COVID loss of smell theory: WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/mystery-of-smell-loss-after-covid-19-might-be-solved-11671649222 . It appears to be an inflammatory response.
China COVID wave concerns WHO: https://www.aol.com/news/very-concerned-reports-severe-covid-205240098.html .
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Sigh. These two sentences caught my eye in a Bloomberg newsletter: “Each December, a group of economists and actuaries in an obscure federal office emerge with a new report estimating how much the US spent on health-care the year before. The most recent report, covering 2021, put the tab at $4.3 trillion, or about $13,000 for every American.” So the first sentence is a classic – “actuaries”, “health-care” and “obscure”, all in one sentence!
Here is the link to the report abstract: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2022.01397 . Unfortunately, to read the full report, there is a charge for either a subscription or just the article. However, here is the abstract in its entirety:
“Health care spending in the US grew 2.7 percent to reach $4.3 trillion in 2021, a much slower rate than the increase of 10.3 percent seen in 2020. The slower rate of growth in 2021 was driven by a 3.5 percent decline in federal government expenditures for health care after a spike in 2020 that occurred largely in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alongside this decline, the use of medical goods and services increased in 2021.
The share of the economy accounted for by the health sector fell from 19.7 percent in 2020 to 18.3 percent in 2021, but it was still higher than the 17.6 percent share in 2019. In 2021 the number of uninsured people declined for the second consecutive year as Medicaid enrollment increased.”
Like yesterday, here’s some rough math (and no, this is not the way I conduct my practice, thank you): About half of the US healthcare budget is federal spending (Medicare, Medicaid, and coverage of federal employees and veterans). Then, if the overall percentage is +2.7% and federal spending is -3.5%, private spending comes in at +8.9% for 2021 (add the last two numbers together and divide by 2). That seems a bit high. However, these figures appear to be in the ballpark, even if they come from healthcare actuaries in obscurity.
Commentary in Bloomberg points out that the 18.3% is much higher than all other developed nations (true), which spend 10% to 12% of GDP. The writer points out that we get poorer care for that expenditure (also true on a societal basis), and that if our healthcare expenditure was reduced to the level of other nations, it would free up $1.5 trillion in our economy annually for other purposes.
The author concludes by saying our healthcare system is broken, but for the healthcare providers “on the receiving end of that $4.3 trillion, it’s working just fine.” Sigh, quite true, and it has been this way and getting worse for more than 25 years.
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US sends more aid (including Patriot missiles) to Ukraine: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-80ae774f3b7cbb3e1b88d1b728961079 . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/zelensky-heads-to-washington-to-shore-up-more-u-s-support-for-ukraine-11671644438 .
WSJ: Meanwhile, Ukraine repels another attack on Bakhmut: https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-defends-bakhmut-against-russian-assaults-as-zelensky-heads-to-u-s-11671619107 .
FTX founder SBF returned to US to face fraud charges: https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-extradition-nassau-7e63538a7a4e5cbcff8f707fc0aa3ee9 . Bankman-Fried faces the potential of life in prison. Meanwhile, two of his colleagues plead guilty to fraud and cooperate with prosecutors: https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/ftx-co-founder-former-ceo-alameda-research-plead-guilty-fraud-rcna62891 . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/two-associates-of-ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-plead-guilty-to-criminal-charges-prosecutors-say-11671676292 . Still more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/sam-bankman-fried-expected-back-in-bahamas-court-11671581149 .
Orange Julius tax returns show large business losses and little or no federal income tax paid: https://news.yahoo.com/trump-suffered-large-business-losses-at-the-end-of-his-presidency-report-finds-154044033.html . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-tax-returns-irs-audits-discussed-in-closed-door-house-meeting-11671571402 . Much of this is no surprise. The nature of property ownership is to claim losses (primarily depreciation) on properties that generate positive cash flow. The question will be, to what extent do the values shown correspond to values shown for other purposes. As we already know, OJ Inc. inflated property values for borrowing purposes but deflated them for other purposes.
Have key witnesses flipped on OJ?: https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-summary/ . If so, this would be a very bad development for OJ.
Steelers’ Franco Harris passes at 72: https://sports.yahoo.com/franco-harris-legendary-pittsburgh-steelers-192022277.html . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/franco-harris-steelers-hall-of-fame-running-back-dies-at-72-11671634260 . Still more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/franco-harris-immaculate-reception-steelers-11671639435 . Harris will always be known for the “Immaculate Reception”, a pass that bounded off another player. Harris ran it in for a touchdown to win the division championship 50 years ago this week, on December 23, 1972.