- Why does health care spending keep rising? It’s higher utilization, not higher prices.
- US education failure: fifteen countries have higher average science scores than the United States.
- Why Congress can’t fix Obamcare: abortion.
- “The Food and Drug Administration is full of rules that keep safer drugs prescription-only while allowing more dangerous ones to be sold over the counter.”
- Does coffee lower your risk of dementia?
Category: Thursday Links
Thursday Links – 12 February 2026
- Since 2000, the number of physicians assistants has quadrupled, while the number of medical doctors has risen 40 percent.
- $30 billion federal welfare program became a “slush fund” for the states.
- CMS: The 0ut-of-pocket exposure to increase to $12,000 in (Obamacare) exchange plans in 2027.
- Elon: Colonizing Mars will take a back seat to colonizing the moon.
- Former CDC Director Robert Redfield: Covid “came from gain of function research” at the Chinese lab. Collins and Fauci were guilty of a coverup.
Thursday links – 5 February 2026
- Florida is the only state in the country the FDA has authorized to import prescription drugs. The problem: resistance from the Canadian government and the pharmaceutical industry.
- More policy volatility under Trump. Little evidence that it matters.
- Income-related Medicare premiums produce a 97,440 percent marginal tax rate. HT: David Henderson
- Why is Texas closing the door to foreign-trained doctors?
- Mamdani: New York City can’t cut 10% of the spending in the world’s most bloated municipal budget.
Thursday Links
- MedPAC: the federal government is projected to spend 14%, or $76 billion, more on MA enrollees in 2026 than if they’d been in enrolled in fee for service. I have explained before why I think these projections are wrong.
- How good is the Apple Watch at detecting hypertension?
- “Lazarus Centers”: Many California hospices report survival rates of 100% for facilities that were meant to be for the end of life.
- Sports and life expectancy:
A study from Denmark found that tennis players live almost 10 years longer than their sedentary peers. A US study found that cycling was linked to 3 percent lower risk of dying over a 12-year period, swimming was linked to a 5 percent lower risk and golf was linked to a 7 percent lower risk.
What these studies (or the people who tout them) ignore: reverse causation. People who are healthier play sports.