- After the government took steps to raise the price and restrict the supply, opioid consumption and overdoses went up. Casey Mulligan explains why.
- Sally Satel on “Social Justice Therapy.”
- Health care worker shortages: Half of the states, including all in New England and most in the Midwest, have health care employment lower than three years ago.
- Who does AARP really represent? It backed the IRA bill – taking $280 billion away from Medicare and spending the money on heath insurance subsidies for the well-to-do and special interest green energy projects.
- U.S. Energy Dept: the coronavirus most likely came from a lab leak.
Category: Monday Links
Monday Links
- George Halvorson defends Obamacare (but mainly a reformed Medicare Advantage program).
- Does the obese character in The Whale really deserve our sympathy?
- Medicare Advantage enrollment is now 31.2 million – roughly half of the Medicare population.
- DOL: The low-end estimate for improper (Covid) unemployment insurance payments – mostly fraud – is $191 billion.
- Estimates attribute 15 – 30 percent of total national health spending to administration, with at least half ($300 – $600 billion a year) demonstrated to be ineffective or wasteful.
Monday Links
- Love explained: oxytocin is the “love hormone.”
- Fewer Americans are getting Married. “Family formation is a new fault line in the American class structure.”
- The odds of your outliving your life expectancy are quite good. (WSJ)
- Health effects of an icy plunge: increased risk of hypothermia, arrhythmias, and heart attacks; but possible help with mental clarity, depression, pain management, and weight loss. (NYT)
- Do safer football helmets and better padding induce players to engage in more reckless behavior on the field?
Monday Links
- Weight gain is not a new thing: Americans have been gaining weight for as far back as we have data.
- When Cuba sends doctors to other countries, it’s not charity; it’s business.
- The Heath Care Blog discovers the joys of patient power. Of course, 30 years is a long time after we first explained it all; but better late than never.
- Biologics account for 2% of US prescriptions for drugs, but 40% of total spending on prescription drugs. Here’s what drug companies do to discourage generic (biosimilar) competitors.
- Do health insurers provide fair access to drugs? Evidence that they don’t.