- California: People are leaving and the state’s income is falling.
- Web searches for “racial disparities in healthcare in the United States” produce nearly 40 million hits.
- Medicare 2023 Trustees Report: The hospital insurance (HI) trust fund is scheduled to become insolvent in 2031 when Medicare patients will face an 11 percent cut in their hospital benefits.
- Biden administration moves to partially decriminalize marijuana. I don’t think anyone is in jail for using or possessing marijuana. These prisoners have plea bargained to avoid sentencing for more serious crimes.
- Aaron Carroll: RFK Jr. is wrong. Vaccines are tested against placebos.
Category: Medicare
Thursday Links
- Pharma: Medicare drug price negotiation could slow the search for a cure for cancer.
- Good summary of the case against Medicare price negotiation.
- Economic freedom is positively correlated with civic virtue.
- Countries with the highest economic growth rates have the lowest birth rates.
- Skip the next business meeting: Google Meet video lets you send a bot to attend the meeting on your behalf.
- The U.S. has at least 600 fewer nursing homes than it did six years ago.
Wednesday Links
- Why Sweden did better than any other country during the Covid pandemic.
- If Medicare patients are receiving low-value care, who is providing it?
- Do elderly entitlements take from the poor and subsidize the rich? Individuals living in non-elderly households, whether with and without children, now are more likely to be poorer than senior citizens.
- Republican presidential candidates’ plans for Medicare.
Dialysis Should be Patient Centered and More Convenient
End State Renal Disease (ESRD) is the only disease condition that is covered by Medicare regardless of patients’ age. This benefit was passed in 1972. One result of Section 299I of Public Law 92-603 is that Medicare pays for two-third of dialysis patients, down from 87% in 2004. When your kidney function falls by 85% to 90% your kidneys can no longer keep you alive. According to the National Kidney Foundation, the average life expectancy on dialysis is 5 to 10 years, but many people live much longer when their dialysis is tailored to their needs. This often does not happen due to the United States’ mostly one-size-fits-all approach to dialysis, which is not ideal.