Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Texas Seniors Suddenly Lose Medicare Benefits

Suzanne Blake Newsweek Nothing unique here. Just another Texas screwup while trying to eliminate people from state and federal programs. The problem being they mistakenly injure the innocents. No problem though, it happens in other states or so Texans claim. Hundreds of Texas seniors lost their Medicare benefits after Texas Health and Human Services made an error in the […]

No, Medicare is not running out of money

There are issues with Medicare which are easily fixed. Maggie Mahar was writing on healthcare at Angry Bear. I did the editing. I picked up on the issues with her on healthcare and have portrayed writers such as Merrill, Kip Sullivan, Charles Gaba, Steve Early, Susan Gordon, Andrew Sprung, etc. There are issues with healthcare […]

Republican Budget Cuts Earned Benefits; Keeps Trump Tax Cuts

Angry Bears’ Social Security expert Dale Coberly emailed this to me about the same time it showed up in my inbox. Republicans again are trying to sell the public on the need to cut Social Security and Medicare Budgets for those over 65. Cutting them while keeping the Trump tax breaks which will result in […]

Semaglutides and the next public health revolution

It is hard to overstate the transformational public health benefits of anti-hypertensives and statins for blood pressure and serum cholesterol control. For a modest cost, these drugs not only mitigate human suffering but save billions, if not trillions, of dollars by avoiding costly surgical interventions. The repurposing of anti-diabetic drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide for […]

Illegal immigration and Social Security/Medicare

In a previous post, I mentioned an effective way to curtail illegal immigration—require all employees to be screened through E-Verify—and some reasons why it won’t be adopted. Another disincentive to deterring illegal immigration is that it subsidizes Social Security and Medicare: “ . . . illegal immigrants as a group are net contributors who partially […]

Medicare Spending Curve Bent

In 2010 Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Acts (there were 2) from now on called the ACA. One of the aims was to bend the Medicare spending curve and, they hoped (or dreamed) stop the increase in spending per beneficiary. The spending per beneficiary ceased increasing. Oh crap Chrome refuses to upload […]

Medicaid Disenrollment in June is Three times Higher than May 31

As you may recall, Angry Bear has discussed Medicaid purges, why they are happening, and who are impacted by disenrollment. You can find our commentaries here, here, and here. Most recently . . . Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker, KFF, June 20, 2023 At least 1,514,000 Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled as of June 22, 2023, based […]

Corporate Healthcare being Handed ‘Get Out of Jail Free Cards’

Much like Kip Sullivan in Minnesota/PNHP who Angry Bear has featured, Kay Tillow of Kentucky is a Single Payer activist. You will find Kip saying similar things about Medicare Advantage, etc. And we are all a little bit different attempting to reach the same goals . . . preventing the privatization of Medicare and achieving […]

CMS Delays a Full Crackdown on Medicare Advantage Plans

It has taken years for the Feds, CMS, MedPac, Congress to catch up with the thieving practice of these healthcare plans. They have mislead the people they sell these plans too with come-ons such as health club ss, etc. Then when it comes time for care, it is delayed or denied. This comes after the […]

Social Security Trustees’ Report Is Out So Is CRFB’s Analysis

Social Security Trustees’ Report Is Out So Is CRFB’s Analysis by Dale Coberly Look, I don’t like CRFB.  They claim to be the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), but in the years I have been watching them they have looked more like the Committee to Cut Social Security. Today my inbox presented me […]