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Think you need 10,000 steps a day? Science says otherwise
The 10,000-step goal came from a 1960s ad campaign, not science. A new study reveals the real number you need for major health benefits
Meet Jerry Xu, the 17-year-old Massachusetts student who built an AI program that turns protein structures into strings of numbers; he won $90,000
Imagine, what if a protein's complex 3-D structure could be converted into a simple string of numbers—and that string could help scientists understand what the protein does? That’s the premise of an innovative AI model developed by 17-year-old Jerry Xu of Lexington, Massachusetts, who earned $90,000 in the Regeneron Science Talent Search for his research, states an online report by the Society for Science.
The Data Center Backlash Bursts Into the Midterms
With opposition to the centers mounting, many Democrats and a growing number of Republicans are campaigning against them.
Opinion: Men's health: Prevention starts with knowing your numbers
Making time for regular checkups and preventive care is essential to staying healthy and active for years to come.
Living better for longer: Israeli fitness experts on how to stay strong and healthy as you age
Longevity, which refers not only to the number of years a person lives but also to the number of years they stay healthy and active, is an increasingly important and popular topic today.
‘ARC Raiders’ Halting New Expeditions Until 2027 For ‘Bigger Changes’
ARC Raiders players have been departing in large numbers over the past year, ever since the game arrived. Now, Embark is pulling the handbrake
Why some couples are combining a European vacation with their IVF treatments
A growing number of Americans are looking abroad, particularly to Greece and Spain, to escape the high cost of fertility treatments at home.
Montana wildlife commission overhauls recommended wolf quota, questioning state-backed science
The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission set a quota of 300 wolves for the 2026-2027 hunting and trapping season, eschewing the recommendation of state biologists while also significantly lowering the number of tags available from last year.
Cubs give Mariners a charity “win” for Players Weekend
Players Weekend features three themes this year, celebrating off-field interests, charities and causes, and the people who helped the players succeed. The Cubs leaned into category number two tonight, giving away a game to Seattle as an act of charity. Even the 2026 Seattle Mariners can still win the occasional game they don’t deserve. It’s […]
The Basketball Tournament (TBT) Announces Record Viewership on FOX Sports
The Basketball Tournament announced record TV numbers for its 2026 event, delivering significant growth in viewership for games broadcast on FOX, FS1, and FS2
Cincinnati Open: Elena Rybakina retires with ankle injury in quarter-final against Iga Swiatek
Elena Rybakina's latest bid to replace Aryna Sabalenka as world number one comes to an abrupt end as she retires injured against Iga Swiatek in Cincinnati.
Hidden magnetism inside atoms may explain mysterious gamma rays
For decades, scientists have puzzled over why certain atomic nuclei unexpectedly produce large numbers of low-energy gamma rays. A new experiment traced the effect to magnetic changes inside the nucleus, where protons and neutrons effectively flip their tiny internal magnets. The discovery could sharpen models of everything from nuclear reactions on Earth to the creation of heavy elements in stars and neutron star mergers.
SBA wants to give 114,000 more companies access to small business contracts
SBA is proposing to reduce the number of and simplify the approach to the NAICS codes and reduce the total size standard categories from nearly 1,000 to 338.
Layoffs in Apple's Vision Products Group prove slow progress in spatial computing
A source has exclusively revealed to us that Apple has just laid off an unknown number of people dedicated to VR development, which aligns with incoming CEO John Ternus reportedly putting the category "on ice."
Cash-hungry college sports programs are starting nonprofits to make money to stay competitive
To compete in the increasingly commercialized world of college sports, a growing number of universities are turning to nonprofits, limited liability companies and other “associated entities” to generate more revenue
States pour taxpayer dollars into college sports as athlete pay, soaring costs squeeze budgets
A growing number of states are providing tax dollars to university athletics.
States pour taxpayer dollars into college sports as athlete pay, soaring costs squeeze budgets
A growing number of states are providing tax dollars to university athletics.
States pour taxpayer dollars into college sports as costs squeeze budgets
A growing number of states are providing tax dollars to university athletics. North Carolina and Louisiana are earmarking sports betting taxes for their universities.
States pour taxpayer dollars into college sports as athlete pay, soaring costs squeeze budgets
A growing number of states are providing tax dollars to university athletics. The move comes as major college sports programs now are paying millions of dollars to athletes. The financial battle for the best athletes has strained many athletic departments, which are now running deficits. North Ca...
States use tax dollars to shore up rising college sports budgets
A growing number of states are providing tax dollars to university athletics. The move comes as major college sports programs now are paying millions of dollars to athletes.
States pour taxpayer dollars into college sports as athlete pay, soaring costs squeeze budgets
A growing number of states are providing tax dollars to university athletics.
Are You One of 3.8 Million Affected? A Major Health Data Breach Expands
The massive health data breach from CareCloud is 10 times worse than thought. It included social security numbers and other private info.
What to know about the fake election poll numbers shared and retracted by a mysterious company
Locked in a competitive reelection race, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared on social media last week that a new poll was evidence that her campaign was “gaining momentum.”
ENTERTAINMENT: Library bookstore opens; cat show set for Maumelle center
Library Square Books, the Central Arkansas Library System’s new used bookstore, opens at 405 President Clinton Ave. in Little Rock’s River Market District, with a ribbon cutting at 2 p.m. Thursday that features refreshments and giveaways and a limited number of commemorative items.
New research underscores child care’s growing economic stakes
For years, employers and working parents have understood the practical challenges created by a shortage of affordable, accessible child care. New research and polling suggest those challenges are increasingly becoming something else, too: an economic issue with growing political salience. The numbers help explain why. A new national poll from the First Five Years Fund […]
Tencent Music (TME) Turns Streaming Into A Sprawling Entertainment Machine
On August 12, Tencent Music Entertainment Group (NYSE:TME) held its second-quarter 2026 earnings call, and the numbers told a story bigger than a music app. Total revenue reached RMB 8.9 billion, up 6% year over year, with the freshly consolidated audio platform Ximalaya adding roughly RMB 0.4 billion of that total. Music-related services revenue climbed […]
Yes, the Pixelsnap magnets on Pixel 11 are stronger this year
Pixelsnap is one of the best things added to Pixel phones in a number of years, but it wasn’t quite...
‘GTA VI’ Leaker Drops Even More New Footage, Reveals Motivations
'GTA VI' is currently suffering from a number of leaks from a specific leaker, revealing gameplay, maps, systems and more.
Subnautica 2 Patch Adds Buddy System, Dev Reveals Glimpse at Early Access 2 Update
Subnautica 2 gets its Buddy system update today, August 19. It adds a number of new features revolving around multiplayer in the underwater survival and crafting game. Here's what to expect from the 1.2 update.
Schoolhouse Politics and the U.S. Senate
The fight over local school boards could tilt Senate outcomes in a number of states.
Heisman Hopeful Arch Manning Wears #16 Because of Jaguars' Lawrence
Instead of wearing any of his family’s numbers, the Texas quarterback chose his jersey number to honor Lawrence, who made a lasting impression on him before he became an NFL star.
Overhauled fields, new science labs, moved admin offices — the latest on New Trier renovations
As New Trier High School prepares to begin the new school year, a number of multi-year construction projects at both of the district’s campuses are nearing completion. The School Board and community received an update on the projects from Deputy Superintendent Dr. Chris Johnson during the board’s meeting on Monday, Aug. 17, two days before […]
No Neutral Number: The Politics of Defining and Measuring Inequality
Before anyone can reduce inequality, someone has to define it, decide how to measure it, and choose how to respond.
Gamescom 2026 sets new record as number of country pavilions increases by 25%
Bulgaria, Cyprus, Hungary, Morocco, and Nigeria join as new exhibitors this year
Xbox Game Pass August 2026 Wave 2 Lineup Announced
Microsoft has announced the Xbox Game Pass August 2026 Wave 2 lineup, and it includes a number of day-one releases.
Scientists Have Found A Surprising Number Of “Extraterrestrial Amino Acids” Never Before Seen On Earth
We call them the building blocks of proteins, but only a small fraction actually does that. At least, on Earth!
Doritos as farm-to-table snacks? Big Food, under duress, gets creative
Doritos in the classic nacho cheese flavor have 27 ingredients, including not just familiar ones but also a number of additives and preservatives.
Live Results: Wyoming midterm primaries
Wyoming voters will choose nominees for an unusually high number of open-seat races in a state primary Tuesday, thanks to two prominent Republican officials whose retirement announcements set off a scramble for contests throughout the ballot.
Lamborghini's most extreme car just sold out its future
Scarcity is the oldest pricing trick in luxury, and it only works when the scarcity is real. Anyone can print “limited edition” on a box. Very few companies can cap production at a hard number, refuse to move it, and still watch buyers pay a premium for the privilege of waiting a year to take ...
‘Unprecedented’ number of Apple users received recent spyware alert, say investigators
Cybersecurity experts who investigate spyware attacks say the number of people who received a recent threat notification from Apple is unusually high.
YouTube is changing how it counts views to give the numbers a boost
Watching one frame of a video will count as a view.
Trump dwarfs predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House
The number of people worth at least $100 million is more than four times the combined total under the three previous presidents
Trump dwarfs predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House
The number of people worth at least $100 million is more than four times the combined total under the three previous presidents
Netflix’s New #1 Movie Has Viewers in Their Feelings (And It Has a Nearly Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score)
Netflix’s number one movie is winning over viewers with a nearly perfect Rotten Tomatoes score and plenty of emotional reactions. Find out more here.
Everyday Injustice Podcast Episode 337: Marc Bookman Examines the Death Penalty’s Politics, Failures and Enduring Appeal
Marc Bookman, legal director of the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, recently discussed capital punishment on Episode 337 of 'Everyday Injustice.' Bookman challenged the perception of a national death penalty resurgence, asserting its continued application is increasingly confined to a limited number of states. He also critiqued public opinion polling on capital punishment, specifically a Pew poll, for failing to present alternatives such as life without parole. Additionally, Bookman previewed his forthcoming novel, 'Albert's Time,' which explores the ethical dimensions of capital punishment by confronting the execution of an undeniably guilty individual.
North Africa's 'Youth Bulge' Will Remain a Significant Factor in the Region's Politics
Large numbers of young people in North Africa are not inherently destabilizing, but weak job creation and deteriorating public services will deepen social polarization, and make young people an increasingly important driver of economic pressure, protest, violence and migration. In 2025, approximatel
AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) Proposes Governance Changes, Is The Rebound Already Priced In?
Governance changes put AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) in focus AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) has put corporate governance firmly on the agenda, asking shareholders to vote on declassifying its board, expanding stockholder rights, and loosening limits on director numbers at the September 24, 2026 annual meeting. See our latest analysis for AMC Entertainment Holdings. The governance proposals arrive after a sharp rebound in AMC Entertainment Holdings’ share price, with a 30 day share price...
Cooley’s Business Czar Navigates AI Deals ‘Unmoored’ to Numbers
Fast-moving artificial intelligence deals are changing the equation for buyers and their lawyers, according to veteran tech attorney Peter Werner.
Elite science high schools boost enrollment as AI, chip demand grows
South Korea's elite science high schools will admit a record number of students next year, expanding opportunities for young science talent at a time when unive
Republicans won the redistricting competition. Don't tell that to this California congressman
President Donald Trump last year told GOP-controlled states to redraw their maps before this year's midterm elections to increase the number of winnable seats for Republicans in order to help the party hold onto the U.S. House.
Column: Solo diners are the face of ‘me-conomics’
A former colleague — terribly self-important because of winning a number of journalism prizes — once took a protege out to a fancy lunch spot in New York City. When
Physicists discover a hidden gluon structure inside protons that could rewrite textbooks
Physicists may have uncovered a hidden feature inside protons that helps preserve one of matter’s most fundamental properties. RHIC collision data suggest baryon number is carried not simply by three quarks, but by a Y-shaped junction of the gluons connecting them. The finding challenges a decades-old textbook picture and could deepen our understanding of why protons—and ultimately matter itself—remain stable.
Huron (NASDAQ:HURN) Q2 Earnings: Leading The Business Process Outsourcing & Consulting Pack
Wrapping up Q2 earnings, we look at the numbers and key takeaways for the business process outsourcing & consulting stocks, including Huron (NASDAQ:HURN) and its peers.
There’s a Vast Network Beneath Your Feet—And It Could Be Conscious, Some Theories Claim
It’s so large that it could stretch from the sun to Pluto an unfathomable number of times.
I Can't Tell if I Hate or Love-Hate the #1 Movie on Netflix
It's not often that I watch a film and think 'what the hell am I watching,' especially if it stars powerhouse actors like Greta Lee and Wagner Moura. But 'The Last House' on Netflix was bonkers and confusing, even if it is the number one movie on Netflix. Here, my review.
Roughly 23 million Americans trapped in jobs they want to leave over one costly fear
A growing number of Americans are staying in unwanted jobs to keep their health coverage as medical debt and rising costs squeeze household finances.
Moss Point CTE Center ranks number 1 in state for business, marketing and finance
The Moss Point Career and Technical Education Center is celebrating a major accomplishment.
Erie County receives small number of responses to biometric law disclosure
The law prohibits businesses from collecting, using or selling people's data.
Grand Theft Auto 2 Legacy Review – Revisiting the Retro-Futuristic Sequel in 2026
Grand Theft Auto 2 boasts a number of noticeable technical improvements over the original and feels far better to play, but I'm glad its odd and unrecognisable setting was a one-time experiment.
Joshua Dobbs by the numbers for Lions at Cincinnati
NFL preseason Week 1: Joshua Dobbs debuts for Detroit at Cincinnati
New Business Poised To Replace Omega Restaurant
Greek diner's days appear to be numbered, with demolition planned.
5 Core Principles To Master Before You Sell Your Business
Learn the five core principles that determine whether your business is truly sellable, from owner independence to knowing your real valuation number.
'The lance head was still inside the pelvis:' Mass grave found in Austria may hold casualties of unknown ancient Roman battle
A new analysis of skeletons recovered from an ancient mass burial has revealed a surprising number of groin injuries.
World’s first superconducting quantum heat engine could help unlock massive quantum computers
A tiny superconducting engine has successfully converted heat near absolute zero into useful work, demonstrating the first cyclic quantum heat engine of its kind. Future versions could operate autonomously inside quantum computers, potentially eliminating huge numbers of costly, noise-producing microwave cables.
Immune cells flood into the aging brain, Stanford scientists discover
Scientists have discovered that the aging human brain may be far less isolated from the rest of the body than once believed. Stanford researchers found that large numbers of immune cells from the blood begin entering the brain as early as middle age, where they can transform into microglia, the brain’s specialized immune cells. The finding overturns a long-standing assumption that these cells remain largely separate from the body’s immune system throughout life.
Be prepared for the preseason with our Denver Broncos roster
All of the players on the team are sorted by their jersey numbers and by their last names to help you find your favorites during the preseason.
VAR, timewasting and subs - new rules for the new season
The 2026-27 season will feature an unprecedented number of new laws, mostly designed to tackle tempo disruption and make the game quicker.
Kentucky health officials report confirmed measles case, suspect outbreak after additional unconfirmed case reports
The Kentucky Department of Public Health announced Thursday that a case of measles with a high number of community exposers was confirmed in Christian County.
Fort Smith water leak repairs up almost 57% in July
The number of water leaks the city of Fort Smith repaired in July rose 56.6% compared with June leak repairs, but the number of active leaks rose to 45 at...
BREAKING: Netflix to shut down two more game studios
Netflix is sticking with video games but once again reducing the number of studios it owns making games. The streaming giant is closing Los Angeles-based Night School studio, which it acquired in 2021 and plans to close Helsinki-based Moonloot, which was founded in 2022. Just six weeks ago, Night School had released Unhinged, a novel 30-minute first-person horror game, streamable on TVs to Netflix users. The game was hailed by Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters in a call with investors. Six weeks later, Night School is closing. Prior to its Netflix tenure, Night School had developed the award-winning supernatural thriller Oxenfree. A second Oxenfree game followed after the purchase, as well as a mobile game designed to tie in to an episode of the Netflix show Black Mirror. Netflix attributed the studio closures to a prioritization around kids gaming, party games, story-driven fare and games with mainstream hooks, such as a recently released FIFA game. “We see an opportunity to be more focused in our execution, so we are making organizational changes to the business to match those priorities,” a Netflix spokesperson told Game File. Netflix is also cutting jobs from its internal games team. A rep declined to say how many jobs were being lost by these cutbacks. “We are incredibly grateful to the talented colleagues we’re saying goodbye to today. We thank them for all their contributions to Netflix, and wish them the best,” the rep said. Netflix started releasing video games, initially on mobile as a free bonus to subscribers, in 2021. By 2023, Mike Verdu, then the head of Netflix’s game operations, was telling me that the company was committed to growing carefully, as it offered more games and built up internal game studios. At the time, it hadn’t made any gaming job cuts. Since then, Netflix has altered its approach. In 2024, it shut down Team Blue, a start-up studio led by ex-Call of Duty and Halo developers that was exploring making a high-end first-person game for the service. Last October, Netflix shut down another studio, Boss Fight, shortly after Peters praised the team’s Squid Game game to investors. (One of Boss Fight’s main developers now works on the Netflix FIFA game for outside studio Delphi.) And in December, Netflix sold cozy game studio Spry Fox back to its founders. Amid all of this, Netflix has shifted from emphasizing mobile games to offering games through TVs and PCs, via streamed connections, with phones used as controllers. That’s how Night School’s Unhinged worked, along with games such as Boggle and Party Crashers that have collectively helped the Netflix game controller app chart well on mobile app stores. The studio cuts leave Netflix with a central gaming team that works with external developers, and a dedicated first party studio in, Helsinki-based Next Games, which produced many of the company’s couch-centric party games. The move away from having a roster of internal game studios aligns with Netflix’s own approach to shows and movies, which are largely produced externally. The company owns few TV/film production studios of its own. The gaming industry overall is seeing large holders of multiple studios cut back, with Sony, Ubisoft, Embracer, Microsoft and other giants closing or selling off studios. Cuts in California-based studios, where costs often run relatively high, have been particularly acute. Netflix has faced skepticism about its gaming plans for years. The moves today are likely to fuel them, and the company has few upcoming projects to counter the narrative. Among the few hinted, acclaimed independent studio Don’t Nod said last year it was working on a game tied to a major Netflix franchise.
The glue that binds a proton may be key to its identity
Gluons do more than hold protons together. They may also help define the proton’s identity through a quantum property called baryon number.
3 Entrepreneurs Want to Be Chicago’s Next Mayor. Each Has a Different Plan for the City
With the next mayoral election less than a year away, a number of well-known founders and business leaders have entered the race to lead the Windy City.
Scientists uncover new clue to how protons maintain their identity
New results from the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) suggest that gluons, the gluelike particles that hold quarks together inside protons, play a central role in the conservation of baryon number, an essential part of a particle’s quantum identity.
Single Powerball ticket sold in Illinois wins $1.04 billion jackpot, eighth-largest in US history
Wednesday's Powerball drawing produced a single Illinois winner who matched all six numbers to claim the $1.040 billion jackpot, eighth-largest ever.
Hospitals chipping away at maternal mortality one birth at a time
If you could help break the silence around the nation’s maternal mortality crisis for something like 1 cent per message, wouldn’t you make the spend? If so, know that a growing number of hospitals has already laid the groundwork.
How Nevada made big strides to keep kids with behavioral health issues out of institutions
Four years ago, the federal government found the state was sending too many kids out of state for treatment. That number has been cut by more than half.
Ex-Dolphins Quarterback Receives Crushing News Before Preseason Game
Over the past few seasons, the Miami Dolphins have had to rely on a large number of quarterbacks. That has been primarily due to the health situation of former quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who was only able to play the entire regular season once with the Dolphins.For both Tagovailoa and the Dolphins, it was unfortunate, as […] The post Ex-Dolphins Quarterback Receives Crushing News Before Preseason Game appeared first on HEAVY.
The Tyrone Taylor trade by the numbers
The Cubs added a right-handed platoon bat at the trade deadline
In Good Health: Why Measles Numbers Are On The Rise
Nationwide, students, teachers, and parents are gearing up for the school year.And measles is spreading. The U.S. has already logged more cases this year than in all of 2025. It’s the highest count in 35 years. That’s in large part because measles vaccination rates have slipped below 95 percent – the threshold public health experts say is needed to stop community spread. Last week on CNN, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said children should be vaccinated for measles after being pressed on-camera, even as he used the same interview to push a debunked claim about respiratory syncytial virus. And on Monday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at upending the childhood vaccine schedule, including changes to the measles vaccine and others. But what will actually change at the doctor’s office?Find more of our programs online. Listen to 1A sponsor-free by signing up for 1A+ at plus.npr.org/the1a.
Fans Try To Decipher The Elder Scrolls VI’s Censored Subtitle
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma just played 'The Elder Scrols VI' and both she and Bethesda are censoring its subtitle with a specific number of letters.
Pixel Watch 5 gets Gemini Intelligence, At a Glance, and more
Gemini Intelligence comes to Wear OS with the Pixel Watch 5, and there are a number of interesting AI and on-device features.
US Employers Abandon Group Health Insurance as Price Hikes Bite
As US employers brace for the largest price hikes on employee health plans in 15 years, a growing number are opting out of group insurance altogether.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment (MSGE) Reports Q4 Loss, Tops Revenue Estimates
MSG Entertainment (MSGE) delivered earnings and revenue surprises of +69.05% and +17.68%, respectively, for the quarter ended June 2026. Do the numbers hold clues to what lies ahead for the stock?
Arizona's wild horses deserve science, not assumptions
Arizona is reducing its wild horse herds toward targets set without real science. Officials should prove the numbers before removing more.
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Workbench files pre-application for new housing on site of Seabright business plaza; Joby makes moves in Texas
In her weekly look at local business, Jessica M. Pasko reports on a proposed six-story mixed-use development in Santa Cruz, Joby Aviation's latest maneuvers and names, numbers and dates to know.
The Weekly Bobbins: Will This Season Be The One?
For Bobbins, a number of factors mean this probably won’t be Reading’s year for promotion.
Sharp HealthCare announces restructuring that will impact about 260 workers
Number includes 120 behavioral health workers who will be offered jobs on different shifts to comply with new state law
As Candida auris spreads, UT Health San Antonio scientist highlights growing threat of antifungal resistance
Life-threatening fungus now in 27 states; Texas with second-most clinical cases Contact: Steven Lee, (210) 450-3823, lees22@uthscsa.edu Content provided by Claire Kowalick SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 11, 2026 – As cases of the potentially deadly drug-resistant fungal infection Candida auris have spread to 27 states, including Texas with the second-highest number, a scientist at UT Health […]
Oklahoma Health Department reports 506 cyclosporiasis cases statewide
The Oklahoma State Department of Health has updated the cyclosporiasis numbers in Oklahoma, with 496 confirmed cases and 10 probable cases as of Tuesday, Aug. 1
Dem governor booed at Virginia Old Fiddlers' Convention
Video shows Virginia Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger greeted by loud boos at the Old Fiddlers' Convention in Galax amid sagging poll numbers.
Health Facts vs. Myths: Detoxing, Water Intake, Steps, More
NBC’s medical contributor Dr. John Torres joins TODAY to sort out fact from common medical myths. He also shares his advice for navigating produce shopping amid the rising numbers of recalls, which include buying locally and staying up to date with CDC and FDA guidelines.
The U.S. Healthcare System is Already Mostly Socialized
Now that Abdul El-Sayed is the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s open Senate seat, the outcome of this crucial race will depend mainly on two things: Whether Republicans succeed in demonizing El-Sayed because he’s brown and a Muslim, and whether they succeed in demonizing him as a left-wing radical. I will defer for the now the question of whether bigotry will be effective this year, although I will address it another day. What I want to address instead is El-Sayed’s signature issue — healthcare. Yes, El-Sayed advocates Medicare for All, a position the usual suspects denounce as “socialism.” I will get to the politics of his stance soon. Today, however, I want to talk about the substance. We should be clear that El-Sayed doesn’t even call himself a socialist. On the contrary, he explicitly disavows the label, saying “I’m a capitalist who just knows about capitalism”. In fact, as I explained in a previous post, the policies that El-Sayed advocates qualify him as a social democrat, not a socialist. Still, El-Sayed advocates a system under which the government would pay almost all medical expenses. Isn’t that socialism? Well, if that is the criterion then much of U.S. healthcare is already socialist. In fact, the government’s role is so large that U.S. healthcare is better described as partially privatized socialism than as anything resembling a free market. Let’s start with the raw numbers on health insurance, which pays the bulk of Americans’ medical expenses. Americans receive health insurance either from private companies or from public programs, overwhelmingly Medicare and Medicaid. Here’s what the breakdown of coverage and spending between private and public looked like in 2024: While a majority of Americans with health insurance get it from private companies, well over 100 million of us are covered by government programs instead. And these government programs pay more total dollars for medical bills than the private insurers do. Why do government programs that cover a minority of the population account for a majority of health insurers’ outlays? Mainly because Medicare covers seniors, and we’re expensive. Also, while Medicaid covers many younger Americans, disabled and elderly beneficiaries account for most of its spending. Even by the raw numbers, then, U.S. health insurance looks as much public as private. But that understates the government’s role: Private health insurance in the U.S. is both highly regulated and heavily subsidized. This is obviously true for the insurance coverage purchased by tens of millions of Americans through the exchanges established by the Affordable Care Act. But employment-based health insurance, which covers 161 million Americans, is far more of a government creation than most people realize. For employment-based insurance exists largely because of huge implicit government subsidies that come with major strings attached. Here’s how that works. If your employer pays you $10,000, that’s taxable income. But if your employer pays $10,000 toward a company health insurance plan that meets certain criteria, it isn’t taxable. That’s a huge effective subsidy, running at more than $300 billion a year. Take that subsidy into account, along with the more than $100 billion per year spent subsidizing policies purchased under the ACA, as well as the outlays on Medicare and Medicaid, and net effect is that the government pays for more than two-thirds of Americans’ health insurance. Granted, there are strings attached. Roughly speaking, employment-based health plans can’t discriminate based on medical history — that is, they can’t deny coverage to employees with pre-existing conditions — and they also can’t offer the plans only to highly compensated employees — a health plan that is only for the C-suite is considered taxable income. So given the restrictions of the federal tax code, employer-based health insurance is a lot like Obamacare, which also prohibits discrimination based on medical history and provides subsidies to make insurance affordable to lower-paid workers. The fact is that virtually all of private healthcare insurance is already well under some form of government control through regulation and tax subsidies. How should we think about this system? First of all, is Medicare socialist? Don’t tell anyone, but the way Medicare operates — it covers every senior’s medical expenses, whatever they turn out to be, while being funded by taxes that depend on one’s income — could be summarized by the old Marxist slogan “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.” And back in 1961, when Ronald Reagan was the face of a last-ditch effort by the American Medical Association to block the creation of Medicare, he denounced Medicare as “socialized medicine” and warned that it would destroy our freedom. In reality, American freedom survived until Jan. 20, 2025, while Medicare is immensely popular, with an 82 percent favorable rating in the most recent KFF survey. Medicaid, government health insurance for lower-income Americans, comes in at 73 percent. This is in sharp contrast to public views about private insurers, who are widely disliked if not hated and accused of denying essential care. Furthermore, if Medicare is socialism, then the whole U.S. health insurance system, with the government paying most of the bills and placing conditions on private insurers, is almost equally socialist. If you insist on calling any program the government pays for and regulates socialist, then U.S. healthcare would best be described as a partially privatized form of socialism. And one must ask, what is the point of the part that is privatized? Do private insurers add anything positive? Or are they simply parasites, skimming off money that could have been paying for care? The case for viewing insurers as parasites is strong. Many Medicare benefits are now delivered via Medicare Advantage, that is, plans paid for by the government but run through insurance companies. MedPAC, an independent advisory commission, estimates that last year Medicare Advantage plans were overpaid by $84 billion, thanks to practices such as “upcoding,” in which patients’ health problems are overstated to get larger sums from Medicare. Assessing the waste from employer-based insurance is harder, but most evidence suggests that private insurers have substantially higher administrative costs than Medicare does. Furthermore, the complexity of private insurance, with multiple payers all trying to deny care when they can, is a huge burden both on providers — doctors, nurses, and hospitals — and on patients. What do private insurers offer to compensate for these costs? One must go through intellectual contortions to avoid the conclusion that they are, in fact, parasites. Which brings me back to El-Sayed. In supporting Medicare for All, he’s basically calling for an end to the partial, parasitic privatization of a healthcare system that is already hugely dependent on public funding. When one looks at it that way, it’s not at all a radical proposal. Admittedly, the political lift requires overcoming the opposition to higher taxes to pay for Medicare for All. Political realism rather than economics was the reason I and many other progressives supported Obamacare, with all its complexities, rather than demanding an immediate move to Medicare for All. But the political calculus may very well have shifted since the 2000s, as Americans are fed up with a system of unaffordable premiums, rampant claim denials, and byzantine claim administration. Moreover, funding healthcare insurance through taxation would allow for a much more progressive distribution of the cost. That is, compared to the present system, middle-income households would pay less as high-income households would pay more. And the U.S. would stop wasting large sums on pointless administrative costs. So let’s be clear: El-Sayed’s healthcare platform is perfectly reasonable on the merits of cost, fairness and health efficacy. And with private insurers never more hated, while millions of Americans are losing their health insurance, 2026 may be its time. MUSICAL CODA
49ers Injuries Continue to Mount as Training Camp Rolls On
The San Francisco 49ers are hoping their growing list of training camp injuries is nothing more than a temporary setback, but the number of players missing practice continues to be a concern as the regular season gets closer. The latest names to miss practice are two of the biggest stars on the roster. Running back…
Trump order aims to cut number of diseases all children should be vaccinated against from 18 to 11
The order reaffirms the dramatic overhaul to the vaccine schedule that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced earlier this year. Those changes have been blocked in court.
Bluesky now lets you hide reposts from that annoying person you follow
You can also turn on post numbers for threads.
AbCellera women’s health data top ‘most aggressive upside scenario,’ putting Astellas and Bayer on notice
AbCellera has reported phase 2 results “beyond even the most aggressive upside scenario” that its CEO dared to consider, boosting the biotech’s chances of challenging Astellas and Bayer for a women’s health market. The phase 2 clinical trial compared ABCL635, an antibody targeting NK3R, to placebo in patients with hot flashes caused by menopause. Investigators enrolled 92 postmenopausal women experiencing a mean of about 10 moderate or severe hot flashes per day. By Week 4, the number of moderate or severe hot flashes had fallen by a mean of 8.8 on ABCL635 and by 3.5 on placebo. That statistically significant, placebo-adjusted reduction of 5.3 hit the trial’s primary endpoint. The level of efficacy also cleared the bar set by existing drugs. While cross-trial comparisons can be misleading, AbCellera CEO Carl Hansen, Ph.D., had seen enough to start hyping the program. “We now view ABCL635 as a potential best-in-class non-hormonal therapy with strong differentiation against approved NK3R competitors across all important dimensions, including efficacy, safety, dosing and convenience,” Hansen said on a Monday morning conference call with investors to discuss the data. “We believe ABCL635 is now a highly de-risked program.” Last week, Hansen used AbCellera’s earnings call to set expectations for readout, with the CEO defining success as a clean safety profile and efficacy comparable to the two approved small molecules. The data vaulted over that bar. Astellas linked (PDF) one of the small molecules, Veozah, to placebo-adjusted reductions in hot flash frequency of 2.1 and 2.6 at Week 4 of its two phase 3 trials. Bayer reported (PDF) placebo-adjusted reductions of 3.04 and 3.29 at Week 4 of pivotal studies for its small molecule, Lynkuet. At 5.3, the placebo-adjusted reduction in AbCellera’s trial comfortably cleared the standard set by the incumbents. Veozah and Lynkuet came to market based on evidence of their ability to reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes. AbCellera’s phase 2 study covered both endpoints, with the Canadian biotech reporting a mean reduction in severity of 1.4 points at Week 4 on ABCL635, compared to 0.3 points for placebo. Again, the placebo-adjusted result compares favorably to data on Veozah and Lynkuet. Analysts shared Hansen’s enthusiasm for the data. The phase 2 results “firmly validate ABCL635 as a potentially best-in-class treatment,” BMO Capital Markets analysts said in a note to investors Monday. ABCL635’s apparent efficacy edge “is likely attributable to the higher dosing/target engagement the asset is able to reach vs. the oral agents due to its wider therapeutic index,” the analysts added. The analysts, who model $2.3 billion in unadjusted peak sales for ABCL635, flagged the safety profile as another positive of the phase 2 readout. While Veozah carries a boxed warning for liver damage, nobody on ABCL635 in the phase 2 trial had elevated liver enzymes or bilirubin values. If replicated in phase 3, the lack of a liver signal could allow approval without the monitoring requirements imposed on Veozah. Investors appeared equally enthused, sending AbCellera's stock up 32% to $9.21 in premarket trading Monday from a Friday closing price of $6.93. Next, AbCellera will collect the Week 12 data and talk to its advisors about further development. The results open up “a wide variety of possibilities of how we might take this forward into phase 3 studies to truly maximize the value of the asset and make sure that ABCL635 is able to demonstrate its differentiation potential,” Sarah Noonberg, M.D., Ph.D., AbCellera’s chief medical officer, told investors.
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