V.I.P. PATIENT PARADOX: A Joe Biden Medical Scenario?

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd

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Dr. David Edward Marcinko with non-VIP patients

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The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform expanded its investigation of the cover-up of former President Joe Biden’s health, prostate cancer, and mental decline.

On June 4th, Chairman James Comer subpoenaed five former senior White House aides to appear for transcribed interviews in addition to Biden’s physician, Kevin O’Connor, M.D. In May, Biden revealed he was diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer. The announcement left the public dumbfounded.

At 82, having spent more than five decades as a president, vice president and senator, Biden had access to world-class medical care. Donald Trump Jr. was one of many political observers who speculated the diagnosis might have been covered up to win the 2020 election. And, Biden’s doctors may have followed standard medical guidelines, and the recommendations about screenings for people of different ages can be controversial, writes health care economist Devon Herrick at the Goodman Institute Health Care Blog.

“Experts often say that men are more apt to die with prostate cancer than from prostate cancer,” wrote Herrick. “There is even some disagreement about whether doctors should treat most occurrences of prostate cancer in older men. That partly explains why Biden had not been screened in a decade.”

Screenings can be costly, time-consuming and uncomfortable, and false positive results can lead to invasive procedures that do not markedly extend life or health. Biden made his first public remarks about his cancer after a Memorial Day event. Biden said he was “feeling good” and expected to “be able to beat this.”

QUESTION: So, was this a case of VIP Patient Paradox?

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DEFINITION: “VIP medical patient paradox syndrome” is a term coined in 1964 by the psychiatrist Walter Weintraub to describe an intriguing paradox: Throughout history, the rich and famous, with all their resources and fancy doctors, have often received worse medical treatment, and suffered from worse health outcomes, than the average person.

VIP DEFINED: https://mdwhistleblower.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-vip-syndrome-threatens-doctors.html

Example: When physicians afford “special privileges” to their powerful patients, from “Mad King” George III to Michael Jackson, they seem to get sicker and even die.

While Weintraub, a psychoanalyst, attributed the problem in part to doctors unconsciously resenting their influential patients, it seems doctors simply get starstruck around famous people and high-ranking figures. Despite their medical expertise, these physicians find themselves opting out of basic tests for “privacy” or prescribing dangerous medications for “comfort.”

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SPEAKING: Dr. Marcinko will be speaking and lecturing, signing and opining, teaching and preaching, storming and performing at many locations throughout the USA this year! His tour of witty and serious pontifications may be scheduled on a planned or ad-hoc basis; for public or private meetings and gatherings; formally, informally, or over lunch or dinner. All medical societies, financial advisory firms or Broker-Dealers are encouraged to submit an RFP for speaking engagements: CONTACT: Ann Miller RN MHA at MarcinkoAdvisors@outlook.com -OR- http://www.MarcinkoAssociates.com

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ALTERNATE INVESTMENTS: 401[k] Accounts

By A.I. and Staff Reporters

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President Trump is set to sign an executive order allowing alternative assets such as cryptocurrency, private equity investments, and real estate in 401(k) accounts. Those accounts are a veritable gold mine—Americans have stashed approximately $12.5 trillion away for retirement, and alternative asset managers have been chomping at the bit to get a piece of that pie.

WIND ENERGY: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2012/08/20/wind-energy-alternate-investments/

According to Brew Markets, the changes have been a long time coming. All the way back in his first term, Trump ordered the Labor Department to review how to incorporate private equity investments into retirement accounts, an effort that was later reversed under President Biden. This latest move expands beyond private equity, coinciding with Trump’s push to bring crypto mainstream.

REAL ESTATE: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2013/09/10/financial-freedom-through-commercial-real-estate-education-and-investing/

Proponents argue that alternative assets in 401(k) accounts will enhance investment diversification and could provide retirees with greater profits. Detractors note that these assets are less liquid, less transparent, and generally more risky than investing retirement funds into publicly traded stocks and bonds.

HEDGE FUNDS: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2024/07/09/hedge-funds-understanding-fees-and-costs/

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COINBASE: Investigated

By Staff Reporters

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Coinbase under investigation – Hit with ransom attack

Coinbase’s wild week got much wilder when the New York Times reported that the SEC has been looking into whether the crypto exchange misstated the size of its user base in securities filings. Per the New York Times, the investigation started under President Biden and has continued under President Trump.

The subject of the investigation appears to be Coinbase’s claim in past disclosures and marketing materials that it has 100 million “verified users.” A company spokesperson said it no longer reports that metric and the investigation should not continue.

The report came days after Coinbase joined the S&P 500, and just hours after it said it could lose $400 million following a recent hack by “rogue overseas” agents looking to steal customer data.

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DAILY UPDATE: United Health Owned Insurance Fined and CFPB Hides Medical Debt as Nvidia Leads Stock Markets Down

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Three UnitedHealth-owned insurance companies must pay over $165 million for misleading thousands of customers in Massachusetts into paying for additional health insurance, a state judge has ruled.

CITE: https://www.r2library.com/Resource

Nvidia stock (NVDA) tumbled more than 6% Tuesday, a day after shares closed at a record high in anticipation of CEO Jensen Huang’s keynote at the tech industry’s annual CES trade show in Las Vegas.

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Dow ends down nearly 180 points, NASDAQ tumbles 1.9% as Treasury yields surge after job-openings, ISM services data

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The Biden administration’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a new rule Tuesday that will hide an estimated $49 billion in medical debt from credit reports. The rule, which is slated to affect 15 million Americans, prohibits the inclusion of medical bills on credit reports and bars creditors from using medical information in making lending decisions. The policy specifically targets national credit-reporting companies Equifax, Experian and Transunion, which provide detailed evaluations of consumer finances to banks, employers and landlords.

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DAILY UPDATE: Semaglutide Drugs, CMS, Emory & UnitedHealthcare as Stock Markets Rise High

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In breaking news, the Biden administration is attempting to cover anti-obesity drugs for weight loss under Medicare and Medicaid. A recent study finds 137 million people are eligible for semaglutide drugs nationwide.


Another insurer can claim victory against CMS after UnitedHealthcare prevailed in its star ratings lawsuit on Friday. The feds will now have to recalculate the scores.


And ... Emory Healthcare is looking to expand value-based care for more than 350,000 patients through a population health partnership with tech company Guidehealth.

CITE: https://www.r2library.com/Resource

STOCKS UP

Uncrustables taste almost as good as today’s gains: J.M. Smucker rose 5.70% thanks to a beat-and-raise quarter for the company.

  • Walmart gained 2.02% on a report that Target is losing its high-end customers to the low-price retailer. Target sank 3.03%.
  • Semiconductor stock Semtech rose another 18.10% after announcing stronger-than-expected earnings last night.

STOCKS DOWN

  • Amgen’s new drug did help patients lose up to 20% of their weight in a given year, but that wasn’t enough to impress shareholders, who kicked shares down 4.76%.
  • Kohl’s plummeted 17.01% after the retailer met revenue expectations but missed on earnings last quarter. It definitely doesn’t help that the CEO announced his retirement last night.
  • Abercrombie & Fitch’s turnaround is well underway, and the company beat earnings forecasts last quarter and projected strong holiday sales. But it still fell short of shareholder expectations, and the stock sank 5.10% today.
  • Best Buy rounded out retailer earnings today, dropping 4.89% after missing revenue expectations last quarter and cutting its full-year guidance.
  • Zoom Communications changed its name, but that wasn’t enough to save the company from a 6.31% decline today thanks to its tepid fiscal outlook.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/2h47urt5

Here’s where the major benchmarks ended:

  •  The S&P 500® index (SPX)rose 34.26 points (0.57%) to 6,021.63; the Dow Jones Industrial Average® ($DJI) added 123.74 points (0.28%) to 44,860.31; and the NASDAQ Composite® ($COMP) gained 119.46 points (0.63%) to 19,174.30.
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield climbed four basis points to 4.3% after Trump’s tariff comments, but shorter-term yields fell after the Fed minutes, keeping the yield curve slightly out of inversion.
  • The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX)dropped to 14.19, near a two-week low.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

Visualize: How private equity tangled banks in a web of debt, from the Financial Times.

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WHAT TRUMP’S ELECTION WIN COULD MEAN FOR HEALTH CARE

By Dr. Bertalan Meskó, MD PhD

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Regarding AI, the emphasis will shift away from the regulatory environment towards technology companies making their own decisions. Trump also promised to repeal Biden’s executive order on AI because it “hinders AI Innovation”.

Regarding health care, Trump said he would let Robert F. Kennedy “go wild” on health. Being a vaccine doubter and having made many unscientific claims about health, this could be a huge risk to digital health and the FDA’s job on regulating technologies. READ MORE

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DAILY UPDATE: UnitedHealth, Aetna, Long Covid and Physician Burnout as NASDAQ Collapses

as MEDICAL EXECUTIVE-POST TODAY’S NEWSLETTER BRIEFING

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The Dow surged another 240 points as the cyclical rotation continues, sending the index to its 22nd record closing high of the year. The S&P 500 had its worst day since late April, while the NASDAQ slumped to its worst finish since December 2022. The last time the Dow rose on the same day the S&P 500 fell by more than 1% was all the way back in 1999. Gold hit a record high yesterday on hopes of a rate cut, not a hike. Oil bubbled up thanks to an Energy Information Administration report highlighting higher demand and lower crude inventories. Bond yields stayed steady throughout the trading session before sinking slightly 20-year Treasury bond auction.

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Here’s where the major benchmarks ended:

  • The S&P 500® index (SPX) fell 78.93 points (–1.39%) to 5,588.27; the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 243.6 points (0.59%) to 41,198.08; the NASDAQ Composite plunged 512.41 points (–2.77%) to 17,996.92.
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) dropped just below 4.15%.
  • The CBOE Volatility Index jumped sharply to 14.48.

What’s up

  • VF Corp. rose 13.64% on the news that it is selling its Supreme brand to EssilorLuxottica for $1.5 billion.
  • Roche soared 7.55% after the Swiss pharmaceutical company announced it has made strides in developing a weight-loss and diabetes treatment that uses a pill rather than an injection. Competitors sank on the news, with Eli Lilly declining 3.78% and Novo Nordisk falling 3.87%.
  • GitLab popped 9.34% on a report that the software developer is exploring a sale, potentially to cloud company Datadog, whose shares fell 7.35%.
  • Johnson & Johnson rose a tepid 3.67% thanks to a mixed earnings announcement that included beating expectations this quarter but warning of lower profits ahead.

What’s down

  • Spirit Airlines descended 10.76% to a new all-time low after warning that both earnings and revenue will come in lower than expected this coming quarter.
  • Five Below plummeted 25.05% after its CEO, who has helmed the company for over a decade, announced his departure smack in the middle of a very difficult year.
  • J.B. Hunt tanked 6.88% thanks to a poor second-quarter earnings report in which earnings and revenue came in well below analyst expectations.
  • Charles Schwab fell yet another 5.34% as the hits keep coming. Today, the culprit was a price target downgrade from Bank of America analysts.
  • Elevance Health slipped 5.96% despite beating analyst expectations this quarter, but warning that Medicaid membership declined.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/2h47urt5

UnitedHealth Group has bounced back in the second quarter, reaffirming its guidance for the year as it posts a profit of $4.2 billion


An audit of Aetna Health of Texas found significant errors in how the health plan calculated the qualifying payment amount for air ambulance services, raising more questions over broader noncompliance in the industry for the No Surprises Act.


And … clinical decision software company Regard pocketed $61 million in series B funding to scale its reach in healthcare as investors have a growing appetite for AI-powered startups.

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/tj8smmes

A study published in JAMA this month found that nearly 7% of the US population (or roughly 18 million people) have had long Covid. Symptoms of the condition vary widely, but often include fatigue, brain fog, and post-exertional malaise (meaning symptoms worsen after minimal exertion), according to the CDC. Booster shots may help protect against long Covid, the JAMA study suggested.

And, President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 while campaigning in Las Vegas with ‘mild symptoms’.

Physician burnout is on the decline after spiking to unprecedented levels during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a survey from professional group the American Medical Association (AMA).

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BEWARE: Junk Health Insurance and Medical Billing Fees

By Staff Reporters

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President Joe Biden is cracking down on what the White House calls “junk” health insurance plans – namely, less-robust and short-term coverage that the Trump administration expanded as a cheaper alternative to Obamacare AHA plans.

Biden announced a draft regulation which, once finalized, would limit temporary plans to four months instead of the current three-year maximum. It would also require more disclosure on coverage limits.

“This rule would help make these plans fairer and help ensure that consumers know what they’re getting when they sign up for insurance,” said White House domestic policy advisor Neera Tanden. “When they don’t know what they’re getting and get these gigantic bills, they can feel like it’s a scam.”

CITE: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2022/03/04/podcast-the-no-surprises-medical-billing-act/

The president also announced new guidance on medical billing stemming from 2020’s No Surprises Act. The guidance would limit the ability of insurers that contract with hospitals to claim provided care was not in network and have customers pay more money. Health plans also would need to disclose facility fees that are increasingly charged to patients and can surface as an unexpected cost in a medical bill.

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DAILY UPDATE: Cannabis, Healthcare and the Stock Market Rally!

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Here’s where the major stock market benchmarks ended:

  • The S&P 500 index gained 51.54 points (1.0%) to 5,099.96, up 2.7% for the week; the Dow Jones Industrial Average® ($DJI) increased 153.86 points (0.4%) to 38,239.66, up 0.7% for the week; the NASDAQ Composite jumped 316.14 points (2.0%) to 15,927.90, up 4.2% for the week.
  • The 10-year Treasury note yield (TNX) lost about 4 basis points to 4.665%.
  • The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX) fell 0.34 to 15.03.

Alphabet’s rally helped communication services reverse Thursday’s downturn, which was driven by disappointing quarterly results from Meta Platforms (META). The S&P 500 Communication Services index ($SP500#50) surged 4.7% Friday and ended the week with a 2.7% gain. Semiconductor shares were also strong, led by a 6% gain in Nvidia (NVDA). The Russell 2000® Index (RUT) added 1.1% Friday and posted a 2.8% advance for the week.

In other markets, WTI Crude Oil (/CL) futures rose slightly Friday, ending around $83.65 per barrel and shutting down a three-week losing streak.

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  • Midi Health, a health clinic geared toward women in midlife, raised $60 million in Series B funding to expand its network to 150 clinicians by the end of the year, among other efforts. (MobiHealthNews)
  • “We’re fooling ourselves if we think that’s cheap or can be done less expensively.”—Carmela Coyle, president and CEO of the California Hospital Association, on hospital finances and cutting costs (AP)
  • The federal government implemented new staffing rules to improve patient care, but most nursing homes won’t be able to meet that demand. (KFF Health News/NPR)

CITE: https://tinyurl.com/2h47urt5

The Biden administration is considering a change that would downgrade cannabis from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule III drug this year. The reclassification would have major effects on the business of cannabis, but for that to happen, the Drug Enforcement Agency needs proof of medical effectiveness.

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President Bidens Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence

By Staff Reporters

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Biden will issue sweeping executive order on A.I. Today

The Biden administration just released an executive order today to regulate AI technology. The directive aims to leverage the government’s role as a leading technology customer by requiring advanced AI models to undergo assessments before they can be used by federal employees. It would also ease barriers to immigration for highly skilled workers in an attempt to boost the US’ technological edge.

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MORE Fierce Healthcare NEWS

The Biden administration has proposed a new rule refining several aspects of the healthcare services billing process in response to criticisms levied from all sides of the industry.


The federal government is rolling back a pandemic-era waiver that lowered the bar for 340B hospitals to dispense discounted drugs across some outpatient clinics. Hospitals argue the decision will “stifle” future efforts to expand access to under served communities.


And … Amazon Pharmacy is focused on making it faster and more convenient for patients to get prescription medications. The company’s moves come as brick-and-mortar drugstores are limiting pharmacy hours and even closing locations.

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NURSING HOMES: Federal Minimum Staffing Levels

A JOE BIDEN PROPOSAL

By Staff Reporters

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s administration just proposed setting federal minimum staffing levels for nursing homes, a move aimed at addressing longtime complaints about abuse and neglect in the industry that were highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

MORE: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2019/02/18/government-report-finds-92-percent-of-nursing-homes-employ-convicts/

Biden pledged last year to protect American seniors’ lives and life savings by cracking down on nursing homes that commit fraud or endanger patients’ safety and address the chronic under staffing at long-term care facilities that was exposed during the pandemic.

PODCAST: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2021/07/24/podcast-nursing-home-care/

USBLS: https://www.bls.gov/iif/factsheets/workplace-violence-healthcare-2018.htm

The nursing home industry takes in nearly $100 billion a year from U.S. taxpayers, yet many under staff their facilities, the White House said. The new rule proposes that facilities have a registered nurse (RN) on site around the clock. It says each resident should receive 2.45 hours (two hours and 27 minutes) of care from a nurse aide every day, plus at least 33 minutes of care from an registered nurse every day.

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INTEL: Intel Nixes $5.4 B Purchase of Tower Semiconductor

By Staff Reporters

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Intel said yesterday it had agreed to ditch a deal to buy Israeli chip manufacturer Tower Semiconductor (and pay Tower a $353 million fee) after Chinese regulators failed to conduct a required antitrust review of the acquisition before a crucial deadline.

The scuttled purchase comes amid tension between the US and China over technology, especially chips, which the Biden administration has worked to restrict China’s access to them.

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DAILY UPDATE: Juneteenth 2023 and the Markets

FREEDOM DAY

By Staff Reporters

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  • The U.S. bond market, and both the NASDAQ and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) are closed on June 19th in observance of Juneteenth.
  • Juneteenth became a federal and public U.S. holiday in 2021, when it was officially recognized by President Joe Biden.

Juneteenth is a banking holiday observed by the Federal Reserve. That means most major banks like Bank of America (BAC), Chase and Wells Fargo (CBEAX) will be closed. TD Bank, which remained open last Juneteenth, will also be closed today.

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First Republic and Silicon Valley Banks are NOT Microsoft!

By Staff Reporters

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Wall Street’s $30 billion infusion into First Republic Bank didn’t manage to calm investors’ jitters about how banks are holding up. The regional bank’s stock tanked again Friday, dragging most of the market down with it. Moody’s Investors Service downgraded its credit rating on First Republic Bank to junk, citing a “deterioration in the bank’s financial profile.” First Republic’s debt rating was cut to B2 from Baa1, Moody’s said. Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings downgraded First Republic Bank’s debt earlier this week.

The downgrade reflects “the deterioration in the bank’s financial profile and the significant challenges First Republic Bank faces over the medium term in light of its increased reliance on short-term and higher cost wholesale funding due to deposit outflows,” Moody’s analysts said in a release.

And, SVB’s parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday, buying it time to pay off creditors and making it easier to sell off its assets (but the bank itself, currently in the hands of the FDIC, isn’t part of the filing). Meanwhile, President Biden called on Congress to make it easier to punish bank executives if their mismanagement causes a bank to collapse, including allowing regulators to claw back their pay.

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But Big Tech stocks got a boost from investors looking to park their cash in non-bank companies, pushing Microsoft to its best weeks in almost eight years.

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COVID PANDEMIC: Official National Emergency Ending

By Staff Reporters

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President Biden plans to end both the public health and national emergencies originally declared to address the Covid pandemic in 2020 (and extended several times since) on May 11th 2023.

The White House just disclosed the plan while opposing efforts by Republican lawmakers to end the emergency declarations immediately with a bill called the Pandemic Is Over Act. The end of the emergencies will mean that many Americans will have to start paying for COVID tests, treatments, and vaccines.

It also signals a shift in how serious the government considers the pandemic to be. But, is this wise?

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UPDATE: President Biden, Domestic Markets, IRS Tax Filing Service, Polio and Paul Krugman’s “Sorry”

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By Staff Reporters

President Biden tested positive for the coronavirus, raising health concerns for the 79-year-old president and underscoring how the virus remains a persistent, if muted, threat in a country trying to put the pandemic in the past.

U.S. IndicesChangeClose
Dow Jones+162.0632036.90
NASDAQ+161.9612059.61
S&P500+39.053998.95
SCHWAB1000+129.5013230.70

Senator Elizabeth Warren along with 22 more Democratic lawmakers are pushing the IRS to create its own free tax filing service. The bill also aims to allow eligible taxpayers to choose a “return-free option,” providing a pre-populated filing. “The average American spends 13 hours and $240 every year to file their taxes — that’s too much time and too much money,” Warren said in a press release. But some tax professionals say it’s not a realistic plan for the overburdened agency.

A case of polio has been identified in an un-vaccinated adult in Rockland County, according to a news release from the New York State Department of Health. The agency confirmed that the infection was transmitted from someone who received the oral polio vaccine, which has not been administered in the United States since 2000. Officials believe the virus may have originated outside the United States, where the oral vaccine is still administered.

he New York Times opinion columnist Paul Krugman published a mea culpa in column form flat out admitting he was wrong for thinking inflation wouldn’t be that bad. In his piece, titled, “I Was Wrong About Inflation,” the economics professor noted that he was on “Team Relaxed” when it came to fears of inflation and acknowledged that was a “very bad call.” Krugman began by recounting the “intense debate among economists about the likely consequences of the American Rescue Plan, the $1.9 trillion package enacted by a new Democratic president and a (barely) Democratic Congress.” He mentioned how he originally didn’t see the massive government spending bill as that dangerous for the economy. “Some warned that the package would be dangerously inflationary; others were fairly relaxed. I was Team Relaxed. As it turned out, of course, that was a very bad call,” he confessed.

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Biden Administration to Overhaul Vertical [Health Systems] Merger Guidelines

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By Health Capital Consultants, LLC

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Biden Administration to Overhaul Vertical Merger Guidelines

The U.S. healthcare industry has seen a rise in vertical integration transactions since the passage of the ACA, especially among physician groups integrating with health systems or insurers, as providers seek to fill gaps in their continuum of care. In response to these trends and resulting market imbalances, the Biden Administration is aggressively pursuing antitrust enforcement by updating and revising U.S. antitrust law guidance.

This Health Capital Topics article will discuss the vertical integration movement and the proposed changes to antitrust laws that may affect the future of healthcare. (Read more…) 

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CITE: https://www.r2library.com/Resource/Title/0826102549

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