- Misinformation Update: One of the strangest aspects of the Covid pandemic was the early insistence by the WHO and the CDC that COVID was not airborne.
- Good news: since before the pandemic, Americans’ wealth is way up, and inequality is down.
- A positive view of doctor assisted suicide. (NYT)
- 55 percent of E.R. doctors say they have been physically assaulted, almost all by patients.
- New test says it can find cancer for $949. Why do some doctors think that is not a good idea? (WSJ)
Category: Health Economics & Costs
OTC Hearing Aids Approved One Year Ago, No Thanks to the FDA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally got something right when it finalized rules allowing over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. Only kidding. The FDA can’t take credit for OTC hearing aids. It took the FDA five years after Congress passed legislation in 2017 forcing the FDA to create a category of OTC hearing aids.
Are Older Americans Ripping Us Off?
When Social Security benefits were first paid in 1940, 46 percent of adult males couldn’t even make it to 65, and for those who did, the average additional life expectancy was less than 13 years. For a typical 65-year-old couple today, at least one partner, on average, will likely make it to 90 or beyond
For a typical 65-year-old couple, Social Security and Medicare benefits, adjusted for inflation, are worth over $1.1 million today, compared with $330,000 in 1960.
Saturday Links
- Eating two extra fries, chips, gummy bears or a single teaspoon of ice cream on a given day cancels out the calorie effect of reduced consumption due to sugar sweetened beverage taxes.
- Whole Foods founder launches “cash only” health company.
- Explaining the economic development gap: While the printing press spread rapidly in Western Europe after its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450, the Ottomans prohibited its use for almost 250 years.
- In 2019, the federal government spent $5,595 per child on programs benefiting children compared to $29,189 on the average senior.