- A Fauci aide who taught a coworker how to destroy government records to avoid complying with FOIA requests is taking the Fifth before a congressional committee.
- The real issue in the port workers strike is not wages, it’s automation.
- Why McDonald’s burgers taste better (different?) outside the US.
- The nanny state: number of US counties in which government transfers are more than 25% of personal income.
- Humana tumbles as insurer faces $3 billion hit to revenue over lower Medicare star ratings (Statnews)
- Medicaid is no longer for the poor: Enrollment as a percentage of the U.S. population has more than tripled, rising from around 8% in the late 1980s to nearly 27% by 2022, while the poverty rate remained relatively stable.
Category: Health Economics & Costs
Wednesday Links
- Milei’s incredible success so far in Argentina.
- Obamacare predictions that the experts got wrong.
- AEI makes the case for replacing the tax exclusion for employer paid heath insurance with a tax credit without ever mentioning the words “tax credit.”
- WSJ calls out the CMS “demonstration” project for what it really is: an “election bribe for seniors?” (WSJ)
Tuesday Links
- Florida doctor accused of fatally removing the wrong organ from a patient has license suspended.
- The average chief executive in a publicly traded health care company earned $11 million. The median was $4.1 million. (StatNews)
- Nonprofit hospitals avoided paying $37.4 billion in taxes in 2021.
- The penalty for not signing up for Medicare drug coverage: Those not enrolling in a Part D or Medicare Advantage plan or entering these programs after they are initially offered at age 65 pay an additional monthly “drug coverage premium” penalty equal to the monthly cost of the plan in perpetuity. That is a big financial stick!
Can AI Combat Health Care Fraud?
How much fraud is there in health care? It’s hard to say with any accuracy. Consider this: how much fraud would be in any consumer market where the consumer only pays 10% of the cost, while third-party providers pay 90% of the cost? There would be a lot!