Thursday Edition

Research shows many hospitals are receiving more in subsidies than they’re providing in free or discounted care to uninsured patients, suggesting a key inefficiency in how the government is allocating aid. (The Hill)

A new Manhattan Institute report:

• In 2019, hospitals received $49 billion in subsidies for uncompensated care, more than the $42 billion in services they claim to have provided without payment.

• New Hampshire received $2,123 per poor resident last year in the largest type of hospital subsidy, while Wyoming received only $4.

• 40% of hospitals allocated less than 1% of their funds to charity care, while 7% spent over 9% on charity care.

Manhattan Institute senior fellow Chris Pope: “While lavish hospitals in affluent neighborhoods receive unnecessary windfalls, those serving the poorest communities often still find themselves financially strained in providing basic care to the uninsured.”

Health care and its costs rank near the top of Americans’ biggest concerns, polls show. The U.S. spends $12,555 per person on health care, which is over $4,000 more than any other high-income nation and roughly double the average of other wealthy countries.

New Jersey's 2022 ban on single-use plastic bags led to a nearly threefold increase in overall plastic consumption for bags. (Fox News)

A new study by by Freedonia Custom Research:

• Shoppers reported accumulating reusable bags at home, often purchasing new ones with each grocery visit, leading to minimal reuse.

• Reusable bags made from non-woven polypropylene are about 15 times thicker than single-use bags, contributing to the increased plastic use.

• The shift to polypropylene bags resulted in a 500% increase in greenhouse gas emissions compared to their production in 2015.

• For the reusable bags to benefit the environment, consumers would need to reuse each bag at least 16 times.

As of 2024, 12 U.S. states have enacted plastic bag bans. Over 500 cities and towns across 28 states also have some form of plastic bag legislation. A report released last week by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group and other environmental organizations found that bag bans in states and cities like New Jersey, Vermont, and Philadelphia have significantly reduced plastic waste, estimating a reduction of around 6 billion bags.

Research has shown environmentally conscious policies can have unintended consequences.

• A Belgian study published in August found 90% of tested paper straws contained harmful PFAs, also known as “forever chemicals.” 

• A report released in May by the environmental activist group Greenpeace found recycling increases the toxicity of plastics.

• A Greenpeace report from 2022 found that recycling plastic is basically useless.

U.S. social welfare spending has been on an upward trajectory for decades, boosted significantly by Medicaid spending. (Jabberwocking)

The vast majority of social welfare spending in 2023 went to Medicaid, according to an analysis by political blogger Kevin Drum.

From 1975 to 2008, total spending for Medicare and Medicaid rose from 1.7% of GDP to 5.7%. Medicaid spending alone is projected to grow to 5% of GDP by 2035 and 7% by 2080, according to the Congressional Budget Office. 81 million people in the U.S. are enrolled in Medicaid.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling on federal agencies to crack down on Zyn nicotine pouches. (Reason)

Schumer on why he’s asking the FDA and FTC to investigate Zyn: “I'm delivering a warning to parents, because these nicotine pouches seem to lock their sights on young kids, teenagers and even lower. And then use the social media to hook them.”

Nicotine pouch sales in the U.S. have doubled annually since 2019, with a 700% increase in sales from the end of 2019 to early 2022. Zyn is the leading brand, making up nearly 60% of nicotine pouch sales, followed by other brands like Rogue, On!, and Velo. According to the National Youth Tobacco Survey, only 1.5% of middle and high school students use nicotine pouches, with 2.3% having ever tried them.

The Biden administration announced last month it was delaying its scheduled ban on menthol cigarettes until March at the earliest. Public health activists and organizations have pushed for bans on menthols, citing research showing menthol smokers are less likely to quit. Experts also point out that black Americans make up the majority of menthol cigarette smokers and have higher rates of dying due to tobacco-related diseases.

Democrats’ and Republicans’ views on the economy seem to be impacted greatly by whether their guy is in the Oval Office. (NYT)

A new blog post from the Committee to Unleash Prosperity really drives the point home: Republicans have a more negative view of the economy under President Biden even though red states are arguably doing much better when it comes to employment. Most of the states that have yet to recover non-farm payroll jobs lost during the pandemic are blue states. The states with employment levels that exceed pre-pandemic rates are mostly red.