(An informative pie-chart of money we spend on health is attached)

The weekly medical adventure is scheduled to occur this morning. The Foot-Doctor claims this is an interim visit with some sort of procedure next week. We see minor improvement in mobility each day, so there is improvement and room for some optimism. It has also been an opportunity to take a look at the system that is one of the biggest things in the world economy.

There is a clear international relation with this, since the COVID Pandemic had impact everywhere. The results have not been fully assessed, and there are already calls for new vaccines and masking for what may be an annual adventure in public health. Having been brief hostages to hospitalization, we are sensitive to the impact of large scale public health events. There are also some muttering observers who note that the “blood clots” that appeared after the Moderna vaccine were much more common than previously observed.

The “breaking news” monitors in the Writer’s Section also reported there was word yesterday about new vaccine updates that Washington might attempt to make mandatory this Fall. We are generally opposed to it, based on our own experience, and will eschew participation if given a choice.

Our pals at the American Medical Association have tried to keep track of what happened to us all. Their reporting indicates US health spending increased by nearly 3% in 2021, the last year we can find summary results. That is a whopping $4.3 trillion bucks, about the amount of the old annual Federal Budget. That amounts to just about $13,000 for each of us. That would be an inconvenient annual expense, but the AMA claims the growth rate is substantially lower than what we spent in 2020 by around 10%.

Remember the confusion? A lot of scheduled medical care was deferred so we could stay away from any public gatherings. The AMA attributes lowered pandemic-related government spending and delayed care as being due to the chaotic circumstances of delayed care and pent-up demand for services deferred in the emergency.

We will see where it goes from here. The group largely relies on Government pensions to keep going. We do not know if the $13K in medical costs is a component of the national debt or attributed to something else. Numbers from the Statista Research Department In 2022 indicate the per capita share of the Federal debt is right around $92,528 bucks.

We don’t have that by demographic group, but the amount is big enough that any attempt to lower it is going to be painful. That makes it a medical issue, whether the $13K is part of it or not. We include this morning a breakout for what we spend our money on, just to keep you posted. If there is a new vaccine mandate we can add a new column to the red ink!

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