The Angry Bear

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,...

Labour power as a common-pool resource: in memory of Paul Burkett Human mental and physical capacities to work have elastic but definite natural limits. Those capacities must be continuously restored and enhanced through nourishment, rest, and social interaction. Over the longer term that capacity for labour also has to be replenished by a new generation of young people, reared by the previous generation. It is this combination of definite...

Admiral, Captain Ronny Jackson was demoted and was not too happy about it. I think he deserved it. After reading the Inspector General’s report, it should have happened sooner. Admiral Ronny as compared to Admiral “Bull” Halsey? Hmmm/ Navy demoted Ronny Jackson after probe into White House behavior, msn.com, Dan Diamond. The worst job I had in the Marines was having to chase prisoners to the Brig. Most of the time it was because of drugs. They...

I am late in getting this information up on Angry Bear. I should have checked fellow Michigander Charles Gaba’s site ACA Signups. Most of the time, Charles is way ahead of me on healthcare just like some of the others are from time to time. This is a rundown of what President Biden is going to tell us tonight. What he intends to offer US Citizens, with Congressional help, and with regard to healthcare. Keep this post as a marker and let’s see...

Initial jobless claims continue positive, suggesting good news for the tomorrow’s February unemployment rate as well  – by New Deal democrat The most important reason I cover initial jobless claims is because they are an “official” short leading indicator. They are also very good at forecasting the short-term trend in the unemployment rate in the monthly jobs report, which will be updated for February tomorrow. And the news continues to be...

This post uses material that a Facebook friend posted. I re-post it here with her permission.Any provider that uses a Billing Software (that has Change HealthCare integrated in their system as the main clearinghouse) can’t get claims to insurance companies once they medically bill for something/services in their software. Change Healthcare is the ‘bridge’. The claim goes from the provider, over the bridge, to the insurance company. Then once the claim...

Up-Dated: Dean Baker, CEPR co-founder and Senior Economist, shares what he wants to hear from the President during Thursday’s #SOTU2024. [embedded content] State of the Union 2024: Biden’s Economic Record, youtube.comDean Baker and CEPR hopes Joe Biden reminds the country of his strong economic record while offering substantive policy pathways to bring more relief to the hard issues many face every day. He...

Reversing extreme wealth concentration means going after property income. Originally Published at Wealth Economics Economists and pundits have been cheered of late by the labor-share increase during the first couple of years of the Covid era. And even, for a moment, lower-income workers were making progress vs higher-income folks. This is good news. In the long view, though, these happy developments are just a minor blip in the half-century...