On Debt, FDA Rejections, the Terminally Ill, and Medicare
Ezra: What if Congress does nothing? The deficit will go away eventually, but there will be pain.
To meet the debt ceiling limit, sell some of the federal government’s $144.2 billion in assets. Robert Murphy via David Henderson.
Yglesias: FDA rejection of hand held skin cancer detection device is pound foolish: This is sort of “the equivalent of rejecting the first cell phone on the grounds that callers might mishear important messages.”
NHS Update: 100,000 terminally ill “do not get proper palliative care.”
Medicare less efficient: private insurers spent $453 per beneficiary on administrative costs, compared to $509 for Medicare in 2005. Robert Brook via Avik Roy.
All things considered, doing nothing may be better than anything Congress is likely to agree on.
I agree with Murphy and Henderson. Sell assets.
Yglesias makes a very good point. If a hand held medical device can be used by inexperienced consumers, patients and even less experienced general practitioners, it would benefit mankind even if it was less accurate than an experienced dermatologist. The notion that the FDA rejected the device because it’s not as good as an experienced dermatologist is unfathomable. I read an article last year that claimed appointments with dermatologists require long waits if all you need is for them to check a suspicious mole or patch of skin. So, instead of your primary care doctor pulling out this device, you will wait two or three months for a dermatologist.
I agree with Devon. Though, I’m not surprised the FDA is rejecting the device on those grounds given the news last week about the FDA regulating drugs based on it’s comparative effectiveness.
I am kind of surprised it is only a $56 per patient difference between Medicare and private insurance. Not that $56 is not significant.
The United States owns several territories that could easily be sold to raise cash. What need do we have for Johnston Atoll or Wake Island?