- GAO: federal agencies improper payments from 2003 to 2024 total at least $2.8 trillion.
- Doctor visits per person per year: the US is among the lowest among all developed countries. Also, no increase under Obamacare.
- How DEI is affecting who gets to practice medicine.
- Paragon Institute: We estimate that the true amount of improper payments in Medicaid is twice as high as reported.”
- CBO: the10-year cost of a common Medicaid tax scam by state governments is more than $600 billion.
Category: Public Insurance
Philosophers: Meritocracy is Bad for Your Health and Wellbeing
Perhaps Theodore Roosevelt was right, “comparison is the thief of joy.” The quote is also variously attributed to Mark Twain, author C. S. Lewis, and religious figure Dwight Edwards. A recent article took aim at meritocracy. Yes, a group of philosophers argue meritocracy is a bad thing or at least it causes bad feelings. In a new book they explain, Western meritocracy traps people in emotions of envy, shame and fear.
Thursday Links
- Yglesias on Social Security’s dead beneficiaries.
- The controversy behind the “shaken baby syndrome.”
- Why doesn’t Trump brag about his greatest health care success.
- Charles Hooper: There is nothing wrong with Red Dye No. 3
- Singer: “CDC causes patients to endure needless pain and suffering.”
- 40% of Americans think Covid is still a threat.
WSJ: Some Couples Age at Different Rates, Complicating Long Term Care Needs
About 83% of nursing home residents are age 65 or above. Nearly 39% are 85 or above. It varies with the type of care (nursing home versus assisted living), but for every seven women, there are only three men who require assisted living. That is partly because women are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, because they tend to live longer. Also, wives care for their husbands, who often precede them in death. It is not always that way, however. Sometimes both partners are living, but age at different rates.