Category: Health Economics & Costs
How Long Do You Want to live… with Alzheimer’s?
Several close family members developed Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia before they died. They all required institutional care. Alzheimer’s is an insidious disease that robs the victims of the person they were. It robs them of the people they loved as they forget the names and faces of family and friends. It robs them of their dignity as they can no longer care for themselves and must be fed, bathed, clothed and toileted like a toddler. It sometimes robs them of their legacy, as their care is so costly they have to bankrupt themselves before qualifying for Medicaid coverage.
Wednesday Links
- To stay healthy, eat nuts, beans and whole grains.
- Can germs be good for you? One study says yes.
- Drug shortages are affecting half a million consumers. The problem has persisted for more than 20 years.
- Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s bill would abolish “disparate treatment based on ethnicity or creed” and “compelled speech” at colleges and universities that receive federal money.
- The US has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries. Could lack of civility and empathy be the reason?
Tuesday Links
- George W. Bush’s PEPFAR initiative is credited with saving at least 20 million lives. Nick Kristof calls it “the single best policy of any president in my lifetime.”
- Old people are the wealthiest and most powerful demographic in the United States. Despite this, they are overwhelmingly beneficiaries of the welfare state, have seniority rights in employment, and are a protected class when it comes to anti-discrimination laws. This essay argues that this is a bad thing …..
- Dickens on poverty (and an unkind word for economists).
- People think chatbots are more empathetic than doctors 80% of the time.