Consulo Indicium - 11/21/25
Information for your Consideration…
Hmmmm – Let’s Not Make The Same Mistakes. I am obviously a bit behind in sharing some of my thoughts, in part, because happenings in the world are seemingly moving at a very, very fast pace. However, in case you missed it, I wanted to highlight a piece adapted from Heather Cox Richardson’s Substack from October 28, 2025 (how auspicious!!). If you’re not familiar with her, you should be!! She’s a historian (and, a Mainer 😊) with a firm grasp on the historical machinations of politics. Her observations are keen and accurate from my perspective.
In the piece, she talks about the landslide victory of Republican Warren G. Harding that led to the White House and Congress under one political roof. America was just coming out of WWI and a progressive push by the Democrats over the prior decade. The Republicans offered a different alternative that rejected the ideas that government should be heavily involved in regulating commerce, worker rights, and consumer issues. Rather, a free economy was the way to go… The parallels are interesting! Taxes were cut and about $3.5B returned to wealthy individuals, what seems like a pittance today but was real money back then. The echoes of that period are haunting. You need to read Richardson’s full article to gain the full effect of similarities to our current-day situation. The subsequent Crash of 1929 then occurred…For those who may have forgotten their history, October 29, 1929 was the worst economic catastrophe to have jolted our nation – and the world. The ripple effects were ginormous (i.e. beyond gigantic and enormous). My hope is that the politicians will take note and that we can get beyond the Epstein problem (actually, problem is too soft a word for it) and get back to solving problems that will ultimately affect the entire nation – as well as the world. A bit of normalcy would be most appreciated at this point on the world stage…
The Vagaries of Medicare Access – A new Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Study identified some unanticipated findings by noting that: “Medicare Advantage enrollees on average had access to just under half (48%) of the physicians in their area who were available to people enrolled in traditional Medicare in 2022.” The study noted that the narrowest Medicare Advantage plan networks allowed on average between 1/5 and 1/3 the number of physicians available to those who providers who accepted traditional Medicare. How this usually plays out is that those individuals electing the narrow network plans are confined to using the physicians within the narrow network, regardless of what problems they may be exhibiting. For “run of the mill” problems, that’s not necessarily an impediment but where subspecialty and/or unique problems come into play and the perspective of providers with experience applicable to those unique problems is important – the lack of coverage represents an inequity. The problem is that those seeking the lower upfront costs of narrow plans are frequently those with fewer resources – so the inequity is real.
More Bad News – In other news, the amount charged that’s planned for 2026 by health insurers is going up across the board. For those states using the Healthcare.gov site, premiums will increase by an average of 30%. Those in the ACA Marketplaces by 26%, on average, and for those states that manage their own marketplaces – outside of the national operations – the average is somewhat lower at 17%. Now, those increases are not necessarily what the individuals end up paying since there are subsidized enrollees who are part of the system that generally pay premiums on a sliding scale share of their household income, based on a formula set by Congress. Given the lack of progress in Congress for moving any legislation forward, it remains a bit unclear on what the implications are for most of these people – who tend to be in the lower income brackets. However, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, if no action is forthcoming from Congress before the end of the year, the subsidized enrollees will see their monthly premium payments more than double by over 110% on average. It’s a whammy on top of other whammys for the lower-income folks who are taking financial hit after financial hit!
Information To Tuck Away – It seems that last year's results in the worldwide number of billionaires reached an all-time high of 3,506 individuals! Nearly 1/3 were based in the USA (i.e. 1,135), although their wealth accounted for 43% of the total amount held by the group. China came in second place with 321 billionaires holding just over 10% of the billionaire wealth in the world. The total wealth held by all of the billionaires as a group was $13.4 trillion. As many of us may remember, the first USA billionaire was John D. Rockefeller, the Founder of Standard Oil. In that same period – while there were no national standards – it’s estimated that roughly 30- 40% of the population lived in poverty. The 2024 poverty rate in the USA was 10.6% - a remarkable reduction from the last century. The problem is that the poverty rate designated today is far different than yesteryear AND the rate of growth among ultra-wealthy is far more rapid than in previous decades. It’s an issue that deserves further attention, analysis, and resolution if we want to sustain the society we’ve grown accustomed to living in for the last half-century. My apologies…I slipped into “opinion” mode…
Poor Sleep And Accelerated Brain Aging – For those of us who are aging (ahem!), one of the questions that is frequently asked during discussions with our providers is “how is your sleep pattern?” It’s a great question – one that should be a requisite question of any 65+ individual. In fact, poor sleep quality has been linked to multiple problems associated with aging such as metabolic or biological problems, such as the production of more Ghrelin (a hormone that increases hunger) and less Leptin (a hormone that signals fullness) which creates a hormonal imbalance resulting in weight gain and a higher risk of metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes.
Sleep deprivation also reduces prefrontal and parietal brain metabolism, which can result in diminished attention, judgment, and cognitive capabilities. The end result disrupts sleep, and the cycle accelerates over time resulting in dementia-type problems. So, long story short, getting a good night’s sleep is critical regardless of age.
