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

MA and cost controls

In 2012 this bill, An Act Improving the Quality of Health Care and Reducing Costs Through Increased Transparency, Efficiency and Innovation. was passed as the next step in reform and addresses cost control measures that are not part of the national conversation. Healthblawg offers a synopsis: 1.    The health care cost growth rate may not […]

What Glenn Kessler–and I–Missed Earlier In Emilie Lamb’s Claim: That She SAYS Obamacare Caused Her Hospital and Doctors to Stop Gratuitously Forgiving Her Medical Expenses Above $1,000. That’s Palpably False. [UPDATED.]

“I was diagnosed with lupus when I was 27. Lupus is an autoimmune disorder. It’s dramatically affected my life. I voted for Barack Obama for president. I thought that Obamacare was going to be a good thing. Instead of helping me, Obamacare has made my life almost impossible. Barack Obama told us we could keep […]

The News – Just Click on the Link “For the Rest of the Story”

– Governor Nathan Deal of Georgia called on Congress to repeal The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, a 1986 law requiring hospitals to provide emergency health care treatment to anyone who needs it. It requires hospitals to provide stabilizing care to anyone regardless of race, nationality, or ability to pay. Calling it an onerous […]

Julie Boonstra Says That Because Obama Lied to Her, She’s Entitled to Lie to Others. [UPDATED]

Julie Boonstra is a Michigan mother currently battling leukemia. Her medical coverage has been adversely affected by the onset of Obamacare. She’s had the courage to let people know about her struggle by speaking truth to power in an ad sponsored by Americans for Prosperity’s chapter in her state. Julie tells John that she blames […]

Michigan Republican Senate Candidate Terri Lynn Land Comes Out For Single-Payer Healthcare Insurance! Seriously!*

As far as Julie Boonstra being taken advantage of, I don’t think it’s just AFP that’s involved. She owns a home in Dexter with the former chair of the Washtenaw County Republican Party Mark Boonstra. — Eclectablog, this morning Hmm.  Okay, so it’s not just Ms. Boonstra who can’t perform simple math, it’s also former […]

China’s struggling capacity utilization is signal of effective demand limit

As output increases, there is an effective demand limit which slows down the utilization of capital and labor. Utilization of capital typically slows down before labor. The circled areas show times in the US when capacity utilization (blue) declined as employment (red) was rising or holding steady. This pattern normally happens before a contraction in […]

Emilie Lamb was subsidized by her doctor’s largesse and by federal taxpayers and full-coverage-insurance policyholders. She still will be. She should acknowledge that, publicly.

“I was diagnosed with lupus when I was 27. Lupus is an autoimmune disorder. It’s dramatically affected my life. I voted for Barack Obama for president. I thought that Obamacare was going to be a good thing. Instead of helping me, Obamacare has made my life almost impossible. Barack Obama told us we could keep […]

Medical bills and bankruptcy

Wendell Potter points to a study on medical debt as a major component of bankruptcies: One of the great hopes of health care reform is that it will reduce the number of Americans who file for bankruptcy because of medical debt. A new study in Massachusetts is providing evidence that the reform law passed in […]