Quite a few varying articles in healthcare and other topics this week. Pfizer is hoping to make a killing on it mRNA vaccine, shots are approved for 6 months to five-years of age, Medicare Advantage plans, and Novartis is back again with a cancer drug. A COA has blocked student loan relief, lots of talk about housing being blown-up, etc. Is business struggling over the last two years? Read about GM’s spectacular 3rd qtr, 2022. The bottom 50% of the population had 2% of the nation’s wealth pre-pandemic. With the various programs and subsidies, there take on the nation’s wealth doubles to 4% That is till the FED has decided they have too much spending money. That trend will be reversed. In our new home our ceiling fans are run off of direct
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Quite a few varying articles in healthcare and other topics this week. Pfizer is hoping to make a killing on it mRNA vaccine, shots are approved for 6 months to five-years of age, Medicare Advantage plans, and Novartis is back again with a cancer drug. A COA has blocked student loan relief, lots of talk about housing being blown-up, etc. Is business struggling over the last two years? Read about GM’s spectacular 3rd qtr, 2022.
The bottom 50% of the population had 2% of the nation’s wealth pre-pandemic. With the various programs and subsidies, there take on the nation’s wealth doubles to 4% That is till the FED has decided they have too much spending money. That trend will be reversed.
In our new home our ceiling fans are run off of direct current using and inverter, Kind of kool technology. Cost per year? $6.
Healthcare
“Pfizer Expects to Hike US COVID Vaccine Price to $110-$130 Per Dose,” (medscape.com), Michael Erman. Pfizer Inc expects to roughly quadruple the price of its COVID-19 vaccine to about $110 to $130 per dose. This is after the United States government’s current purchase program expires.
“Evaluation of mRNA-1273 Vaccine in Children 6 Months to 5 Years of Age,” NEJM, Authors. Two 25-μg doses of mRNA-1273 vaccine were found to be safe in children 6 months to 5 years of age. They elicited immune responses that were noninferior to those in young adults.
“CMS Puts the Kibosh on Misleading Medicare Advantage Sales Pitches,” MedPage Today, Cheryl Clark.
“Dementia Signs Emerge Up to 9 Years Before Diagnoses,” MedPage Today, Judy George. Signs of brain impairment appear as early as 9 years before people received a diagnosis for Alzheimer’s or other dementia-related diseases. An analysis of U.K. Biobank data showed.
“Put CDC Back in Charge of Fighting COVID-19, Expert Says,” MedPage Today, Joyce Frieden. The Biden administration should empower the CDC. “Put it in the forefront to continue fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.” Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, at a vaccine conference sponsored by the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.
“How to fix American health care, according to 6 experts,” CNN, Authors. CNN Opinion asked health care and policy experts about their proposed solutions to refine our health care system so that it best serves all Americans.
“Novartis seals deal to license high-priced cancer drug,” SWI swissinfo.ch, Patrick Straub. Swiss pharma giant Novartis has finalised a deal with the Geneva-based Medicines Patent Pool to allow generic production of its patented drug nilotinib to treat chronic myeloid leukemia.
“Mayo Warns It Won’t Take Most Medicare Advantage Plans,” MedPage Today, Cheryl Clark. The Mayo Clinic sent letters this fall to all eligible Medicare beneficiaries who received care at its Arizona and Florida facilities in the last 3 years, warning them that it is out-of-network “with most Medicare Advantage plans.”
“Electronic Medical Records Are Strangling American Medicine,” MedPage Today, Dane Brodke. Our electronic medical records (EMRs) are still hopelessly broken. in 2022, software is suffocating American medicine.
“Identifying And Exploring Bias In Public Opinion On Scarce Resource Allocation During The COVID-19 Pandemic,” Health Affairs, Ari Ne’eman, Elizabeth Bell, Monica Schneider, and Dara Strolovitch. Respondents were 5.5 percentage points less likely to allocate a ventilator to a patient with a disability. Disability bias was correlated with older age cohorts and higher education levels of respondents.
“NAEP scores show big drop in wake of COVID,” Chalkbeat, Matt Barnum. Two and a half years after the pandemic arrived, it’s clearer than ever that COVID’s disruption had punishing consequences for millions of students. Students in fourth and eighth grade saw unprecedented declines in math and significant dips in reading achievement between 2019 and 2022, according to the results of national exams given last school year and released Monday.
Politics and Government
“How Samuel Adams Helped Ferment a Revolution,” The New Yorker, Adam Gopnik. He is now best known as the trademark of a Boston brewery, which does carry on its Web site the invitation “Revolutionaries Wanted,” though the revolution in play seems more to do with whether one calls a beverage a craft ale or a lager or a beer.
“IRS boosts standard deduction for 2023 tax year to account for inflation,” (consumeraffairs.com), Mark Huffman. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has made changes to the standard deduction and tax brackets for the 2023 tax year. In many cases, taxpayers will save money.
“Conservative Stalwart Challenging a Far-Right Legal Theory That Could Subvert American Democracy,” The New Yorker, Jane Mayer. In the case of Moore v. Harper, respondents filed a brief today that included a surprising new signatory: J. Michael Luttig. He has been known for years as perhaps the most conservative Republican judge in the country. Now, though, he has joined a coalition of veteran lawyers and nonpartisan government-watchdog groups fighting against a far-right Republican election-law challenge
“Detroit Water Department Creates $100M Fund to Replace Lead Pipes in City,” DBusiness Magazine, R.J. King. The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) announced it has amassed a $100 million fund via state and federal grants. It will provide for the replacement of an estimated 80,000 lead service lines in the city — at no additional cost to its customers.
“October 21, 2022,” The Wason Center, Luria, Kiggans knotted up at 45 in VA-2; Independents join Republicans in Making Inflation and Economy Top Issue; Abortion and Threats to Democracy Resonating with Democrats.
“Court temporarily blocks Biden’s student loan forgiveness,” AP News, Jim Salter. A federal appeals court late Friday issued an administrative stay temporarily blocking President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel billions of dollars in federal student loans, throwing the program into limbo just days after people began applying for loan forgiveness.
Economy
“Which housing markets are most exposed to the coming interest-rate storm?,” The Economist, Author. Stocks are sinking, a cost-of-living crisis is in full swing and the spectre of global recession looms. You wouldn’t know it by looking at the rich world’s housing markets, many of which continue to break records.
“Housing markets face a brutal squeeze,” The Economist, Author. Transactions are down. Home sales in America fell by a fifth in August compared with the previous year. As stated by the National Association of Realtors, a lobby group.
“Hurting Democracy Won’t Help the Economy,” The Atlantic, Tom Nichols. Last summer, it seemed like the Republicans were going to face a reversal of political gravity, and the Democrats would keep their majority during a first midterm election under a Democratic president.
“The US housing market is terrible for both buyers and sellers,” (qz.com), Clarisa Diaz. The pandemic, combined with inflation and rapidly climbing interest rates, is making up for an unusual housing market that is terrible for both sellers and buyers. On Thursday, the National Association of Realtors reported a 1.5% drop in home sales for September, as recession fears and rising mortgage rates keep buyers on the sidelines.
“The Argument for a Recession is Built on Weak Links: Inflation, Vacancies and Unemployment,” (employamerica.org), Preston Mui. As of the September 2022 FOMC meeting, the Federal Reserve has committed to the view that it will now require recession-level increases in unemployment to reduce inflation. The Fed now anticipates that the unemployment rate will increase from its current level of 3.5% to 4.4% over the same time period. If the Fed works to bring about these forecasts, the costs to workers will be tremendous.
“The Wealth of America’s Bottom 50 Percent Has Doubled,” (theintercept.com), Jon Scharz. Fed Chair Powell said more increases are likely. They will hurt, slowing growth and weakening the labor market. There is no other good option. Inflation must stop. Mr. Powell stressed, Americans are already suffering from rising prices. Low-income people have been hit the hardest. Or have they?
“Why Unemployment Can Stay Low While We Fight Inflation,” Roosevelt Institute, Justin Bloesch. Job growth has been even across sectors. Measures of both labor market tightness and wage growth are falling. The unemployment rate remains low. There is little reason to think today’s 3.5 percent unemployment rate is inherently more inflationary than it was in 2019.
“Detroit’s General Motors Reports Record Q3 Revenue of $41.9B, Net Income Rises,” DBusiness Magazine, Jake Bekemeyer. General Motors Co. in Detroit today announced financial results for the third quarter (Q3) of 2022, reporting revenue of $41.9 billion, a third quarter record for the company, and net income of $3.3 billion. Revenue and net income showed gains over Q3 of 2021, with the automaker reporting $26.7 billion in revenue and $2.4 billion in net income during that time.
“EV Battery Manufacturer Our Next Energy Opens New Headquarters in Novi,” DBusiness Magazine, Tim Keenan. Electric vehicle battery manufacturer Our Next Energy (ONE) officially opened its new headquarters in Novi Thursday with a ribbon cutting attended by several corporate, state, and local officials.
Miscellaneous
“The Home of Today Can Run on Direct Current,” (treehugger.com), Llyod Alter. In 2015 I wrote “The Home of Tomorrow will Run on Direct Current,” suggesting that you “look around your house. If you have, like me, banished incandescent bulbs, almost everything you own is running on low-voltage direct current.
“Best Emergency Loans (2022),” ConsumerAffairs, Lee Huffman. To make our choices for the best emergency loans, we collected 806 data points (26 individual data points for 31 lenders).
Best of the Substacks
“October 24, 2022,” Letters from an American, Prof. Heather Cox-Richardson. Attorney General Merrick Garland added: “[T]he government of China sought to interfere with the rights and freedoms of individuals in the United States and to undermine our judicial system that protects those rights. They did not succeed.”
“Ted Budd Aided Donors Trying To Bypass Predatory Lending Laws.” The Lever, Julia Rock. Documents show Ted Budd, the North Carolina GOP Senate candidate, pressed regulators to let his Wall Street donors get around predatory lending laws.
Other Links to Articles
“What News Was in My In-Box,” Angry Bear, October 19, 2022.
“What News was in My In-Box,” Angry Bear, October 12, 2022.
Infidel753, Link Roundup, October 23, 2022.
Homeless on the High Desert, g’da, Monday Morning Mess, October 24, 2022