Gene therapy holds great promise. Employer paid health insurance is capable of paying for it.
Why Sudafed might work despite the science: it’s called the placebo effect. (NYT)
Was the RSV vaccine developed by experimenting on poor Black children? (NYT)
Quote of the day by Arnold Kling:
This is a moment of choosing for the American left. Many will side with Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib. That could damage the Progressive brand. It deserves to be damaged.
Pieter, Employer-Based insurance doesn’t work with life-threatening illnesses like cancer. For Example; in Jim Jordan’s Ohio a City of Columbus single Mother employee pays $472/month out of her check until she gets ovarian cancer and can no longer work her REQUIRED 30 hours per week and has her COBRA premiums EXPLODE to $32,496/year or $2,708/month! After 18 months she is switched to a low-quality Obamacare HMO (The only choice in Ohio) and now if she goes out-of-network, like the Cleveland Clinic, voted 2nd Best Hospital in the World by Newsweek, Obamacare HMOs pay NOTHING!
Employer-based insurance is DEADLY, dangerous, and EXPENSIVE! President Trump’s low-cost STM for a 30-year-old female and child in Columbus is $92/month and the Cleveland Clinic is a participating member hospital along with its hundreds and hundreds of physicians. Granted, this is a $10,000 deductible that pays 100% and the Columbus plan has a $1,200 Out-of-pocket and then UNLIMITED co-pays for everything.
Pieter, ask yourself this question; If you were paying $92/month or $1,104 a year with a $10K deductible, would you pay $31,392 more every year to drop your maximum out-of-pocket to $1,200? A sane person would say NO! Now Bob is going to point out that Trump’s low-cost high-quality STM doesn’t cover normal vaginal births but complications of pregnancy is covered and of course, a baby is covered from the second of birth. Also, Bob will say Mental Health isn’t covered exactly like the old days before Mental Health’s parity in Obamamacare. Bob’s correct, all mental people should pay $32,496 per year and end up on a Blue Cross HMO if they get too sick to work. Obamacare HMOs are the end of the line for Employer-Based plans!
Bob, if Trump’s low-cost STM is HSA Qualifying the deductible drops to $7,500 and her premium will go up 12% or $103/month or [$1,236/year]. If she saves $8,300 in 2024, the maximum annual family HSA deposit, and has her employer deposit her deposit she saves Federal Income tax of 20% ($1,660), Ohio State Income tax of 3% ($249), and Payroll Tax of 7.65% ($634) or a total HSA TAX ZAPPING total SAVINGS of $2,543 per year OR more than DOUBLE the HSA premium cost!
This reminds me of when I enrolled the 1st tax-free MSA in October of 1996 and the premium was $24/month for a 24-year-old single male. After his MSA deposit at the bank, he saved more in taxes than the cost of his insurance. After 28 years in 2024 in Columbus, Ohio the MAGIC of the tax-free HSA is alive and well!
ALSO – FYI – the Columbus employer SAVES 7.65% Payroll tax of $634/year PLUS savings on Workers’ Comp! It’s SMART when employers & employees work together and cut the IRS – OUT!
Excuse me, I cannot look up Trump’s low-cost STM in Ohio that is HSA Qualifying so I just guessed at the premiums above saying that HSA coverage was 12% more. I switched to FLORIDA where STM HSA Qualifying coverage is available and the increase premium to drop the deductible from $10,000 to HSA Qualifying $7,500 was EXACTLY double or 24%.
So, the real premium to have HSA STM for the Ohio single Mother is $92 X 1.24 = $114 per month or $22 per month more to go tax-free with the added benefit of saving $2,500 if there is a medical claim over $7,500! I say pay $22/month more and MAXIMISE the HSA deposit. I know, I know, Bob is going to say that saving in tax-free HSAs is like STEALING from the Government.
Bob, we aren’t stealing from the Government, we are just taking back!
Sudafed works alright, it makes me want to jump out of my skin. I could never understand why people would want to convert it into a different drug, unless it’s to tone down the effects.