Consumers who want to join a sharing ministry should check to make sure the sharing ministry plan is right for them the same as they would for Obamacare plans. Many sharing ministries either have a waiting period or do not cover pre-existing conditions, for example. Many (if not all) have specific criteria for things they will not cover. These include claims such as drug addiction treatment, sometimes even out-of-wedlock pregnancies.
Category: Health Economics & Costs
$783.5M in Covid Relief Money Went to Prisoners
Passed in March, the American Rescue Plan granted $1,400 in stimulus money to people making less than $75,000 per year. Republicans objected to sending these checks to incarcerated individuals, but lost on a party line vote. According to a Fox News report:
In response to a public records request from conservative group American Crossroads, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revealed that the money flowed to 560,000 individuals who were incarcerated for the full tax year 2020.
Among the recipients of Covid money was the Boston Marathon Bomber.
Friday Links
- 80 experts object to a proposal to slap a 95% tax on drugs that do not submit to price controls.
- China has matched the United States in output in seven high-tech sectors, including pharmaceuticals and medical products.
- If worry about climate change is a mental health issue, why is the W.H.O. contributing to the problem?
- The good news on immigration.
Do Higher Priced Hospitals Deliver Higher Quality Care?
This NBER Working Paper says it depends on whether there is competition.
In markets with more hospital competition, going to higher-priced hospitals raises spending by approximately 53 percent and lowers mortality by 47 percent. By contrast, in concentrated hospital markets receiving care from a high-priced hospital also raises spending by 54 percent, but has no impact on patient outcomes.
And the higher spending in competitive markets is worth it:
Such hospitals spend approximately $1 million per life saved. Assuming that the individuals in the research sample live for another nine years, this is cost effective relative to the Environmental Protection Agency’s $8.7 million benchmark estimate of the value of a statistical life.
Unfortunately, the trend in the overall market is for more concentration and less competition.