Seen in the Comments–Vizzini Edition
In this post of mine on Efficiency and Administrative costs frequent commenter Michael Reynolds wrote, How about we take the French system plus 20%? Hell, France plus 50% would represent a staggering windfall for us. In fact, we could buy France with the savings. I don't think that word (windfall) means what you think it means. That the French and their ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 8, 2009 16:37
Efficiency and Administrative Costs
For the sake of argument let us assume that Medicare’s administrative costs are lower than those of the typical health insurance company. Does this imply that Medicare is more efficient than the private company? I’ve been skeptical of this view point since one thing I’ve learned in economics is that firms want to maximize profits. You ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 7, 2009 16:18
Health Care Debate’s Ecological Fallacy
Kevin Drum argues, correctly I think, that British- and Canadian-style socialized medicine is not on the table in the United States and that we should therefore frame the debate in terms of a French- or Dutch-style mixed system. He further cites Jonathan Cohn's argument that these systems are quite good. But in the course of a few dozen lengthy interviews, not ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 7, 2009 12:45
Looking At Medicare Administrative Costs
Are they lower? This article by the Heritage Foundation makes an interesting point. Medicare beneficiaries are by definition elderly, disabled, or patients with end-stage renal disease. Private insurance beneficiaries may include a small percentage of people in those categories, but they consist primarily of people are who under age 65 and not disabled. Naturally, Medicare beneficiaries need, on average, more ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 6, 2009 14:00
Wal-Mart Supports Mandatory Health Coverage (Out of Kindness, I Suppose)
Michael Tomasky is stoked that Wal-Mart has come out in support of government's mandating business provide health insurance for all employees. His explanation, however, is curious: There's got to be a fascinating story behind the "why." Wal-Mart would never acknowledge this, but there seems to me little doubt that all the pressure campaigns over the years, the documentary films ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 1, 2009 10:31
Health Care, Pooling, and Monopsony
At a recent press conference President Obama had this to say about the public health care option he is floating as part of his proposal for reforming health care and its impact on private health care options, Now, the public plan I think is a important tool to discipline insurance companies. What we've said is, under our proposal, let's have a ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 30, 2009 12:28
Get Fit in Six Minutes a Week
When I saw Glenn Reynolds' post "Can you get fit in six minutes a week?" I was sure I had a candidate for an Asked and Answered post: No. But, dutifully clicking the link, I found a NYT health blog from Gretchen Reynolds (presumably, no relation) with the same title. There was a time when the scientific literature suggested that the only ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 25, 2009 07:21
Obama Bans Yummy Cigarettes
The FDA now has the power to regulate what cigarettes taste like. For the children. President Barack Obama cited his own long struggle to quit the cigarettes he got hooked on as a teenager as he signed the nation's strongest-ever anti-smoking bill Monday and praised it for providing critically needed protections for kids. "The decades-long effort to protect our ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 22, 2009 16:03
Slightly Chubby People Live Slightly Longer
Glenn Reynolds passes along news of a Japanese study that finds "People who are a little overweight at age 40 live six to seven years longer than very thin people, whose average life expectancy was shorter by some five years than that of obese people, the study found." Sweet! I've apparently gotten out of shape at precisely the right time. Alas, But Kuriyama ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 22, 2009 12:25
The New Voodoo Economics
Or perhaps Obamanomics. Tyler Cowen writes, MEDICARE expenditures threaten to crush the federal budget, yet the Obama administration is proposing that we start by spending more now so we can spend less later. This runs the risk of becoming the new voodoo economics. If we can’t realize significant savings in health care costs now, don’t expect savings in the future, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 16, 2009 16:56
Unintended Consequences
It is a truism that well-intentioned attempts by government to curb bad behavior often spawn unforeseen and perhaps worse behavior. A classic, recurring example of that is the now-35-year-old effort to curb the influence of campaign contributions on politics, which has spawned the use of PACs, 527 groups, and other insidious activities far more harmful than single wealthy individuals giving money ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 12, 2009 09:19
Obama: Watch the Spending Except for Health Care
These two stories indicate that Obama just isn't serious about limiting spending and deficits. The first is about how President is trying to earn some credibility for fiscal responsibility. President Barack Obama sought on Tuesday to show he was serious about improving the U.S. budget picture as he called on Congress to pass new limits on tax cuts and spending ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 11, 2009 01:12
Older Men, Younger Women
Glenn Reynolds: "MEN MARRIED TO MUCH YOUNGER WOMEN LIVE LONGER. But it’s likely that older men who still look good enough to attract younger women are just aging better all along . . . ." I'd add: Or rich enough. (I've followed the links to their dead end and can't find the study in question. A quick Google search revealed older studies ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 8, 2009 07:05
Beer Beats Water After Exercise: Doctors
Steven Taylor passes along a (somewhat old) scientific report that may spur a health movement: Researchers at Granada University in Spain have come across a discovery that will undoubtedly please athletes and sports enthusiasts - a pint of beer post-workout or match is better at rehydrating the human body than water. Professor Manuel Garzon, a member of Granada's medical faculty, made the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 7, 2009 08:21
Food Security vs. National Security
Hilzoy wonders why we take counterterrorism more seriously than food inspection. After all, food-borne illness kills about 2,000 more people every year than died on 9/11; why we should spend over half a trillion dollars a year defending ourselves against human invaders while leaving ourselves open to bacteria that are every bit as lethal is a mystery that passeth all understanding. Oh, ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 29, 2009 06:55
