Health Care

Senator Reid unveiled his health care plan.   Here's an early take on what it does and doesn't do. What it does do: Gives insurance to 31 million people.    The CBO estimates that 83% of Americans receive some kind of health coverage and the Reid plan will raise that rate to 94%, or an add of about 31 million people.    This does not include illegal immigrants. Creates a ... read more

Interesting report on teen obesity. This is the line that caught my eye, citing Virginia Tech professor of diet and nutrition Judith Rankin: Rankin points out that even small changes in a person's energy balance can have a significant effect on weight. Studies have shown that eating just 10 to 20 extra calories ... read more

The health care overhaul plan is split right along party lines.  As Scott Rasmussen's latest poll shows, 81% of Democrats support the Pelosi plan that passed in the house, while 90% of Republicans oppose it. But with all the partisan squabbling, a new story from the Wall Street Journal indicates the fight may become more young versus old than among party affiliation: A provision in the ... read more

Back in 1969, Congress was tired of rich people cheating the tax system and decided to act, passing the Alternative Minimum Tax.    The AMT was designed to make sure the richest 1% of the population was doing their fair share and paying up. Few Americans at the time were upset about this development, and why should they be?   The newfangled and oddly named tax only impacted a few thousand ... read more

As the noise over the debate over health care (er, health insurance) debate reaches ear-splitting levels, two things seem clear: First, 'winning' the health care debate is impossible because the end results will vary different for each household.   Second, regardless of which side feels as if they have 'won,' health care, like most aspects of our lives, will evolve to meet the needs of any new ... read more

We did a segment on 10 key points in the Baucus Health Care bill. Click here to see it. ... read more

This past week a successful investor friend and I were discussing the future and where we might see both stock market strength and growth in jobs.   His answer surprised me: pharmaceuticals and health care. When I questioned him about specifics he waved his hand in the air and merely said: "what other industry do you know of that's about to add 30 to 40 million new customers." A simple and ... read more

Interesting new study released by Yale researchers yesterday. It suggests that a $0.01 per ounce tax on sugary drinks such as soda could raise as much as $14.9 billion.   That money could be used to fund health care initiatives. It is irrefutable that our appetite for sugary drinks has contributed to growing waistline levels.     From 1977 to 2002 the per capita intake of caloric ... read more

Since Baucus (and some in Congress) want to fund health care reform by slowing growth and finding cuts in Medicare ... here are some numbers they may want to review: Medicare outlays were $37.5 billion in 1980. This year they are estimated to be $503 billion. By 2018, Medicare is estimated to spend $932 billion. That would be a spending increase of 2505% since 1980. So tell us again ... read more

After "months" of work, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus rolled out his $856 billion dollar health care bill. Whatever the benefits and drawbacks are to the bill itself, the glaring issue is that little matter of the $856 billion dollar price tag.   Specifically, how that money will be raised. Baucus estimates that $93 billion will come from fees & taxes on pharmaceutical ... read more