Health Reform – Page 316 – The Goodman Institute Health Blog

NY Times: AI Can Read Mammograms as Good or Better than Radiologists

Posted on March 11, 2023 by Devon Herrick

There is a new artificial intelligence (AI) interface that’s been in the news lately called ChatGPT. ChatGPT is a language-based AI chatbot that can do many things humans can do. Some tasks it can do better than humans can do. A week or so ago I asked Would You See an AI Doctor?, Saying:

Radiologists sometimes use computer-aided detection (CAD) to interpret mammograms as a backup to human interpretation. Using both a radiologist and CAD together increases accuracy.

A few days later The New York Times reported on an ongoing test in Hungary, where AI is being used to assist in reading mammograms.

Inside a dark room at Bács-Kiskun County Hospital outside Budapest, Dr. Éva Ambrózay, a radiologist with more than two decades of experience, peered at a computer monitor showing a patient’s mammogram.

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Saturday Links

Posted on March 11, 2023March 11, 2023 by John C. Goodman

Health officials and governors in more than half the country are now restricted from issuing mask mandates and school closures.
The 42% of adults who are obese costs the US health system 173 billion dollars a year, including cardiovascular disease, cancers, depression, breathing issues, and skeletal issues. Despite this, 98 percent of Americans do not receive treatment for their obesity.
Greg Mankiw: “The Biden administration faces a trilemma: They would like to (1) increase spending on programs they consider important, (2) not raise taxes on those making less than $400,000 a year, and (3) put fiscal policy on a sustainable path. But the stark reality is that they can have only 2 out of the 3.”
A defense of Vinyl chloride. (despite the dead fish)
IRS: 42K federal workers are cheating on their taxes.

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Bidenomics

Posted on March 11, 2023March 11, 2023 by John C. Goodman

Casey Mulligan in the Wall Street Journal:

I estimate that Mr. Biden’s insurance, regulatory and tax policies as implemented will eventually combine to reduce the nation’s labor income by 5% to 6.5%, with an additional reduction in the long term due to education policies in blue states. In two years under the Biden administration, the labor market is already falling short. Real employee compensation per adult … is 3.3% below the pre-pandemic trend.

I estimate that degrowth policies since 2020 will cumulatively reduce Medicare and Social Security tax revenue by at least $400 billion—and perhaps as much as $900 billion. The tax base will shrink even more if Mr. Biden succeeds in levying higher wealth and business taxes.

I estimate that … remote-learning policies reduced prospective Medicare and Social Security tax revenue by $118 billion in present value.

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How Bobby Jindal and Newt Gingrich Would Save Medicare

Posted on March 11, 2023March 11, 2023 by John C. Goodman

Make payments site neutral – same fee, regardless of where the service is performed (hospital, out-patient clinic, doctor’s office, etc.)
End Medicare’s bad-debt compensation program that reimburses hospitals for 65% of uncollected patient out-of-pocket costs.
Get serious about tackling fraud.
Recognize preventive medicine as a money saver rather than a money spender.

Wall Street Journal

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