There is a new Gold Rush of sorts that is quite different than the one that began in California in 1848. Weight loss drugs, like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Saxena, are selling like hotcakes, with demand far outstripping supply. These drugs are lucrative, costing $1,000 a month or more, depending on the rebate or health plan discount.
Category: Health Economics & Costs
Tuesday Links
- A pill to treat alcoholism exists.
- Why is there shortage of pediatricians? Because they get paid less than every other specialty. (NYT) I will have more to say about this in the future.
- “Nothing correlates more with homelessness rates than high housing costs. And nothing drives up housing costs like government restrictions on building housing.”
- Are there so many cesarean births in December because that lowers the parents’ income taxes? From a tax perspective, “A New Year’s Eve baby is better than a New Year’s Day baby.”
Why Walmart (and Others) Failed to Disrupt Primary Care
Many people assume that hospitals are dinosaurs, with little knowledge of competition. They often assume what we need is a real competitor to enter the health care business. While both arguments are true it’s far more complicated than that. Hospitals do compete with each other, just not in ways that are beneficial to their customers.
Where Biden Went Wrong
This is Scott Sumner quoting (pro-Biden commentator) Matt Yglesias:
I would not expect any Democratic administration to weaken Davis-Bacon rules as an anti-inflationary measure, even though doing so would advance a number of Biden’s stated policy objectives.