The Angry Bear

As UnitedHealth Medicare Advantage Care racks up unprecedented profits, the people it insures battle for care. Open Thread February 29 2024 “The Republican Party is dying as Trump and his supporters take it over . . .” Angry Bear

PTSD is a scourge for military veterans. The good news is that the VA system provides specialized, high-quality care for PTSD; the bad news is that corporate-friendly politicians are privatizing this vital public health system. PTSD Is a Nightmare. A Fully Funded VA Can Provide Relief, jacobin.com, Suzanne Gordon and Steve Early As the introduction say, there is politics involved with the VA. Moving veterans to commercial healthcare is a...

I took Algebra I in 8th grade. Algebra I and typing were the two classes I took in junior high that I can say I have used regularly for the rest of my life (so far).In the school system I was in, there was tracking. Some kids got to take 8th grade Algebra I. The rest took regular math. The ones who took Algebra I in 8th took Geometry in 9th, Algebra II and Trig in 10th, advanced pre-calculus in 11th and Calculus in 12th. I got off that bus after 10th...

Don Berwick says MA growth “should be slowed or stopped” Obama CMS Chief Don Berwick: Medicare Advantage Plans Game the System, MedPage Today, Cheryl Clark Ok, this is a long one. It is easy to follow. Donald Berwick is worthwhile read. As written several times on Angry Bear, the biggest driver of healthcare cost is “pricing” increases as reflected in hospitals, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare insurance. It was Dr. Donald Berwick while...

I grew up with the admonition that you always turn off the lights if you’re the last to leave the room. Or “close the lights,” as my grandma used to say. But home lighting technology has evolved considerably over the past couple of decades.1. Does it save money to turn out the lights when you leave the room?2. Does it shorten the life of the bulb by turning it off and on more frequently?If you have LED lighting, the answers are (1) not enough to...

Weekly Indicators for March 4 – 8 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. Generally speaking, there is a demarcation between consumer-oriented data, which is in the main positive, and manufacturing-oriented data, which is mainly weak or negative. As usual, clicking over and reading will bring you up to the virtual moment on the economy, and reward me with a little lunch money. New...

KFF Health News: In 2010 President Barack Obama signed legislation to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Its purpose he said “the new agency had one priority . . . looking out for people, not big banks, not lenders, not investment houses.” But people . . . Since then, the CFPB has done its share of policing mortgage brokers, student loan companies, and banks. More recently, the U.S. health care system has turned tens of millions of...

A comprehensive All-Payer Claims Databases would help the health care system become more effective and efficient. The Department of Labor could do something about that, but hasn’t. Merrill at GoozNews is depicting why providers and software vendors closely guard patient information, maintaining exclusivity so as patients have to rely on them. Insurance companies follow suit so as to maintain the frequency and particularity of care for disease,...

Let’s compare apples to apples here. Originally Published at Wealth Economics Uncle Joe has thrown out this 8.2% figure a couple of times, including in last night’s SOTU. Multiple folks have unpacked it; it’s not the standard “tax rate” measure. The usual “tax rate” is taxes divided by personal income, which doesn’t include accrued holding gains. The alternative that Joe’s using is based on Total “Haig-Simons” income, which does include...

February jobs report: the Household Survey is downright recessionary, while the Establishment Survey is decidedly mixed  – by New Deal democrat In the past few months, my focus has been on whether jobs gains are most consistent with a “soft landing,” i.e., no further deterioration, or whether deceleration is ongoing; and more specifically:  Whether there is further deceleration in jobs gains compared with the last 6 month average,...