- Make payments site neutral – same fee, regardless of where the service is performed (hospital, out-patient clinic, doctor’s office, etc.)
- End Medicare’s bad-debt compensation program that reimburses hospitals for 65% of uncollected patient out-of-pocket costs.
- Get serious about tackling fraud.
- Recognize preventive medicine as a money saver rather than a money spender.
How Joe Biden Wants to Save Medcare
Trump (actual) | Biden Proposed | |
Personal income tax top rate | 37% | 44.6% |
Capital gains tax top rate (including NIIT) | 23.8% | 44.6% |
Corporate tax | 21% | 28% |
Tax on Unrealized Capital Gains | 0% | 25% |
Medicare tax/NIIT | 3.8% | 5% |
Stock Buyback tax | 0% | 4% |
Source: Committee to Unleash Prosperity
Is Medical Tourism Safe? It Depends!
A white minivan carrying four Americans from North Carolina crossed the border into Matamoros, Mexico where they were ambushed by an armed gang. A Mexican bystander was killed along with two of the Americans. The two surviving Americans were held captive until they were later freed by Mexican police. They had traveled 1,500 miles to a Mexican border town for cosmetic surgery.
Friday Links
- An argument for mask wearing, even after the Cochrane Review meta-analysis.
- An early (and completely uncritical) history of medical licensing. To be paired with Regulation of Medical Care by moi — for balance.
- Why Daylight Savings Time matters: “The body releases sleep-time and wake-time hormones at a particular time.” Studies have shown that deadly car accidents, workplace injuries, and heart attacks increase following the springtime change.
- Should a face-to-face meeting be required before doctors prescribe a controlled substance for a patient?
- California to end Walgreens contract over abortion pills policy.
- What the Biden plan to “save” Medicare doesn’t do: repeal the Democrats’ IRA bill that takes $246 billion out of Medicare. (CBO p. 72)