Tuesday Links – 11 August 2026

The percentage of working-age adults who get their health coverage from a job has declined from 67% in 1998 to about 60%. 

Orphan drugs: 167 drugs are exempt under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).

 A brand new, peer-reviewed study found that data centers actually caused average U.S. retail electricity rates to “fall modestly” between 2015 and 2024, because the centers’ high, steady power demand helped spread a grid’s fixed costs over more usage.

Tim Fist and Saif Khan: there’s a substantial chance that AI will kill most people on Earth within the next decade or two, by designing superviruses. AI is already capable of designing viruses not found in nature, so this isn’t a sci-fi scenario.