The usual mix of articles on the internet. The important ones are healthcare and legal issues. The usual legal issues going on with trump who is flinging as much mud against the wall to confuse the issue of his attack on the US. Eventually, this will come to an end. Hopefully, there is an end where trump is prosecuted to the fullest extent he can be . . , jail. Jail, even if it is for one year. The other big issue I am seeing is commercial healthcare insurance which includes Medicare Advantage. Insurance plans have upped their premiums higher as the nation subsidizes the premium costs. The nation should be looking at Single Payer to eliminate the extent to which commercial insurance is used. Medicare Advantage is denying claims and delaying
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run75441 considers the following as important: climate change, elections, Featured Stories, Healthcare, Hot Topics, In-Box, law, October 19 2022, politics, US/Global Economics
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The usual mix of articles on the internet. The important ones are healthcare and legal issues.
The usual legal issues going on with trump who is flinging as much mud against the wall to confuse the issue of his attack on the US. Eventually, this will come to an end. Hopefully, there is an end where trump is prosecuted to the fullest extent he can be . . , jail. Jail, even if it is for one year.
The other big issue I am seeing is commercial healthcare insurance which includes Medicare Advantage. Insurance plans have upped their premiums higher as the nation subsidizes the premium costs. The nation should be looking at Single Payer to eliminate the extent to which commercial insurance is used. Medicare Advantage is denying claims and delaying treatments by slowing them down for months at a time. In some cases, the denials and delays are risking the lives of the patients.
Healthcare
“Critics Fire Back at Florida’s COVID Vax Analysis,” MedPage Today, Kristina Fiore. Experts pointed out flaws in the data behind the Florida Surgeon General’s latest vaccine recs.
“Medium COVID Could Be the Most Dangerous COVID,” The Atlantic. it does seem plausible that even a mild case of the disease could shorten my life, or leave me with chronic fatigue, breathing trouble, and brain fog. Roughly one in 10 Americans appears to share my concern.
“Transforming Management of Opioid Use Disorder with Universal Treatment,” NEJM, Rahul Gupta, Rachel L. Levine, Javier A. Cepeda, and David R. Holtgrave. According to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were more than 107,000 drug-overdose deaths in the United States in 2021. More than 1 million people have died of drug overdoses since 1999.
“HHS Sec. Becerra extends PHE again thru Jan. 2023, pushing back a Medicaid disenrollment crisis,” ACA Signups, Charles Gaba. The federal Public Health Emergency declaration is still in place through at least January 11, 2023…which also means that the Medicaid continuous coverage provisions will remain in place until at least the end of January . . .
“Computers May Have Cracked the Code to Diagnosing Sepsis,” The Atlantic, Simar Bajaj. much research has focused on catching sepsis early, but the condition’s complexity has plagued existing clinical support systems—electronic tools that use pop-up alerts to improve patient care—with low accuracy and high rates of false alarm.
“The Medicare Advantage Trade-Off: Saving Money, Losing Access,” MedPage Today, Cheryl Clark. There is a greater, and less well-publicized, problem with MA plans — denial of physicians’ referrals for care. Even after appeals and approval, there are delays in scheduling.
“Health Insurers Get Government Cash, Then Jack Up Prices,” (levernews.com), David Sirota. In 2010, Democrats sold the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to Americans as a way to both preserve a privately financed health insurance system and provide more affordable and expanded coverage. Twelve years later, as health insurance companies report record profits, the opposite has happened. These revenues are fueled in large part by the growth of Medicare Advantage plans,
“Brokers Earn More to Steer New Beneficiaries to Medicare Advantage,” MedPage Today, Cheryl Clark. One reason why enrollment in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans has been growing as fast as it has — with 2.2 million new enrollees between 2021 and 2022 — is the complicated broker commission structure.
“COVID-19 long-term risks include 44 neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s: study,” Fortune, Alexa Mikhail. COVID-19 can impact the risk of developing a host of neurological disorders. While long COVID’s impact on people is still being critically studied, new research found that the virus may increase the risk of developing memory problems and even Alzheimer’s in the year after initial infection.
“Do You ‘Matter’ to Others? The Answer Could Predict Your Mental Health,” Scientific American, The psychological construct of mattering gauges the risk of depression, suicide and other disorders. Mattering overlaps with self-esteem, social support and a sense of belonging, he says, but is not identical.
Politics
“Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash face the pressure of Biden’s new gig economy rules,” (qz.com), Ananya Bhattacharya. A new draft proposal released by the Department of Labor (DOL) Tuesday (Oct. 12) aims to rescind a Trump-era rule that made it easier for firms to classify workers as independent contractors.
“Deputy Dawg for U.S. Senate,” Digby’s Hullabaloo, Tom Sullivan. Herschel flashes debate audience.
“Do Voters Care About Debates? Katie Hobbs Is Going to Find Out,” Washington Monthly, Bill Scher. Arizona’s Katie Hobbs is not the first gubernatorial candidate in history who refused to debate. In 2018, Kay Ivey—after ascending to the Alabama governorship the prior year—wouldn’t debate in the primary and the general election. I do not believe Lake is worthy of consideration either. However, Hobbs could show she is the sane on when standing across from Lake.
“Jon Stewart Wins the Debate On Anti-Trans Hysteria,” Crooks and Liars, Marissa Higgins. Who is Rutledge and why was this conversation valuable to have with her? As mentioned before, she’s the attorney general of Arkansas. Arkansas, as you might remember, was the first state to pass a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth.
Economy
“Welcome to inflation chaos,” The one-handed economist, David Zetland. Price inflation happens on the “pull” side and Asset inflation happens on the “push” side . . .
“The Fed is facing a housing Catch-22,” (qz.com), Tim Fernholz. The latest inflation measure from the US government, an 8.4% annual increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), has left market watchers with little doubt that the US Federal Reserve bank will hike interest rates by 0.75 percentage points at its next meeting in November.
“Contingent Supply: Designing an SPR Put Facility To Maximize Domestic Oil Production,” (employamerica.org), Arnab Datta, Skanda Amarnath, and Alex Williams. The Biden Administration has signaled an intent to structure Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) replenishment in order to provide the insurance and stability necessary to stabilize oil prices and investment.,
“Infographic: Percent change versus percentage-point change,” (journalistsresource.org). Clark Merrefield. A tale of two math terms: An infographic story about when to use percent change vs. percentage-point change.
International
“Inside the U.S. Effort to Arm Ukraine,” The New Yorker, Joshua Yaffa. Vladimir Putin had effectively embraced the stalemate of the war’s second phase, wagering that, as the front lines held and the conflict increasingly disrupted global energy and food supplies, the Ukrainian public would tire of the war and the West’s commitment would wane.
“Why Is the IMF Collecting Surcharges from Developing Countries?.” (cepr.net), Mark Weisbrott. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is often described as a “lender of last resort,” which of course is not meant to flatter the governments that find themselves in need of borrowing from them. But many do, and their citizens often chafe under the policy conditions attached to the loans.
Legal
“The Supreme Court, for Now, Is Playing a Central Role in Discrediting Donald Trump,” The New Yorker, David Rohde. Ceaseless legal battles, from the Supreme Court to federal courts to state and local courts, are a political win-win for the former President. If a judge rules in his favor, he’ll say it shows that the Justice Department and the F.B.I. are persecuting him.
“A Court Just Ruled Collective Punishment Is Legal in America,” (rsn.org), Sam Gedge. A Court Just Ruled Collective Punishment Is Legal in America. A family faced eviction from their home because a family member who didn’t live with them committed a crime. This is the law of the land in some American towns.
“What we learned from the Jan. 6th committee’s likely final public hearing,” On Point (wbur.org), Paige Sutherland and Meghna Chakrabarti. “The vast weight of evidence presented so far has shown us that the central cause of January 6th was one man, Donald Trump, who many others followed,” committee vice chair Liz Cheney said. “None of this would have happened without him. He was personally and substantially involved in all of it.”
“The Inevitable Indictment of Donald Trump,” The Atlantic, Franklin Foer. Based on subpoenas and the witnesses seen exiting the grand jury, the department is clearly moving up the ladder, getting ever closer to Trump’s inner circle and to Trump himself.
Ecology and Environment
“Scientists Discover Surprising Remedy to Plastic Pollution: Caterpillar Spit,” (treehugger.com), Matt Alderton. The saliva of wax worms contains enzymes that can break down plastic in a matter of hours, new research shows.
“Wildlife Populations Have Dropped 69%, Finds WWF Report,” (treehugger.com), Mary Jo DiLonardo. Released every two years by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the study examines global biodiversity and the health of the planet. The latest report reveals an average 69% drop in world vertebrate species in less than 50 years.
“Italian vs Dutch flood infrastructure,” The one-handed economist, David Zetland. The Italians proposed the “Mose” project and the Dutch have their Delta project for flood control.
Best of the Substacks;
“October 16, 2022,” Letters from an American, Prof. Heather Cox Richardson. Republicans’ rejection of the idea that voters have the right to choose their leaders is not a new phenomenon. It is part and parcel of Republican governance since the 1980s, when it became clear to Republican leaders that their “supply-side economics,” a program designed to put more money into the hands of those at the top of the economy, was not actually popular with voters, who recognized that cutting taxes and services did not, in fact, result in more tax revenue and rising standards of living.
“Deferring To Donors, Dems Ignore Their Cautionary Tale,” (levernews.com), David Sirota. In 2014, the party learned pro-choice messaging can’t replace economic populism. That lesson is being ignored in deference to big money. Democrats may lose winnable elections in tough economic times if they are not willing to break with their big donors and offer a populist economic message promising to fix the problems those donors are creating.
“Unquestioned Commitment To Sparkle Motion,” Bad Crow Review, Weldon Berger. Given the fecklessness and precarious access to power of the Democrats, and the various crises closing in on us at speed, to me any loyalty to Democrats looks like the fondness of tradition or the sunk cost fallacy or both.
Other Links to Articles
“What News was in My In-Box,” Angry Bear, October 12, 2022.
“What News Was in My In-Box,” Angry Bear, October 4, 2022.
Infidel753, “Link round-up” for 16 October 2022
Homeless on the High Desert, g’da, “Monday Missing Mosquitos“