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The Goodman Institute Health Blog

Category: Drug Prices & Regulations

Thursday Links

Posted on January 29, 2026January 28, 2026 by John C. Goodman
  • MedPAC: the federal government is projected to spend 14%, or $76 billion, more on MA enrollees in 2026 than if they’d been in enrolled in fee for service.  I have explained before why I think these projections are wrong.
  • How good is the Apple Watch at detecting hypertension?
  • “Lazarus Centers”:  Many California hospices report survival rates of 100% for facilities that were meant to be for the end of life. 
  • Sports and life expectancy:

A study from Denmark found that tennis players live almost 10 years longer than their sedentary peers. A US study found that cycling was linked to 3 percent lower risk of dying over a 12-year period, swimming was linked to a 5 percent lower risk and golf was linked to a 7 percent lower risk.

What these studies (or the people who tout them) ignore: reverse causation. People who are healthier play sports.

  • Population movement:  New York and California are shrinking while Texas and Florida are getting steadily richer.
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Monday Links – 26 January 2026

Posted on January 26, 2026January 25, 2026 by John C. Goodman
  • Insurers blame hospitals and drugs companies for rising health care costs.
  • Why lower prices do not necessarily lower health care spending.
  • Obamacare penalizes marriage. Thanks to Devon Herrick for the pointer.
  • The federal government’s increasing share of spending has grown from 32 percent to nearly 50 percent today.
  • “French supertax on wealthy raises only a quarter of planned revenue,”
  • 2025 was far and away the worst year for measles cases in the 21st century.
  • Deporting workers lowers our GDP.
  • Three bills offer Health Savings Account solutions for the Obamacare impasse in Congress.
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Saturday Links – 24 January 2026

Posted on January 24, 2026January 23, 2026 by John C. Goodman
  • A Trump trade deal that is good for the US and the UK.
  • There is supposed to be a $2,000 cap on Medicare enrollee drug spending. So how do some people reach the cap after spending only $1,200?
  • How  to reform the  food stamp program.
  • Kotlikoff on entitlement programs: 

Earn or save $1 too much and, depending on the state, lose thousands of dollars in your own or your family members’ Medicaid benefits. Hold $1 too much in assets and forfeit thousands in Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Earn an extra dollar in a Medicaid non-expansion state and receive thousands of dollars in otherwise unavailable [Obamacare] subsidies.

  • Drug use:

In 2023, a record 62 million Americans smoked pot; 17 million now use it daily or near daily. One in 12 young adults used a hallucinogen; one in 18 misused prescription stimulants such as Adderall. Another 2.6 million Americans over 12 took meth. Overdoses still claim the lives of 70,000 Americans annually; the majority died using synthetic opioids like fentanyl. HT: Arnold Kling

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Friday Links

Posted on January 23, 2026January 22, 2026 by John C. Goodman
  • Direct primary care for everyone: A $2,000 voucher and 600 patients per doctor.
  • A new FDA rule: In testing for  new drugs, companies no longer have to ignore what they already know.
  • Why the drop in fentanyl deaths? A fentanyl “drought,” which may have its causes in China.
  • America is experiencing a “once-in-a-lifetime improvement in public safety despite a police-staffing crisis.” 
  • ​Artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots in healthcare top the 2026 list of the most significant health technology hazards.
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For many years, our health care blog was the only free enterprise health policy blog on the internet. Then, when the NCPA closed its doors, the health blog stopped as well.

During this five-year hiatus no one else has come forward to claim the space. So, my colleagues and I have decided to restart the blog in connection with the Goodman Institute. We invite you and others to use this forum to share your views.

John C. Goodman,

Visit www.goodmaninstitute.org

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