There has been anecdotal evidence. But now GE’s quandary confirms it: the toughest creature out there that no one has been able to subdue yet, the inexplicable American consumer, has apparently accomplished a miracle: putting the screws to runaway health-care costs that are taking over the economy and that are bankrupting the country. Motive? Profit.
Body & Mind
Update: The Systemic Nature of Medicare Fraud
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Update: The Systemic Nature of Medicare Fraud
On January 9, I posted “The Systemic Nature of Medicare Fraud” —“the kind of Medicare fraud that makes your skin crawl.” On January 10, I received an email from the Chief of Staff at Alvarado Hospital. He strongly objected to this sentence: “Its Alvarado Hospital Medical Center in San Diego already appears to be under investigation.” And it kicked off a learning process.
The Systemic Nature of Medicare Fraud
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Systemic Nature of Medicare Fraud
It’s the kind of Medicare fraud that makes your skin crawl. And it’s part of a vast scheme. After investigative reporters detailed the case, the FBI finally got serious. But no insurance company would have fallen prey to it. Only Medicare cannot defend itself. It doesn’t even know when it’s happening because, inexplicably, it doesn’t analyze the bills. And so an industry has sprung up.
Cancer-Causing X-Ray Security Scanners Are Banned
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Cancer-Causing X-Ray Security Scanners Are Banned
Prying Into the Brain
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Prying Into the Brain
A dream—or nightmare—yields to scientific progress: quantitative models recreate thoughts, and brain signals control mechanical devices. Yet, the brain is an unreliable organ that makes up for shortcomings in data with profuse creativity. It’s going to be a wild ride. And Google and Facebook will have a field day.
Deadly Disconnect
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Deadly Disconnect
The human brain is an amazing organ. The San Francisco Chronicle and our local radio stations reported that three young hikers were swept over Vernal Fall in Yosemite National Park yesterday afternoon.