Senior Trump Administration official Seema Verma has written that Medicare is in financial trouble, and one step in fixing it is giving consumers "incentives to be cost-conscious." This may be coded language for something called premium...

Obamacare's marketplaces were supposed to give consumers choices of health plans from insurers that compete to keep premiums down. But fewer insurers are participating, and premiums are increasing sharply.

Now that we’ve set the ground rules, and the five main questions to consider, let’s look at the various plans. At the time we taped this episode (in mid February), there were ten that we could get full answers for. How they break down is...

There have been a lot of innovations in Medicare over the last decade or so, with the intent of improving the program's value. There have been some successes, but there is still a lot to be done.

This week, Seema Verma announced that the administration would not approve several requests by states to place lifetime limits on Medicaid benefits. How about that? The CMS doesn't do much to protect benefits these days, but this is a...

“It is extremely important for our democracy to function that ordinary citizens understand the key issues and basic theories of economics.”

– Ha-Joon

Chang

Economics has long been the domain of the ivory tower, where...

Last week we discussed the United States health care system. This week we discuss Canada's. We also take some time to bust some myths about their single payer health care system. Fight about it in the comments below.

Recently, the Trump administration put forward plans to force all the able-bodied lazy people with Medicaid coverage to finally get jobs. The problem with this is that pretty much all the Medicaid recipients who can work already have...

Alzheimer’s is a devastating disease that affects millions of people in the US alone, so there was a lot of excitement about recent news headlines of a drug approved to treat the disease. However, the approval was met with an outcry from...

Last week we discussed the United States health care system. This week we discuss Canada's. We also take some time to bust some myths about their single payer health care system. Fight about it in the comments below.

Employer Payroll Tax (Accounting) example

The retirement crisis is anything but imaginary. According to research conducted by Professor Teresa Ghilarducci, head of the Department of Economics at the New School in New York City, only 44% of workers in the United States have...

Going into the 2020 election there's a lot of disagreement about the future of health care in the US. Some Democratic candidates favour a 'Medicare For All' style plan covering all Americans, while others favour an opt-in 'Public...

It's been a while since we've done an international health care system episode. We thought you might need a break. That break ends now. Australia has the only continental, universal health care system, and it's topic of this week's...

HipHughes covers the essentials on the two major candidates for President, outlining the differences between the candidates so you can make up your mind if you haven't already. Be ready for some simplification! Topics covered include...

We spend a lot of money on healthcare. How much if goes toward good studies of the health policies we implement. Not much. An almost natural experiment in Oregon has been revealing.

Every time health care reform comes up for debate, I see people arguing about whether a publicly or privately funded system would be better. The Affordable Care Act, in an attempt to forestall this debate, decided to split the baby, and...

A recent study said that single payer Medicare for everybody would cost the government A LOT of money. But it would also $2 TRILLION less than the way we do things now.

Medicare for All has become wildly popular among Democrats running for office these days. But what does that mean exactly? It's complicated, if you can believe that. Does this include universal coverage? What happens to employer-based...

Explaining the fundamentals of Obamacare for students and lifelong learners.

The impact of antibiotics on human health cannot be overstated. They are a big deal. And thanks to evolution, more and more bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics. Is there anything we can do? Yes. Let's talk about it.

Every once in a while, we like to take a moment and focus on health systems around the world. Today, we're looking at Taiwan, which made the transition to a single payer system kind of suddenly, and pretty recently.

Payroll taxes are taxes created by the federal income contributions act or FICA. Payroll taxes are an obligation shared by employers and employees to fund Social Security and Medicare programs. An employer withholds FICA taxes from an...

In this video we discuss the front runners in the Democratic leadership race and discuss what they stand for from a policy perspective. We also dive into how the process is whittled down and whose likely to make it to the next stage.