- Jeff Goldbery explains our disappointing life expectancy statistics: We lead the rest of the developed word in death by guns, suicides, drug overdoses, and in obesity.
- Unpaid caregiving lowers employment and wages – for men caregivers more than women.
- For the lay reader: why Claudia Goldin won the Nobel Prize in economics.
- How liberals live: New York city has more income inequality than any other large city in the country. (NYT)
Category: Public Insurance
Should Insurers Use AI to Manage Care? Yes, but with Checks & Balances
Many states have passed laws limiting prior authorization. Physicians hate prior authorization and claim insurers and health plans use it to ration care. I tend to be more sympathetic to prior authorization because in an industry where patients are insulated from the cost of their care, there needs to be some checks and balances over unnecessary care and care that is unnecessarily expensive. I often tell the story about the time my wife unknowingly tried to schedule a CT scan at a hospital outpatient clinic near our house.
Why There Is a Nursing Shortage
I began my career in health care more than 30 years ago working at a hospital. For as long as I can remember there has been a nursing shortage. The reasons given for this are many, most of which are wrong. When I was a budget analyst, a senior vice president (SVP) told us nurses are caring people. He added nurses make great mothers and often quit to raise their kids. He explained that the staffing shortage was exacerbating the staffing shortage by increasing the stress levels of nurses on staff.
How Old Is Too Old to be President?
The advanced age of President Joe Biden raises an important question: how old is too old? Should there be an age cut-off for politicians?