Category: Health Economics & Costs
Low Cost Dentistry is Possible, But Not Allowed in Most States
I went to my dentist a month or two ago. I was shocked by the price for a deep teeth cleaning. A teeth cleaning is included with an annual membership and the deep cleaning is an upcharge from the basic cleaning. I suspect my dentists requires a deep cleaning as a way to charge as much for my free service as the service usually costs retail. I’m in and out of his office in less than 30 minutes usually.
At my last visit the annual membership fee was also due, so my total bill was enough to buy an iPhone 11 on eBay. I don’t think I even spoke to the dentist during the visit; I just met with the dental hygienist. Why was the price so high?
Saturday Links
- A benefit of wildfires: they make temperatures unseasonably cool.
- Study: CMS delay in approving treatments for Alzheimer’s disease impose a social cost ranging from $13.1 billion to $545.6 billion. Part of these losses stems from increased private and public healthcare spending ranging from $6.8 billion to $284.5 billion.
- Hospital finances: profits and cash reserves are up; charity care is not.
- Another SS horror story: Social Security demands return of $6,000 from an 81-year-old widow for mistaken payment 45 years ago.
Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Cancelled
What if we could detect almost all cancers in the earliest stages when less-invasive treatments mean lifesaving cures? The answer: Mortality rates — and health care costs — would plummet because most cancers could be cured or controlled using existing therapies.
The good news is this innovation exists today in the form of multi-cancer early detection (MCED) from one blood test. The bad news is we don’t have an Eisenhower administration determined to deliver a medical game-changer to as many Americans as possible.
Instead, we have a Biden administration — in the form of the Federal Trade Commission and Chair Lina Khan that Biden named to head it — standing in the way and creating an impenetrable barrier to access to millions of cancer patients.