Business’s Buyer’s Remorse, Health Insurer Oligopoly, and More Expensive Placebos Offer More Pain Relief
Business Roundtable is having buyer’s remorse on ObamaCare. But will we, like The Wall Street Journal, say “I told you so?”…No we won’t…No…No…Oh, of course we will.
Nearly one in five American women beyond childbearing years never gave birth. Among women with a master’s, doctorate or professional degree, it’s one in four, down from almost one in three.
Study: The more expensive the placebo, the more pain relief it offers. In particular, a $2.50 placebo works better than one that costs 10 cents. Hat tip to Jason Shafrin.
On the Business Roundtable, it reminds me of the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over an over again and expecting a diffent outcome. Guess what? The out come wasn’t different.
Given the huge investment of time and money (and the poor prospects of getting much back during your retirement years) it is not surprising that highly intelligent adults are not having kids.
If placebos work at all, and I’m not sure about that, but if they do, it stands to reason that more expensive ones would work better.
I’m afraid the WellPoint prediction is spot on. In fact I believe that people are going to find it increasingly hard to find individual insurance over the next four years.
I’m personally waiting for it to become more socially acceptable to outsource the child bearing process. That, and I’ve gotten quite a bit of education. I don’t really want to spend the next dozen years being a soccer mom.
Virginia, why couldn’t you just rent a kid for a day or borrow a sister’s or cousin’s kid for a weekend whenever you need a “child fix.”
Only kidding.
Larry:
I agree with you.
With insurers having to provide medical loss ratios of 80%, every year, it seems that only the biggest will survive.
I guess this is what the administration thought would be beneficial for society – having a few large insurers that resemble the federal government.
Don Levit
Bruce,
My friends have all been trying to convince me to “borrow” their children. I’m thinking that it might be some sort of conspiracy, only I can’t decide if it’s to get me to have children or to convince me not to have them. ; )
Plus, I’m not sure that I ever really needed a child fix. Chocolate, yes. Wine, yes. Pasta, yes. Children… not so much.