Optum: Testing Time for an Invisible Empire
By Jeff Goldsmith
Years ago, the largest living thing in the world was thought to be the blue whale. Then someone discovered that the largest living thing in the world was actually the 106 acre, 47 thousand tree Pando aspen grove in central Utah, which genetic testing revealed to be a single organism. With its enormous network of underground roots and symbiotic relationship with a vast ecosystem of fungi, that aspen grove is a great metaphor for UnitedHealth Group. United, whose revenues amount to more than 8% of the US health system, is the largest healthcare enterprise in the world. The root system of UHG is...
Source: The Health Care Blog - April 2, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Health Policy Health Tech Jeff Goldsmith Optum PBMs United HealthGroup Source Type: blogs
More Fenland birding
Having spent a couple of evenings watching Starling murmurations with hundreds of thousands of birds, it was time to seek out some Aves in smaller numbers. I had a quick look in at RSPB Ouse Fen (Earith) as it was bright and sunny on Saturday morning. I was hoping to that there would be a chance that the Cranes would be showing. They weren’t but there was a Great White Egret, as ever, and a Chinese Water Deer, I had only fleeting, distant views of a solitary Marsh Harrier. I headed out to Chain Corner to check on the Whooper Swans, a few on the water and one that flew right over me.
Next on to a patch of flooded far...
Source: David Bradley Sciencebase - Songs, Snaps, Science - March 31, 2024 Category: Science Authors: David Bradley Tags: Birds Source Type: blogs
How Russian studies enriched my journey to become a physician
Tolstoy. Dostoevsky. Repin. Stravinsky. While many people may not appreciate the significance of these Russian geniuses, or think that knowledge of them could enhance a pre-med education, I would not be the same person without learning about them. For me, pursuing a Russian major was more than a list of vaguely interesting classes or language
Read more…
How Russian studies enriched my journey to become a physician originally appeared in KevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - March 18, 2024 Category: General Medicine Authors: Alexander Camp Tags: Education Medical school Source Type: blogs
This Really Cannot Be Very Good At All – An Ugly Story Indeed
This appeared last week:
Prime Minister ’s
department, Reserve Bank victims of HWL Ebsworth Russia-linked cyber attack as
government finally reveals list of agencies
Exclusive
By ellen whinnett -
Associate editor
5:29PM
January 14, 2024
Prime
Minister Anthony Albanese’s department, the Reserve Bank and Australia Post are
among the government agencies that had sensitive data stolen by (Source: Australian Health Information Technology)
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - January 25, 2024 Category: Information Technology Authors: Dr David G More MB PhD Source Type: blogs
War and Commodities: An Examination of the Russian-Ukrainian War on CME, Ukrainian and Black Sea Wheat Futures Prices
Calum G. Turvey (Cornell University), Wenhao Xu, Harry de Gorter (Cornell University), War and Commodities: An Examination of the Russian-Ukrainian War on CME, Ukrainian and Black Sea Wheat Futures Prices (2023): This paper explores the economics of commodities and war.... (Source: HealthLawProf Blog)
Source: HealthLawProf Blog - October 19, 2023 Category: Medical Law Authors: Katharine Van Tassel Source Type: blogs
Is Justice Possible in Russian Courts? A Case Study of Housing Disputes
Kathryn Hendley (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Is Justice Possible in Russian Courts? A Case Study of Housing Disputes, Ind. Int ’l& Comp. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2023): How do Russian judges go about achieving justice? This question is explored through a case... (Source: HealthLawProf Blog)
Source: HealthLawProf Blog - October 17, 2023 Category: Medical Law Authors: Katharine Van Tassel Source Type: blogs
Bloody Religion
Go to follow-up
“With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.”Steven Weinberg
In 2003, I started a web page that documented the horrors of the Iraq war. The title of the page was corrie.html, because one of the first entries was about Rachel Corrie. This was it.
On Sunday, 16th March 2003, a 23-year-old American peace activist, Rachel Corrie, was crushed to death by a bulldozer as she tried to prevent the Israeli army destroying homes in the Gaza Strip.
You can read here some of th...
Source: DC's goodscience - October 15, 2023 Category: Science Authors: David Colquhoun Tags: Palestine war Gaza Israel Source Type: blogs
Out of Control Health Costs or a Broken Society
Flawed Accounting for the US Health Spending Problem
By Jeff Goldsmith
Source: OECD, Our World in Data
Late last year, I saw this chart which made my heart sink. It compared US life expectancy to its health spending since 1970 vs. other countries. As you can see, the US began peeling off from the rest of the civilized world in the mid-1980’s. Then US life expectancy began falling around 2015, even as health spending continued to rise. We lost two more full years of life expectancy to COVID. By the end of 2022, the US had given up 26 years-worth of progress in life expectancy gains. Adding four more ...
Source: The Health Care Blog - October 9, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Health Policy COVID Drug Overdoses gun violence Hospitals Jeff Goldsmith Maternal mortality Mental Health Obesity Poverty Regional Economy Society Source Type: blogs
Out of Control Health Costs or a Broken Society
Flawed Accounting for the US Health Spending Problem
By Jeff Goldsmith
Source: OECD, Our World in Data
Late last year, I saw this chart which made my heart sink. It compared US life expectancy to its health spending since 1970 vs. other countries. As you can see, the US began peeling off from the rest of the civilized world in the mid-1980’s. Then US life expectancy began falling around 2015, even as health spending continued to rise. We lost two more full years of life expectancy to COVID. By the end of 2022, the US had given up 26 years-worth of progress in life expecta...
Source: The Health Care Blog - October 9, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Health Policy COVID Drug Overdoses gun violence Hospitals Jeff Goldsmith Maternal mortality Mental Health Obesity Poverty Regional Economy Society Source Type: blogs
War — and Health Care — on the Cheap
By KIM BELLARD
Like many of you, I’m watching the war in Ukraine with great interest and much support. For all the fuss about expensive weapons — like F-16 fighters, Abrams tanks, Stryker and Bradley armored fighting vehicles, Patriot missile defense systems, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Himars long range missiles, and various types of high tech drones — what I’m most fascinated with is how Ukraine is using inexpensive, practically homemade drones as a key weapon.
It’s a new way of waging war. And when I say “waging war,” I can’t help but also think “providing health care.” It’s not s...
Source: The Health Care Blog - September 26, 2023 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: matthew holt Tags: Health Tech Drones health care Kim Bellard Ukraine Warfare Source Type: blogs
Why Improve Ukraine's Deep-Strike Capability?
Coordinated deep-strike capabilities—air-launched and ground-launched—will be most effective in degrading Russian forces and operations. Using air and ground launchers would force Russian commanders to devote substantial intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities to attempt to find these systems. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - September 19, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Andrew R. Hoehn Source Type: blogs
North Korea, Russia and China: The Developing Trilateral Imperialist Partnership
There are no easy ways for the United States and its allies to counter the developing Russia-China-North Korea partnership. But there are options to consider and steps to take. There are also fissures in their relationships to exploit. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - September 13, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Bruce W. Bennett Source Type: blogs
A Case for Greater U.S. Engagement in Central Asia
Central Asia ' s souring relations with Russia and growing skepticism of Chinese influence have created a rare and valuable window of opportunity for the United States to bolster its image through greater long-term investment in the region. (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - September 11, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Hunter Stoll Source Type: blogs
China Ponders Russia's Logistical Challenges in the Ukraine War
Any attempt by China to use military force to seize Taiwan would be an immense logistical undertaking requiring moving large quantities of troops and materiel across the Taiwan Strait. What then, are Chinese observers learning from the logistical realm of the war in Ukraine? (Source: The RAND Blog)
Source: The RAND Blog - August 28, 2023 Category: Health Management Authors: Lyle Goldstein Source Type: blogs
