Cavalcade of Risk #10

What’s on the roster for this edition:

Economics
Healthcare Economist writes: “This blog post summarizes how a Journal of Health Economics article uses shadow prices to ration care and maximize profits. By increasing the shadow price of a medical service (creating more restrictions to medical access) the managed care plan makes more revenue per person; on the other hand, this policy increases the probability that the patient will drop the plan. Managed care plans must weigh these tradeoffs when deciding how to best structure their medical service provision.”

Finance
Firefinance brings us a peek at Dilbert’s one-page personal finance guide —a fast and funny read for those on the go. I love it when an engineer dismantles stuff to the basic components! Trackback

The Professional Wealth Management blog weighs in with this post about how your investment mix affects your risk. Diversity does have its benefits!

This entry I could not read, let alone access directly:
Forexblog.com’s entry. The article I found in Google of the same name accesses a PDF file entitled “Leverage is Not Even a Double-Edged Sword” and worth a read anyway. If this is not the article to be referenced, please resubmit it to the next Cavalcade with a more accurate URL. All I got was a page filled with undecipherable computer code.

Insurance
Specialty Insurance Blog asks this question: Do our clients want us in the insurance business or the risk management business?

Did you know magicians play a role in presenting the concept of “affordable insurance for all”? InsureBlog tells us how.

Health
A Hearty Life puts to rest the myth that canola oil is a poisonous derivative of rapeseed, and can be beneficial in lowering heart disease risk. Trackback

~A Wenchypoo article about fats and a label-reading epiphany is soon to be released. ~

We may be part of The Pepsi Generation, but Pinoyhack tells us that women should take it easy on the “soda.” Turns out, it can lead to osteoporosis.
Trackback


~Wenchypoo adds: independent studies show that carbonization erodes bone tissue from the body, and that female facial bones are the fastest-eroding—it doesn’t help that those osteoporosis drugs pull calcium out of the face and deposit it into the body, leading to a condition called “fossy jaw.” She also says that osteoporosis is NOT a calcium issue, but rather tied to estrogen loss, so loading up on calcium after menopause is a waste of time, money, and minerals. Prevention strategy: put down those carbonated drinks and load up on calcium while you’re young and still producing estrogen—that includes you too, guys.~

Surging Waves warns diabetics who don’t keep up their daily regimen of medicines and diet. Believe it or not, there are diabetics who DON’T take their meds. What they may not realize is how that can affect their health in other ways, as well. The risks of dying from such risky behavior have been put at over 50%.

~Wenchypoo begs: please PLEASE don’t use the Wilford Brimley way of getting your meds unless you have no other choice—Medicare gets billed about five times what those supplies go for at warehouse club pharmacies in generic version. All those mail-to-your-home companies use name-brand supplies at horrendous cost to Medicare, and they send a new meter twice every year, whether you need it or not (as part of the drug company product promotion program). When my father-in-law died, he was hip-deep in overstock of his supplies (which got donated to a free clinic), and I got a look at a packing slip—a big YIKES indeed, compared to what I pay for my cat’s diabetic supplies at my local Sam’s Club. And we all sit around wondering why Medicare is headed over a cliff…~

Dr. Kavokin at RDr.com sends in this entry about head injuries. “Head injuries may lead to increase in suicides, divorces, unemployment, and substance abuse.” Trackback

Business
SourcingInnovation says: Maintaining your business after a catastrophe (like Katrina) isn’t difficult, but requires some planning. Business Continuity Planning is one of the best ways to manage risk in such circumstances. Trackback


Miscellaneous
While this may not be in keeping with the Cavalcade traditions, I’m adding an extra two cents of information found elsewhere in my web travels:

Book recommendation--The Politics of Disaster

The Dollar Stretcher contains this helpful article on replacement-value insurance.


Bankrate.com has this article on the risks and rewards of person-to-person lending.

Thank you for your submissions and your patience while wading through my very first carnival hosting. The Cavalcade torch will now be passed to Hill’s Personal Finance.