- “The expected value of any net impact assessment of any large-scale social program is zero.” Recommended.
- Most or all of health care spending by people with health insurance would occur even under an indemnity policy – allowing them to take cash instead of care.
- Why don’t people buy their health insurance and their life insurance from the same firm?
- 81 countries have fertility rates below the population replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman of child bearing age.
- From 1975 to 2019, there was a 58% reduction in breast cancer mortality: 25% due to screening and 75% due to treatment.
Category: Health Insurance
The Advantages (and Disadvantages) of Medicare Advantage
Traditional Medicare has advantages and disadvantages. Traditional Medicare involves Part A (hospitalization) Part B (doctors and clinics), Part D (drugs). Parts B and D require additional premiums. Furthermore, traditional Medicare has unlimited cost sharing, that runs 20% of the total cost. Most enrollees in traditional Medicare opt to buy a separate supplemental insurance policy to cover their cost sharing.
Friday Links
- Regulations prohibiting price gouging during the Covid pandemic resulted in shortages leading to more social contact in crowded stores at the worst possible time—when social contact spreads a dangerous pathogen.
- The increase in US maternal mortality may not be real.
- Biden executive order: health insurers participating in Medicare Advantage, Medicaid or the Obamacare exchanges will need to respond to expedited prior authorization requests within 72 hours, and standard requests within seven calendar days.
- The world is getting older: In the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, total spending on long-term care is already more than 3% of GDP. In Japan and Korea more than 15% of the population is over 80.
What Are We Getting for All That Obamacare Spending?
Obamacare spending has now reached $214 billion a year, insuring people through Medicaid (which is mostly contracted out to private insurers) and the Obamacare exchanges. At $1,731 for every household in America, that’s a great deal of money being transferred from taxpayers to insurance companies every year.
So, what are we getting in return?
One scholarly study finds there has been no overall increase in health care utilization in the U.S. since the enactment of Obamacare. The number of doctor visits per capita actually fell over the last decade.
See my latest post at Forbes.