It’s no mystery that Americans are paying a bigger share of their medical bills out-of-pocket these days. Health plan deductibles have about doubled in the past two decades. My 2023 health plan deductible is nearly $9,000. Some family plans have combined deductibles of $15,000. High deductibles are causing more Americans to delay medical care according to The New York Times.
Category: Direct Primary Care
Covid Made the Doctor Shortage Worse but More Residencies Would Help
During the early months of the Covid pandemic many doctors would not treat the virus. My wife’s doctor, for instance, had a sign that read she didn’t treat Covid and patients with Covid or Covid symptoms were barred from entry. I heard similar stories from a number of people. Many medical offices were closed and isolating at home seemed to be the most common therapy until patients became sick enough to visit an emergency room or qualified for a hospital bed. Later in the pandemic as more was known about the virus doctors began experimenting with treatments.
Smartphones are the Future of Physician Visits
In the past I predicted that online technology would boost telemedicine. I don’t just mean you can use your cellphone to call, email or text your doctor. I’m talking about all the apps and peripherals that could be attached to that powerful minicomputer you keep in your pocket or purse.
The Cost of Lockdowns
A new Stanford study looking at the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress found “eighth-grade math fell for every state, with a national average decline of eight NAEP scale score points” or enough to wipe out all the gains made since 2000. So much for “no child left behind,” and other slogans that were going to fix our public schools.
We will continue to pay for the lockdowns for years to come. “Students on average face 2 to 9 percent lower lifetime income” depending on where they went to school and the states are estimated “to face a gross domestic product that is 0.6 to 2.9 percent lower each year for the remainder of the twenty-first century.”
From the Committee to Unleash Prosperity