MTT #85: Skyrocketing healthcare costs and new insights into long COVID

Medicine: The Truth covers the latest news and most pressing issues in medicine today.

In this episode, hosts Jeremy Corr and Dr. Robert Pearl discuss the latest updates in healthcare costs, COVID-19, the spread of bird flu, and several other critical medical issues.

Starting with skyrocketing healthcare costs, new figures show that U.S. spending on medical care has surged to $4.8 trillion, with projections indicating a rise to $7.7 trillion by 2032. This increase threatens to outpace both general inflation and wages, affecting employer-based coverage, Medicare and Medicaid.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases are rising again, particularly in the western and southern U.S., as people gather indoors during hot weather. However, the current variants are not more dangerous than previous ones, keeping hospitalizations and deaths low. Today’s show also takes a look at a new report about the challenges and uncertainties of long COVID, which affects millions of adults and children.

The spread of H5 bird flu to cattle has raised alarms, with recent human cases in Michigan and Colorado. The CDC’s monitoring and potential vaccine development efforts are crucial to prevent a broader outbreak. With the failures of COVID-19 serving as backdrop, are health experts responding appropriately to this threat?

Join us to explore these critical issues and more. Here’s a snapshot of all the topics covered on this episode of Medicine: The Truth.

• Rising healthcare costs
• Bird flu concerns
• Supreme Court decision on abortion medication
• Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy drug
• Mortality rates post-pandemic
• Psychedelic therapy for PTSD
• New Alzheimer’s drug
• Social media’s impact on mental health
• STI rates and new CDC guidelines
• Unexpected outcomes of abortion restrictions
• Gender affirming treatment legislation
• Weight loss medications
• Economic impact of healthcare prices
• Long COVID insights

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Dr. Robert Pearl is the author of the new book “ChatGPT, MD: How AI-Empowered Patients & Doctors Can Take Back Control of American Medicine“ about the impact of AI on the future of medicine. All profits go to Doctors Without Borders.

Fixing Healthcare is a co-production of Dr. Robert Pearl and Jeremy Corr. Subscribe to the show via Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you find podcasts. Join the conversation or suggest a guest by following the show on Twitter and LinkedIn.

The post MTT #85: Skyrocketing healthcare costs and new insights into long COVID appeared first on Fixing Healthcare.