- George W. Bush’s program to combat AIDS in Africa has saved as many as 25 million lives — more lives than any other US government policy in the 21st century.
- Sunday was the 58th birthday of Medicare and Medicaid. The cost of Medicare has grown from $10 billion in its first year to nearly $750 billion last year. Taxpayers spend nearly $730 billion a year on Medicaid, up from under $1 billion at its inception.
- Chip Kahn and a whole slew of hospital affiliated authors: If value based purchasing doesn’t work, it’s not our fault.
- The cost of medical privacy: The original Privacy Rule from 2000 is 419 pages of dense legalese. This is in addition to revisions to the rule from 2002 (93 pages), 2013 (137 pages), 2014 (27 pages), and 2016 (15 pages).
- Over the last few years, the rate of death from Covid for the unvaccinated has been between 300% and 900% higher than for the vaccinated.
- Mental health problems diminish with income HT: Tyler
- Stress really can cause your hair to fall out. (NYT)
- Some patients are paying as much as $100,000 a year for unproven ways to live longer. (WSJ)
Category: Medicare
Wednesday Links
- Lawsuit: Cigna algorithm rejects claims without a doctor even opening a patient’s records.
- Report: CMS’ Medicaid inflation penalty will make generic drug shortages worse.
- Virginia Medicaid paid at least $21.8 million on behalf of 12,054 enrollees after they were already dead.
- An expensive trip: a medically approved, psychedelic renaissance is underway.
- Did Gilead hold a promising HIV drug off the market in order to increase profits? (NYT) Economic theory would say no.
- Australia has “virtually eliminated” HIV transmission in Sydney and elsewhere.
Friday Links
- Scott Atlas: what to expect for Medicare for All.
- Unemployment reduces fertility. UI compensation reverses the effect.
- Study: OxyContin marketing in 1996 is related to adverse long-term health outcomes over twenty-five years later.
- Brian J. Miller testimony: lawmakers should foster innovation in the medical field, to ensure the next generation of breakthrough technology reaches patients.
- Medicaid health plans denied physician’s pre authorization requests one out of every eight times — roughly two times the rate under Medicare Advantage.
- Yglesias: Banning background checks increases racial discrimination.
Saturday Links
- Bernie Sanders has a new Medicare for All bill.
- Immortality may not be a blessing.
- Merritt Hawkins: The average wait time for new-patient to see a doctor is 26 days.
- CMS Proposal: Telehealth to Continue Unfettered Thru 2024. (InsideHealthPolicy)
- Social Security is already very progressive: An individual in the bottom fifth of lifetime earners receives a benefit equal to about 80% of their inflation-adjusted pre-retirement earnings. A middle quintile earner receives about 50%, while the top fifth receives 32%.
- Did Obamcare reduce the Disability Rolls? No.
- David Henderson: the reparations debate has everything backwards.
- Words of wisdom from Scott Sumner: The Fed doesn’t battle inflation, it creates inflation… The inflation we’ve experienced over the past few years is almost entirely created by a highly expansionary monetary policy, which drove up nominal GDP.