Lunch Links

The nation’s state insurance commissioners, meeting together today in Orlando, rejected attempts to weaken at the state level the federal health reform requirement that health insurers spend 80- 85% of the premium dollars they collect on actually providing medical care. Good for them and good for NC’s Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin for supporting consumer advocates like the NC Justice Center and beating back industry efforts to weaken these standards.

New study: Having a nurse work with older patients with chronic diseases as they are discharged from the hospital – and that same nurse visiting those patients at home after they get out of the hospital – saves about $4,000 a person. Why? People learn how to manage their disease better and don’t have to go back into the hospital for the same condition, which is expensive and no fun for anyone. And some people wonder why nursing is one of the most respected professions….

Dean Baker dissects the latest far-fetched Washington Post article on why a foreclosure moratorium by banks actually somehow hurts homeowners.

PPP’s latest poll finds overwhelming support for UNC football coach Butch Davis despite the problems plaguing the team.

Finally, WSJ’s Dan Neil reviews the latest Honda minivan this week:

However, as the father of twin 3-year-olds, I have never suffered from minivan embarrassment. After all, nothing says “stud” quite like a minivan. Through the lens of evolutionary biology, females look at men driving minivans as far more likely to continue their genetic coding, to invest in their offspring, than some dork in a Lamborghini. Yes, indeed, the lure of a minivan is primal.