Category: Interesting Links

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

2.3 million workers could see their hours reduced because of ObamaCare.

Con artists posing as (ObamaCare) navigators are engaged in identity theft. HT: InsureBlog.

NYC school kitchen managers called on the carpet for ordering butter. (It’s now a banned food item.)

Is President Obama getting ready to go after your 401(k) account?

May 10, 2013 | 11 comments | by John Goodman

Hospital Billing vs. Quality, and Other Links

Hospital marketplace: “price has nothing to do with quality.”

Republicans are refusing to appoint members to ObamaCare’s IPAB (“death panel”) board.

Can smoking prevent Parkinson’s disease?

Can marijuana prevent Aids? HT: David Henderson.

Is owning a dog good for your health?

May 10, 2013 | 13 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

Does the government record and store every single phone call made in the U.S.?

California is refusing to tell anyone how much it is spending implementing ObamaCare.

Drug discovery has slowed down.

Can hospital price transparency make us worse off?

May 10, 2013 | 14 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

The Obama administration argues that the sequester is (harmfully) preventing vaccinations for the poor, even though their new budget calls for an even larger cut.

More than 90 percent of medical specialists who diagnose and manage Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in preschoolers do not follow treatment guidelines.

Maryland BlueCross has filed for an average increase of 25 percent for individual coverage, warning young people could pay as much as 150 percent more.

U.S. hospitals are absorbing an estimated $8.3 billion annual hit in lost productivity and increased patient discharge times because of outmoded technology.

May 08, 2013 | 10 comments | by John Goodman

Democratic Leaders Concerned about the ACA, and Other Links

Harry Reid: More funding needed to avoid an ObamaCare “train wreck.”

Yglesias: a better Oregon study would give half the families $2,000 of Medicaid benefits and the other half $2,000 in cash.

Is the slowdown in health care spending permanent? Two studies say yes and two say no...(Harry Truman’s economists)

Food stamps for pets.

May 07, 2013 | 13 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

Lawyer who drafted White House drone policy: The U.S. would rather kill suspects than send them to Cuban detention center.

Unless a state government specifically allows it, brokers and agents cannot help people get insurance in the health insurance exchange. (The federal government is going to spend millions of dollars on untrained “navigators” instead.)

Problem with the 3-page ObamaCare application form: it’s an invitation to fraud.

May 03, 2013 | 15 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

The federal government will spend at least $890,000 this year on service fees for bank accounts that hold no money.

If these are the same products that people buy and use at home, why are states outlawing teeth-whitening services unless done by a licensed dentists?

Why doctors are sued: Errors in diagnosis.

May 02, 2013 | 13 comments | by John Goodman

MLR Results in Increased Profits, and Other Links

Insurers could actually profit from the medical loss ratio rules.

Reihan Salam on Goodman. (Spot on.)

Megan McArdle on Bush v. Gore. (Fascinating.)

Doctors are nicer to thinner patients.

May 01, 2013 | 10 comments | by John Goodman

Ramthun on HSAs for the Military, and Other Links

Roy Ramthun asks: why can’t the military and their families have Health Savings Accounts?

P4P in Australia: Physician behavior didn’t change.

Can you cure yourself by just thinking?

Britain doesn’t prove the Keynesians are right; it proves they are wrong.

Apr 30, 2013 | 13 comments | by John Goodman

Headlines I Wish I Hadn’t Seen

Is the media trivializing Medicare Advantage insurance?

The Department of Health and Human Services has just handed out a $3.1 million PR contract to “roll out a campaign to convince skeptical — or simply confused — Americans the Affordable Care Act is good for them and convince them to enroll in a health plan.”

Congress in secret talks to exempt itself from ObamaCare.

Washington airports spared sequester impacts.

The Internal Revenue Service issued more than $11 billion in improper refunds.

Apr 25, 2013 | 12 comments | by John Goodman