Bob Wilson did a great job with this week’s Cavalcade of Risk, hosted at his Worker’s Compensation site. Lots of great stuff in this edition, so be sure to check it out.
I particularly liked David Williams’ post about CVS and tobacco sales. I was happy to see the news recently that CVS was ditching smokes. Of course, I’m sure it makes financial sense for them to do so – publicly traded corporations like CVS have a responsibility to their shareholders first and foremost, and must make decisions based on their bottom line. I saw plenty of comments noting that CVS didn’t deserve public accolades for this move, and that it was all motivated by money. Of course their business decisions are based on profitability, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve credit for a move that improves not only their bottom line but also the health of their customers. I agree with David that tobacco taxes need to be higher in states where they are low (a high uniform tax nationwide would be great), and that interstate smuggling and reservation purchases by non-Indians need to be better regulated.
Jason Shafrin has an interesting post about Medicaid eligibility among elderly Americans and how it related to income. Most people are not surprised to know that low-income Americans rely heavily on Medicaid in their later years. But roughly one in five higher income (top two quintiles) people end up qualifying for Medicaid as they age (the study looked at age 96). This is a result of the extremely high cost of nursing home care and the fact that some states use “medical need” eligibility guidelines and take into consideration the cost of care as well as the patient’s financial status. Jason’s post and the study to which he links are both interesting reads.
