Category: Interesting Links

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

At least 30 states have attempted to shut down teeth-whitening businesses, and far more often than not, dental-industry interests, not consumers, drove these actions.

Republicans ask insurance companies how much premiums will rise under ObamaCare; the results are not good.

Big problem for ObamaCare: 20% of Americans don’t have checking accounts.

May 22, 2013 | 11 comments | by John Goodman

Americans on Pet Spending, and Other Links

Americans spent approximately $61.4 billion in 2011 on about 218 million pets, not counting several million fish. HT: Timothy Taylor.

Miami hospital tells what buyers actually pay. HT: Sarah Kliff.

Unions not happy with health care reform law.

May 22, 2013 | 16 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

42,173 Canadians received medical treatment outside of the country in 2012.

The cost of government regulation: $14,768 per household.

A class action suit claims the IRS improperly seized 60 million medical records of 10 million people.

May 21, 2013 | 11 comments | by John Goodman

Health IT to Raise Costs, and Other Links

73% of doctors: Health IT will raise quality; 71%: it will also raise costs.

Fidelity: A 65-year-old couple retiring this year will need $220,000 on average to cover medical expenses.

The highest paid public employee in your state is… [HT: Jason Shafrin]

May 20, 2013 | 12 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

Things don’t go as well when the wife earns more than the husband.

The Internal Revenue Service official in charge of the tax-exempt organizations at the time when the unit targeted tea party groups now runs the IRS office responsible for the health care legislation.

The costliest hospital in the nation is in New Jersey and it was bankrupt only a few years ago.

The IRS has requested funding for 1,954 full-time equivalent employees for its Affordable Care Act office in 2014.

May 17, 2013 | 12 comments | by John Goodman

Salt Consumption Isn’t So Bad After All, and Other Links

Panel: there’s nothing wrong with salt.

Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate flu activity. HT: Tyler Cowen.

25 million employees are working in industries where employers are most likely to drop their health insurance.

May 15, 2013 | 13 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

How many pages of ObamaCare regulations are there? 13,000? 20,000? 33,000?

Five months after primary care doctors who treat Medicaid patients were supposed get a big pay raise, most physicians have yet to see it.

In Washington, D.C., smoking is a pre-existing condition: henceforth insurers shall be forbidden by law to charge smokers higher rates than non-smokers.

James Bovard: IRS targeting of political opponents is normal in U.S. history.

May 15, 2013 | 11 comments | by John Goodman

U.S. News vs. Comparion Hospital Rankings, and Other Links

Study challenges U.S. News ranking of U.S. hospitals.

Does austerity cause suicides?

What the new ObamaCare tax form is likely to look like.

May 13, 2013 | 11 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

Enroll America, the group that is supposed to be leading the charge to get people insured, will not be enrolling anyone.

Nearly one-third of death certificates are wrong.

Kroger’s would need to spend $20 million to come into compliance with the new calorie-posting regulations.

May 13, 2013 | 10 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

Does the IRS have an “enemies list”?

The new, aggressive pathogens in China and Saudi Arabia may or may not carve a deadly path to the West; but sooner or later, you can be sure, one will.

41% of small businesses are postponing hiring because of ObamaCare law; only 9% think the law will be good for them.

The UN wants us to eat more insects.

May 13, 2013 | 14 comments | by John Goodman