Category: Interesting Links

Hits and Misses

Research suggests that in the Olympics, those who finish third are likely to be a lot happier than those who finish second.

Something I bet you didn’t know: The father of affirmative action (in the sense of racial preferences and quotas) was Richard Nixon.

There are almost 11 million Health Savings Accounts with well over $20 billion in assets.

Under EU rules Britain will add illegal drug sales and prostitution to its calculations of GDP.

Feb 13, 2014 | 16 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

More lawlessness: Mid-sized employers get another year’s delay.

Double lawlessness: large employers don’t have to offer coverage to more than 70 percent of their workers next year.

Gym memberships hit with ObamaCare tax.

Did you know that Uncle Sam is spending millions of dollars encouraging people to eat more pizza?

Feb 11, 2014 | 16 comments | by John Goodman

Hits and Misses

David Williams: there is no nursing shortage.

Quote of the day on the doc fix agreement: “The deal’s not done until they”ve agreed on how to pay for it.” Kevin Outterson.

The market for sex. Fascinating post.

Almost one in four 26 year-olds are still living with their parents.

Feb 10, 2014 | 19 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

More lawlessness: consumers may switch health plans before the end of March.

AIDS patients in ObamaCare limbo as insurers reject checks.

For some, the only place to get help for a mental illness is behind bars.

Almost 3 million people earning between three and four times the federal poverty rate may have to pay up to 9.5 percent of their income toward in premiums before the (ObamaCare) subsidy kicks in.

Black teenage unemployment rate at 38% and President Obama wants a higher minimum wage?

Feb 10, 2014 | 16 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

Despit e the government’s bribe of nearly $27 billion to digitize patient records, nearly 70% of physicians say electronic health record (EHR) systems have not been worth it.

One-third of the new Medicaid enrollees will be inmates, parolees or people just released from prison.

Moocs (massively open online classes) are not as easy to offer as you might think.

Accenture, the contractor urgently tapped to help fix the federal health-insurance website, has a history of troubled projects and allegations of ethical lapses.

Feb 10, 2014 | 13 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

White House: It’s a good thing that ObamaCare will drive 2.5 million Americans out of the workforce.

Less than 10 percent of doctor practices are ready for the transition to ICD-10 coding; the deadline to switch to is Oct. 1.

AOL chief cuts 401(k) benefits, blames ObamaCare.

Feb 06, 2014 | 12 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

ObamaCare will push 2 million workers out of labor market: CBO.

Bill Clinton is the “liar” the public is most able to forgive (43%); Nixon is at 12% and Bernie Madoff is at 3%.

Numbers released by Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn and Facebook show that in the first six months of 2013, the NSA submitted requests for private information from at least 59,000 user accounts.

Feb 04, 2014 | 18 comments | by John Goodman

Hits and Misses

Senate Rep ublicans have changed their plan: the original version would have taxed employer-proved coverage in excess of 65% of the average plan cost; the new version taxes insurance in excess of “65% of the average market price for an expensive high option plan.” Hmmm. Original plan here.

Cato study: Immigration has no effect on welfare spending.

An economic explanation for human sacrifice: could it have been a way of keeping civic order?

Finding: Democracy doesn’t have much effect on inequality. HT:Tyler

Feb 04, 2014 | 16 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

New regulations threaten to hamstring a Medicare Part D program that is working very well.

Kids being denied specialty treatment because of health plans in an (ObamaCare) exchange.

Is the (ObamaCare) Innovation Center squandering its resources?

Detroit will give retirees money; they’ll get subsidized insurance in the exchange.

Feb 04, 2014 | 15 comments | by John Goodman

Hits and Misses

After puberty, the prevalence of migraines is higher in women than in men: 18% for women, and 7% for men.

Can lack of sleep be slowing down the growth of G.D.P.?

Ten most expensive insurance markets in the country: they include Aspen, Vail and the state of Alaska.

David Henderson: to reduce inequality, raise the wages of those at the bottom and create opportunities for higher-paying jobs, get rid of occupational licensing.

Feb 04, 2014 | 15 comments | by John Goodman