- How anti-obesity drugs could make us wealthier: “An average female obese woman earns around 10 percent less than a normal-weight woman in the States. Just taking that, imagine we cut obesity levels in the US to Scandinavian levels going from 40 percent of the population to 20 percent of the population. Assuming that that then increases salaries for those who will get out of obesity by 10 percent. That translates more or less into a two percent increase in US GDP.”
- Can AI run Medicaid?
- To save Social Security: Instead of more taxes for the rich, cut their benefit payments.
- Key to a happy life: marriage matters more than career. This is the opposite of what most young people think. (NYT)
- Why is Medicare charging researchers large fees to access its data?
- Are clubhouses the solution to serious mental illness?
Category: Medicare
Monday Links
- Suicide, anxiety, and depression numbers are rising among teens. Is social media the problem? Observation: “Every child uses social media but not every child has a mental health problem.”
- Are children the victims of Medicaid expansion?
- Several studies have linked Medicaid expansion to longer wait times for appointments, slower ambulance response times, and greater delays in the emergency room.
- The bipartisan tax deal increases both marriage bonuses and marriage penalties.
- CBO: Budget deficits will average $2.0 trillion per year – or 5.7 percent of GDP – over the next decade.
- How can a silk patch replace a hypodermic needle?
Friday Links
- Over half the new jobs in January’s report are in government or health care.
- Smoking is worse than you’ve been told. Long lasting effects after you quit.
- What happens when doctors become hospital employees? Medicare patients’ use of non-hospital sources for chemotherapy declined by 14% from 2015 to 2021, and chemotherapy performed in hospitals increased by 21%. More than half of Medicare chemotherapy patients now receive their treatments in hospitals, where the prices are higher.
- How health insurance eats into wages. Premiums for a family made up about 8% of employees’ compensation in 1988. If they stayed at that level for the next 32 years, a typical family would have earned an additional $8,774 in 2019. The cumulative value of lost earnings tops $125,000.
Throwing Good Money after Bad
The goal of [the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation] (CMMI) is to identify demonstration models that aim to improve quality of care OR reduce spending. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may expand models nationwide if the Secretary determines that either criterion is met.
Source: House Budget Committee