Tuesday Morning LinkFest

The good news is that we're starting to see real progress in the world of 3-D printed medical items, from prosthetics to tissue to actual working organs. But that latter may pose some interesting (and, perhaps unexpected) concerns. As FoIB Holly R alerts us:

"Within a decade, manufactured hearts could obviate the need for organ donations; ethicists highlight potential pitfalls along the way ... But not everybody is gung-ho about the heart breakthrough, citing ethical implications — like whether it will widen the gap between rich and poor, and whether superhuman hearts or other mutations can also be manufactured."

So far, this is all hypothetical (the 3-D printed heart is not yet functional), but that day may be fast approaching.

After all, just because we can ...

As we've often pointed out, coverage ≠ care, and one of the most significant challenges facing the Medicaid4All folks is the question of just who will provide that care:

"The CMS saw a sharp decrease in the number of providers opting out of Medicare in 2017, after several years where thousands indicated that they did not want to participate in the program."

This is what is known in the nomenclature as a "trend."

See also: "Be careful what you wish for..."

A little over 5 years ago, co-blogger Patrick sounded the alarm about "tier creep" as it relates to Actuarial Value. His thesis was that rate and cost-sharing increases were essentially baked into the ObamaCare cake:

"However, there are a few big secrets they aren't telling you - ones that year after year will negatively impact everyone. They are called actuarial value, cost sharing limits, and indexing."

I highly recommend that folks read the whole thing.

And now, half a decade later, FoIB Greg Fann continues to bang the drum:

Good (if alarming) stuff.

BONUS: Remember when they said that suspending the tax/fine/penalty mandate would result in millions of people losing their insurance?

Funny thing and (you may want to sit down for this), but that didn't actually happen:


Imagine that.

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