There are changes coming to the Medicare market place and Medicare Advantage. “Market exits by Humana, Aetna, and UnitedHealthcare will collectively affect nearly 70% of those 1.8 million individuals.” The remainder of the 1.8 million will be looking at new plans with the same insurance provider. The market exit may be faced with new companies […]

The post Heathcare Insurance Companies Abandoning Medicare Advantage appeared first on Angry Bear.

 – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. More the recent ‘same’ this week: short term and coincident indicators are a little noisy, but continue to say the economic OK. Meanwhile the longer leading indicators are mixed and weighing on future growth. As usual, clicking over and reading will bring […]

The post New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for November 11 – 15 appeared first on Angry Bear.

A review of the tax break impacts from 1981 till 2020 and who benefited the most from them. I found it to be interesting and detailed in what was occurring during this time period. As you read it and review the graphs, I believe you will find the majority of the tax breaks were targeting […]

The post Review of the Tax Code and Who Benefited the Most from the Breaks in It appeared first on Angry Bear.

America is the only industrialized nation where you can go bankrupt because of medical care. The ACA helped mitigate that risk for tens of millions, but the Trump Administration is promising to abolish the ACA. For those with some form of health insurance (private insurance, the ACA, Medicare), there’s still the challenge of (a) finding […]

The post Access to medical care: right or privilege? appeared first on Angry Bear.

– by New Deal democrat Industrial and manufacturing production slid further in October, by -0.3% and -0.5% respectively. They are also down respectively -1.2% and -1.8% from their late 2022 highs: It’s a good thing I suppose that manufacturing is no longer such an important part of the American economy, because as the below graph of […]

The post Production turns more negative appeared first on Angry Bear.

by Bill McBride Calculated Risk From housing economist Tom Lawler: Based on publicly-available local realtor/MLS reports released across the country through today . . . I project that existing home sales as estimated by the National Association of Realtors ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.97 million in October, up 3.4% from September’s […]

The post Lawler: Early Read on Existing Home Sales in October appeared first on Angry Bear.

 – by New Deal democrat Let me start with my usual reminder that real retail sales is one of my favorite economic indicators, because it tells us so much about the state of the consumer, and since consumption leads employment, it is a short leading indicator for that as well. In October retail sales rose 0.4% […]

The post Real retail sales jump nicely, but we’re not out of the woods on consumption just yet appeared first on Angry Bear.

The commentary was initially written at EconoFact by Mark Shepard. I took liberties with this commentary to emphasize the many points the author presents and to make it an easier read. I also added an introduction and some history on the ACA. There is much here to absorb. I felt breaking the commentary out further […]

The post Healthcare Insurance in the United States appeared first on Angry Bear.

Trump and his minions may not believe in global warming, but people whose livelihoods depend on understanding climate change—bankers, insurance companies and the military—know it’s real. So do non-humans whose livelihoods are compromised by climate change: “Native fish populations will likely continue their decline off of Massachusetts’ coast, while species from further south will move […]

The post Seafood says global warming is not a hoax appeared first on Angry Bear.

It has been a bit since I have said anything about the Opioid epidemic. Such was brought on by companies and distributors (more like PBMs) claiming it was harmless and non-addicting. I do want to catch up and see how the Sacklers made out. Whether the Gov finally put the screws to them or did […]

The post The Opioid Epidemic from 1980 Onward in My Words appeared first on Angry Bear.

“Medicare Advantage: Questionable Use of Health Risk Assessments Continues to Drive Up Payments to Plans by Billions,” Office of Inspector General | Government Oversight | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Why OIG Did This Review Medicare Advantage (MA) companies receive higher risk-adjusted payments from CMS for enrollees who are sicker, which helps to […]

The post Questionable Use of Health Risk Assessments Drives Costs appeared first on Angry Bear.

– by New Deal democrat Initial claims have now completely reverted to trend after their recent hurricane-induced blip. Initial claims rose 3,000 for the week to 217,000, while the four week moving average decreased -5,750 to 221,000. With the typical one week delay, continuing claims declined -11,000 to 1.873 million: On the more important YoY basis, […]

The post Jobless claims complete their reversion to pre-hurricane-disruptions trend appeared first on Angry Bear.

Anterevolution, France was pre-industrial, feudal, and broke.  Broke because its wealth (wealth that had been derived from the labor of serfs at home and slaves in her colonies, and the exploitation of indigenous peoples) had been wasted by its government and aristocracy on wars and extravagance.  By 1789, wars and lifestyle had bled the country […]

The post A Tale of Two Economies appeared first on Angry Bear.

The nation went through a period of high gasoline prices, even though the government released oil from the reserves. Now it appears the US has a glut of oil and may (and always has) lack refinery capacity. Prices appear to have stabilized in many places at about $3.50 per gallon (I may be paying more […]

The post Subsidizing Fossil Fuels appeared first on Angry Bear.

No, the 1% aren’t the job creators—that’s the middle class and working class. Tax cuts for the 1%, of course, don’t create jobs, they just create greater wealth disparity: “The authors set out to examine all instances of major tax reductions on the rich in 18 OECD countries between 1965 and 2015 and identify the […]

The post Tax cuts for the rich only increase wealth disparity appeared first on Angry Bear.

NY Fed: Mortgage Originations by Credit Score, Delinquencies Increase, Foreclosures Remain Low; Calculated Risk Newsletter The NY Fed released the Q3 Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit this morning. Here are three charts from the report. The first graph shows mortgage originations by credit score (this includes both purchase and refinance). Look at the difference in credit […]

The post NY Fed: Mortgage Originations by Credit Score, Delinquencies Increase, Foreclosures Remain Low appeared first on Angry Bear.