- The US was one of only two among 21 similarly wealthy countries— along with Israel — in which life expectancy continued to decline last year.
- Covid seemed to crowd out the flu for the last two years. Some experts expect a big comeback this fall.
- Not following the science: In one of the few education programs the federal government directly oversees — Head Start preschools and child care centers for low-income families — mandatory masking rules are still on the books for teachers and children as young as 2-years-old.
- David Henderson: School shutdowns will shorten lives.
- DeLong: for at least 300,000 years – up until about 1870 – virtually all of our ancestors lived at the subsistence level.
- Some states spend twice as much per person on health care as other states.
- CVS is spending $8 billion to bring back doctor house calls.
Category: Cost of Healthcare
Tuesday Links
- Why Jackson Miss. doesn’t have water: they gave too much of it away for free.
- Why the prohibition on consuming raw milk from your own cow really matters.
- The latest fertility numbers. It takes 2.1 births per woman of child bearing age to replace a country’s population. Most developed countries are well below that.
- The downside of capping the price of insulin: it will encourage its use over newer, better, and more expensive alternative treatments. ”That will mean more disease, more disability, and more death from diabetes.”
The Atlantic: Lowering the Cost of Insulin May Costs Lives
An article in The Atlantic explains that lowering the cost of insulin could turn deadly. According to The Atlantic:
The Inflation Reduction Act, passed last month, aims to help people… by lowering the cost of insulin across America. …Democrats succeeded in capping expenses for the drug among Americans on Medicare at $35 a month, offering meaningful savings for our seniors, some of whom will save hundreds of dollars a month thanks to the measure.
Jackson’s Water Crisis; Krugman Off the Rails
Jackson, the state capital and largest Mississippi city, is run by Democrats. Its mayor and most of the city council members are Black. You may have read that the entire city is without safe drinking water, with no end in sight. The reason is well understood locally. The city is poorly run.