As you may recall, Angry Bear has discussed Medicaid purges, why they are happening, and who are impacted by disenrollment. You can find our commentaries here, here, and here. Most recently . . . Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker, KFF, June 20, 2023 At least 1,514,000 Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled as of June 22, 2023, based on the most current data from 25 states and the District of Columbia. Overall, 37% of people with a...
Read More »Medicare survey shows, VA hospitals out-performing private hospitals
This recent article on NPR was passed on to me after a recent conversation with Steve Early who along with Suzanne Gordon write articles on veteran’s affairs. Usually and in this instance, NPR is careful who or what they support. However, you still have to read things carefully. Steve in conjunction with Suzanne Gordon and Jasper Craven recently released their book “Our Veterans.” I post on the bool most recently. The book “critically examines the...
Read More »Minnesota’s future: How to contain health care costs, revisited
This is an interesting occurrence. On its own Minnesota is moving forth with a health care study to be completed by March 2024. The study topic is the implementation of single payer within the state and its impact on administrative costs. This year the state began questioning its present commitment to traditional healthcare’s and its administrative role in healthcare. Kip on numerous occasions has pointed out the costs of administrative costs of...
Read More »U.S. Healthcare a Global Perspective 2022
I broke this report down into two parts, a Part one which is this recital covering natural health outcomes. A Part Two will review a different healthcare perspective or unnatural health outcomes. I broke it into two parts to make it an easier read (duration). I also rewrote parts of this Issue Brief to give it greater clarity. However, it is not a complex read. The charts and graphs enhance its clarity when comparing the US to other countries. The...
Read More »Privatization’s Four Ds are being used to Defund, Degrade, Demonize, and Dismantle VA Healthcare and Privatize it.
If you must know in order to understand why I would post this, I am a Vietnam era veteran. I use the VA healthcare system. I find the VA to be a valuable entity for all veterans. It goes beyond healthcare and provides help for education, buying a home, and other valuable services which would be costly to us if privatized. All of this I have used and found it to be valuable. American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein frequently...
Read More »A Pittance Offered Up for National PFAS Cleanup
What is being offered up by 3M, etc. (NYT article below) is a pittance of what will be necessary to clean up lakes, wetlands associated with the lakes, rivers, and streams. I lived in Michigan. The reported contamination from PFAS, etc. there is massive and then there is a potential Lake Erie cleanup, the Niagara River, and into Lake Ontario. You can fish in Michigan lakes, etc. but they are advising not to eat the fish. Also areas near air force...
Read More »Corporate Healthcare being Handed ‘Get Out of Jail Free Cards’
Much like Kip Sullivan in Minnesota/PNHP who Angry Bear has featured, Kay Tillow of Kentucky is a Single Payer activist. You will find Kip saying similar things about Medicare Advantage, etc. And we are all a little bit different attempting to reach the same goals . . . preventing the privatization of Medicare and achieving Single Payer. Kay’s article appeared on Common Dreams. I have added some things to her article and emphasized some points I...
Read More »Irrigation efficiency for who?
I live halfway between Phoenix and Tucson. Pretty much what you would call desert if you were new to the area like I am. Water is an issue as much of it comes from the Colorado river. The limits to draw water from the Colorado are still being determined or in a flux. The states are jockeying for more to insure growth. Nothing is stopping our small city from issuing more building permits. Irrigation efficiency for who? – The one-handed economist,...
Read More »Pharma and Chamber of Commerce Suing to Stop Drug Negotiations
Big business organization in the form of the Chamber of Commerce and a Phamaceutical company are joining together and taking on the government to keep it from negotiating pharmaceutical pricing. Chances are well in favor of this ending up in SCOTUS based upon a moneyed corporation willing to spend its way into court. A resource Gideon Wainwright did not have. Those doors have mostly closed for citizens. And today, we have states lacking...
Read More »CMS and CBO consistently overestimated the growth in health care spending
National Health Expenditure Projections, 2022–31: Growth To Stabilize Once The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ends, Health Affairs, National health expenditures are projected to have grown 4.3 percent in 2022, slower than nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 9.2 percent, leading to a decrease in the projected health spending share of GDP from 18.3 percent in 2021 to 17.4 percent in 2022.1 However, over the course of the full...
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