The Angry Bear

I should have plaque on the wall of some hospitals stating I was there and we (the hospital) made out like bandits. Some of the procedures and meds they do and give me are not in your average Tylenol category. Not much I can do about it. Merril at GoozNews posted this exposé on how the pricing for physicians is set and to which there is no outside attendance. If you do attend, you sign an agreement not to reveal information. If you are wondering...

The deal is much better than I expected for Democrats, and much worse for Republicans (preliminary summaries by Dayen and Stein).  Of course, the whole thing was destructive and pointless and the deal is bad in the way one would expect – it includes work requirements for some food stamp and TANF recipients.  On the plus side, these requirements are crafted to limit the number of people affected while letting the Republicans claim a “win”. Over the...

Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared it should be May 30. It is believed the date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country. The first large observance was held that year at...

Two articles here, each on the same topic about extreme wealth going untaxed or taxed less than those in lower income brackets. The first story is about a letter sent to World Economic attendees sent by a bunch of millionaires. The second story is about historian and correspondent Rutger Bregman having a moment at Devos in 2019. Rutger claims he delivered a blast about taxes. If you listen to the clip, it sounds like he had a conversation with them....

Annie at Annie Asks You Blog had this post up the last couple of days. Annie is looking at the threat of a third presidential candidate in 2024. The effort of which is to result in the watering down of votes for either candidate in Purple states in which the election results are close. If there is any threat greater to the US, it is the “No Labels” potential intrusion into the 2024 election as the third candidate. This is or could be as bad as...

“The modern free press,” Infidel753 Blog, Infidel753 In the US, we have probably the world’s strongest protections for free speech and freedom of the press, thanks to the First Amendment and the citadel of jurisprudence built on it.  And yet the mainstream media here are usually strikingly timid and reluctant to call a spade a spade.  Recent examples of this include their treatment of Trump as a normal presidential candidate despite his abuse of...

First blush, I would like to take McCarthy to the west side of Chicago on Madison Ave just west of where the Northwest Highway joins the Dan Ryan. Let him explain there why the people around there are expendable. I know the area well enough so as to keep out of it. This is a sellout. WASHINGTON, May 27 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy reached a tentative debt deal to suspend the federal...

Weekly Indicators for May 22 – 26 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. Several of the indicators that popped higher one week ago sank back lower this week. The overall picture remains very slight positivity in the coincident numbers. Meanwhile stock prices continued to make several new 3 month+ highs, but several long leading indicators, including corporate profits as reported in  revised...

Fred Dobbs had a comment “a poll from KFF” on the Open Thread which led to this article. Read it, rewrote much of it, and posted it. More on the economics on healthcare. What is not being said here is what are the costs to the nation of no healthcare. Here we are just reporting on the disenrolled and not what is happening later. “The Unwinding of Medicaid Continuous Enrollment: Knowledge and Experiences of Enrollees,” KFF, Multiple Authors....

I read through this short report on Laboratory Benefit Managers which included commentary on Pharmacy Benefit Managers. My overall opinion is they are middlemen and as such they add cost to the delivery of healthcare. The explanation does provide insight. The Time is Now for Laboratory Benefit Management, Managed Heathcare Executive, April 2022. PBMs Explained We have Pharmacy Benefit Managers (Pharmacist Society of the State of New York)...