The data
I see the article link some observational cohort studies, which rank somewhere in the middle of the hierarchy of evidence. Are there any systematic reviews?
As mentioned before, water fluoridation is uncommon in other developed countries. Shouldn’t there be tooth decay problems there, too?
A public health policy should meet the highest standards of evidence such as a systematic review.
Systematic review does show toothpaste fluoridated at sufficient concentrations suffices when administered. Are people not brushing teeth enough, and wouldn’t that be a bigger issue for tooth decay? Is the fluoride in their toothpaste too low?
A systematic review could reconcile the tooth decay observed in those cohort studies with that of the rest of the developed world lacking fluoridated water (whether they need it there or why they don’t). That would support a public policy.
Imagine toothpaste with fluoride that’s hard to avoid buying if you buy toothpaste in the store ever. Are people not getting toothpaste anymore?
In the developed world, US is an outlier. Also:
Recent studies suggest that water fluoridation, particularly in industrialized countries, may be unnecessary because topical fluorides (such as in toothpaste) are widely used and cavity rates have become low.[3] For this reason, some scientists consider fluoridation to be unethical due to the lack of informed consent.[12]
Maybe fluoridated toothpaste is enough?
image of text in a post about disability
no alt text
people with accessibility needs can’t read this
bruh
They’re fine insults. So was hot wheels.
No one at comedy roasts takes these oversensitive criticisms of “the virtuous way to insult” seriously. Why is that?
It’s a distraction.
Just like democrats to ratify insults by committee.
So would magic.
Exactly: neighbors can stay mad. Mint is cooler than neighbors arguably (& chemically).
image of text
no alt text
users with accessibility needs can’t read this
what is a link to the source?
🤦
image of text
no alt text
users with accessibility needs can’t read this
Thanks…
If you want mint & don’t care about other plants, then I don’t see a problem. Some people might consider its low maintenance effort a good thing. 🤷
They should & they won’t. You know who owns the executive branch & gives absolutely 0 shits, right?
Wildcards, sometimes you need to see people and have no idea what you will pay in the end since sometimes they will do work or use something that isn’t fully covered so you then get a bill a month later telling you insurance only covered this you owe the difference.
You can request preauthorizations for an estimate. I always try to request those. Not always practical, however, especially when it’s urgent.
It’s up to you to figure out if that’s correct or not then go down the path of fighting it.
Fighting it is the worst. It’s a 3-body problem—you, the insurance, the provider—and you’re caught in the middle. You can’t just tell anyone in plain language “my insurance covers preventative care cost-free, so why am I being charged for this?” They force you to do the detective work, and they don’t make it easy. You basically have to know billing codes better than the billers and tell everyone to use correct ones. The billing codes aren’t necessarily printed on billing statements or claims (mine didn’t have them). Their meanings & provisions are unexplained. The patient has no reason to understand them or know they exist. Infuriating system.
This is just scratching the surface
You didn’t mention deductibles. Before copay or coinsurance kicks in, your policy may require paying a deductible. Cost sharing provisions vary by policy.
High deductible insurance plans come with a health savings account, which is completely tax-free (no taxes on contributions, their earnings, or eligible distributions) for health expenses including any type of cost share (deductible, copay, coinsurance). As long as you pay health expenses with other funds & retain the receipts, it functions in practice as a smaller investment retirement account with less taxes than IRAs. Somewhat interesting.
Health insurance typically doesn’t cover dental or vision: those need separate plans.
Another thing, you can’t just not have insurance. If you don’t, you will have to pay a penalty on your taxes for the time not covered.
Federally as of 2019 that was set to $0, so the amount ends up varying by state & could be $0.
Ah, surveys, which classify as observational, cross-sectional studies: pretty low on the hierarchy of evidence, yes?
Now show us studies that apply the same methods on the relationship with belief & attitudes toward bank robberies, risky driving, or dark personality traits as mentioned before. Applying the same methods on those questions would inform us whether such studies put them all on “the same level” as sexism or “objectification of women” (which someone before claimed would be funny), and whether we can put much stock in conclusions drawn from these methods.
It’s also questionable whether answers to survey questions imply much beyond state of mind that has real-life consequences. Unless there’s clear evidence of that, it’s a slippery slope.
Bit much to assume people recognize the Greenland flag. Looks like a logo. I think it’d sell as is.
Or—get this—leave it there to corroborate claims like a rational person by linking exactly as the web was invented for.