It’s no mystery that Americans are paying a bigger share of their medical bills out-of-pocket these days. Health plan deductibles have about doubled in the past two decades. My 2023 health plan deductible is nearly $9,000. Some family plans have combined deductibles of $15,000. High deductibles are causing more Americans to delay medical care according to The New York Times.
Friday Links
- CBO: Social Security and Medicare to become insolvent in the next 10 years.
- Disappointing discovery: ChatGPT is politically biased.
- FDA Commissioner Robert Califf: Low Generic Prices Can Lead to Drug Shortages. (InsideHealthPolicy – gated)
- Florida Surgeon General issues an alert on adverse events connected to Covid vaccines.
- Reasons to have more sex: it reduces pain, relieves stress, improves sleep, lowers blood pressure and strengthens heart health. (NYT)
One-in-Ten FDA-Approved Drug Failed at Least One Drug Trial Goals
Is U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval the gold standard for whether a drug truly does what it’s supposed to? Not according to a recent analysis. A review by Harvard and Yale researchers found that one-in-ten drugs approved by the FDA between 2018-2021 failed one or more of the stated endpoints.
Food for Thought: How Much Does Food Effect Your Health?
The United States government maintains a dietary pyramid of foods we’re supposed to eat (see image above; that’s not the real USDA food diet pyramid). Guidelines purport to enlighten Americans on what foods they should eat and in what proportions. Supposedly, women need a diet of roughly 2,000 calories a day while men need a diet that doesn’t exceed 2,500 calories a day. That’s not just any calories, however. Our caloric intake has to be made up of certain foods in specific proportions.