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

A Doctor at Cigna Said Her Bosses Pressured Her to Review Patients’ Cases Too Quickly

I first caught up with this article on MedPage Today, “Doc Blows Whistle on Cigna.” I also read the ProPublic report. Both are reporting on denial of claims before and after treatment and the productivity of claims reviewers. Additionally, the report discusses the use of labor (nurses, etc.) outside of the US to evaluate claims […]

How Did Under-40s Get So Much Richer During Covid?

by Steve Roth Wealth Economics This picture from the Center for American Progress, and variations, have been making the rounds on the interwebs lately, eg here, here, and here. The headline is that younger households got 49% richer during/since Covid, in inflation-adjusted “real” terms. But some drill-down is in order here. What actually happened? Start with background. Here are the nominal […]

Eric Segall tells us what he really thinks about the Roberts court

Law professor Eric Segall is a leading critic of the Supreme Court.  In a blog post today, he doesn’t pull any punches: The disaster that was the Trump v. United States oral argument reminded me of how little the Roberts Court has actually cared about rule of law values and legal transparency during its 18-year run. Leaving […]

Supreme Court watchers mollified themselves (and others) with vague promises 

Dahlia Lithwick and Joseph Stern as taken from Slate Good read as one can see how the SCOTUS 5 or 6 are twisting the logic of Constitution first and portraying the president into something more reasonable. Military swears first to the Constitution. This is a very strange read for myself. Others may not find it […]

Open Thread May 1 2024 so trump is Fined $9,000

Do you, does anyone, really believe trump gives a damn if he is fined $9,000? That is not a threat to him. And what jail cell, in what jail will they put this threatening president in? I know one county jail, Cook County Jail in Chicago. Let him mingle with the general population. Let him […]

Postal regulator directs USPS to request an advisory opinion on DFA or to show cause why it won’t

by Steve Hutkins Save The Post Office USPS: For those who are wondering, DFA is “Delivering for America.” It consists of various initiatives, some of which have been initiated and some which have not. The initiatives are found in the Table of Contents on Page 1 listed as Strategies in the Delivering for America document. […]

2024 Election Life and Death Game Theory: Post- Conventions (full text)

This is the easiest one. No possibility of changes. It’s Biden/Harris v. Trump/Sycophant. For Biden, the alternative is clear: the race would be between Kamala Harris and DJT. Credit where due: Biden has reconfirmed on multiple occasions that he does not intend to replace Harris with Sherrod Brown the Mythical Generic Democrat with No Baggage, […]

Nestlé adds sugar to baby food in low-income countries, report finds . . .

SWI swissinfo.ch An interesting story coming out of Switzerland about Nestlé. In 2017 Nestlé adds sugar to baby food in low-income countries, report finds . . . made the following plan: Between 2017 and 2020 we want to reduce the added sugar in our products by a further 5%. In 2017 alone, Nestlé Switzerland withdrew […]

An economic analysis of presidential immunity

At Thursday’s Supreme Court hearing on Trump’s immunity claim, Justice Alito worried that prosecuting former presidents would create an incentive for incumbent presidents to subvert democracy to remain in office and avoid prosecution (Transcript, p. 110-11): JUSTICE ALITO: All right.  Let me end –end with just a question about what is required for the functioning […]

Where Does Traditional Medicare Go: Profit-Driven Chaos or Patient-Centered Community?

by Matthew Cunnigham – Cook The problems with Medicare Advantage is coding and pricing for care. And Fee for Service participants pay for the MA costs even though they do not use MA. “When accounting for favorable selection of enrollees in MA and higher MA coding intensity, we estimate Medicare spends approximately 22 percent more […]