Paul Alexander, Ph.D. joins the show to discuss his article published April 23, by the American Institute for Economic Research, 14 Months Later: A Pathway Forward. Alexander, who is a health research methodologist in evidence-based medicine at McMaster University in Toronto, holds degrees in epidemiology and evidence-based medicine from McMaster and Oxford Universities.

Alexander’s article contains an easy to understand comprehensive list on the hard lessons the public has learned from the COVID-19 response. He discussed in depth how public health agencies utterly failed the small segment that was most at risk from dying from COVID-19: the elderly.

Alexander has some frank comments about the alarming rates of obesity and how this contributed to COVID-19 deaths. He states his thoughts on the COVID-19 vaccines and why they are inappropriate for individuals under the age of 70. Alexander discusses the management of group homes and how we could have better managed staff/resident transmission. Alexander also points out why he believes the SARS-COV2 virus is not a pandemic in the traditional sense. Pandemics impact all age groups in an equal way. The COVID-19 virus did not. SARS-CoV1 in 2009 was more lethal, yet the public managed with without huge, top-down lockdowns and restrictions.

Stephen Moses, the president of the Center for Long Term Care, joins the show to discuss a recommendation to Congress that could make nursing home care worse, not better. The MACPAC Commission, which advises Congress on the issue, is recommending that Medicaid make estate recoveries voluntary. What this means is that nursing home residents who have qualified for Medicaid coverage no longer have to pay the bill back from their estate, even if there are appreciable assets. Such a move will put enormous stress on Medicaid and give people little incentive to save and pay for private care. Nursing home care has been under the spotlight since more than 20 percent of people who died from COVID-19 lived in nursing homes. Medicaid is the biggest payer of nursing home care in the U.S. Congress should make it easier for the free market to work by making it easier for people to save for long term care.

Links to note:

LTC Bullet: MACPAC Captured

Center for Long Term Care

[email protected]

Heartland Daily News:  Health Care News links on nursing home care

On April 12, after reports of blood clots in young women, federal agencies “paused” the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Johnson and Johnson. Why have agencies ignored adverse reactions associated with the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines? Is the J and J shot being treated as a scapegoat? Also, are Americans being fully informed about the adverse reactions, and possible limitations to immunization?

Jane Orient, M.D. also discusses her concerns about distributing the vaccines, considered experimental, to people under age 18. Colleges are now mandating students to show proof of a COVID vaccine, even though people under age 40 have less than a one percent chance of dying from the virus. Americans may also be compelled to carry a “vaccine passport.” Why has this idea not surfaced with more deadly diseases? Orient also expresses concerns about the surge of non-U.S. citizens at the southern border. Very little is known about their immunization history. Why are U.S. citizens now being more heavily scrutinized for disease?

AnneMarie Schieber interviews Dean Clancy, a senior policy fellow at Americans for Prosperity (AFP). AFP recently conducted a poll that shows 47 percent of all respondents favor the notion of a “personal” health care option over a “public” option.  A “personal” health care option is a health system that puts patients in charge of their health care, not the government. Think expanded health savings accounts, more choice for treatment, and ultimately lower costs due to better price transparency and more competition.

The poll revealed that an overwhelming number of Americans appreciate the quality of health care in the U.S. but think it costs too much.  A number of respondents were confused by what a “public option” is.  Clancy discussed how “personal” health care options could be a big sell for Democrat candidates because their base strongly approves of having more control over their health care.

Christina Herrin, Government Relations Manager at the Heartland Institute interviews Dr. Siobhan Dunnavant, MD about COVID-19 and other health care policy. As a state senator in Virginia and physician, Dr. Dunnavant is able to examine the COVID-19 pandemic from both a public policy and health care centered perspective. Senator Dunnavant gives her take on what public policy came from the pandemic, such as the expansion of telehealth, and why we should keep these policies in place after COVID-19 is no longer the force it once was.

There are many lessons we should take away from the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic shutdowns imposed by governments. First, lockdowns don't work. They didn't halt the spread of the virus, and any many ways resulted in unnecessary suffering and death. It turns out masks do work. The economy declined by a huge amount, yet because the cause was exogenous to the market, and the lack of spending meant people saved more than they ever had, the recovery has been quick and is likely to result in an economic boom. However, the way people work has likely changed forever.

Nine months later, an investigation by the New York Attorney General revealed that the state’s nursing home death toll was more than 50 percent higher than Cuomo stated it was.

Gregg Girvan a research fellow at FREOPP has been tracking nursing home deaths since last spring and was one of the first to notice something odd about the counting of deaths in New York. He’s written a new analysis about it, which reveals among several things, how the governor was able to bury these numbers.

Girvan also discusses other states that might have hidden death numbers.

A link to his report: 

The True COVID Death Toll in New York State Long-Term Care Facilities

Everyone wants to stay safe from COVID-19, but schools and colleges might be overdoing it with repeated testing of student athletes. This is the first season back from one year of lockdowns.

Michigan, for example, is mandating COVID tests before every meet or game and testing at least once a week before practice. Dr. Chad Savage worries about the possibility of false positives from broad based testing on symptomless individuals, which he calculates could put 1,500 students on the sidelines and their family, friends and classmates in quarantines lasting two weeks or more. The testing regime could turn students off from sports all together, adding to the stress and anxiety they have already suffered from classroom lockouts. Idle teens are at risk for depression and substance abuse and could develop poor habits which could lead to struggles with obesity.

Dr. Savage also discusses the costs of testing so many students. Testing will involve costly protocols, including PCR testing for test-positive students even though they may show no symptoms of illness.

Additionally, Savage discusses the problems with mask mandates during competition, much of it now outside and in non-contact sports and how this could put teens at physical harm.

According to the New York Times, about 90 million people in the U.S. – one third of the population – have received at least one shot of the coronavirus vaccine.  Yet, that does not seem to be enough. The pressure continues to get nearly every adult vaccinated, whether they are at risk from dying of COVID or not. There is also pressure on people to continue wearing masks even though vaccines do not stop virus transmission.  Vaccines only prevent people who get them from getting extremely sick from the virus.

If you question the vaccine you might easily be attacked…. You might be called heartless… putting fellow citizens at risk… or an “antivaxxer,” which has connotations of something worse.

Christina Herrin, government relations manager of health policy interviews, Bethany Marcum, CEO of Alaska Policy Forum. The discussion focuses on health care policy and reforms that would lower costs and bring more accessible care to Alaskans. These reforms consist of repealing certificate of need laws, expanding tele-medicine and direct primary care.

Read more here:

https://alaskapolicyforum.org/2020/06/report-health-care-costs-alaska/

https://alaskapolicyforum.org/2021/03/certificate-of-need-repeal-would-benefit-alaskans/