total COVID-19 cases reported across the globe, and it currently ranks among the top 10 countries in COVID-19-related deaths per capita,” wrote the authors of 2023 commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association. And for all that, we have government to thank.
Category: Public Insurance
Wednesday Links
- David Friedman on tariffs. Excellent
- AHA opposes Biden’s tariffs on medical equipment, which create $650 million in increased costs to the U.S. medical industry.
- Arizona police arrested a woman for serving home-cooked meals to the hungry and the needy.
- Rather than education, welfare, or nutrition programs, three tax provisions are now the largest category of federal support for children – and over the years they have been on a perpetual rollercoaster.
- More on using foreign trained doctors to solve our physician shortage problem.
Medicare and Wegovy
A report by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) estimates that treating even half of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries with obesity would cost $166 billion per year, nearly the cost of total spending on all prescription drugs in 2022 ($175 billion).
Source: STAT (gated)