- The IRA bill threatens orphan drugs.
- Study finds links between the popular zero-calorie sugar substitute erythritol and an increased risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke.
- But the study has limits. (NYT)
- Death on demand: Canadian euthanasia is killing about 27 people a day on average — over 10,000 a year.
Category: Public Insurance
How Much Do Health Insurers Make?
Kaiser: Health insurers’ margins were more than double in Medicare Advantage than in other markets in 2021. Gross margins in the Medicare Advantage market averaged $1,730 per enrollee in 2021, compared with $768 in the Medicaid managed care market, $745 in the individual market and $689 in the fully insured group market.
More on Socialized Medicine in the UK
The [National Health Service’s] goal is that 92 percent of patients referred for treatment wait less than 18 weeks (about four and half months) to start treatment. Waiting 18 weeks for treatment sounds horrendous, but as of November 2022, over 40 percent of patients, or 2.9 million people, waited even longer. For over 450,000 patients, the wait exceeded a full year.
Friday Links
- Is big city noise a health hazard?
- The United States and New Zealand are the only two countries that allow drugmakers to market directly to consumers.
- Could a 5th Circuit ruling that “perpetual funding” of government agencies or programs is unconstitutional threaten Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid?
- How to treat a cold.
- The cost of obesity: $2,505 in extra medical costs every year – with the number rising with the extent of obesity.
- Hispanic health paradox: Hispanics have higher life expectancy, lower infant mortality and less mental illness.