Viewpoints: Updates Will Make The ACA Even Better; New ALS Drug Should Not Get FDA Approval, Yet
Editorial writers weigh in on these public health topics.
The Boston Globe:
At 12, The ACA Is Alive And Well — And Getting Steadily Better
The Affordable Care Act has now turned 12 — and despite years of determined Republican opposition, the law they dubbed Obamacare is on increasingly firm ground. Designed to increase the number of Americans covered by health insurance and to improve the quality of that insurance, that’s just what the law has done. A record number of people, some 13.6 million, have signed up for health coverage for 2022 on the insurance exchanges set up under the 2010 law. About 92 percent of those purchasers will receive tax credits to help them afford their plans. (4/1)
Bloomberg:
Amylyx's ALS Drug Shouldn't Be Approved By FDA Without More Data
A panel of the Food and Drug Administration’s expert advisers on Wednesday voted 6 to 4 against approving Amylyx Pharmaceuticals’ treatment for ALS. The FDA now has until June 29 to decide whether to follow the panel’s advice or let the closely watched drug on to the market. (Lisa Jarvis, 3/31)
Scientific American:
Anti-Trans Laws Will Have A Chilling Effect On Medicine
On this year’s Transgender Day of Visibility, we should be celebrating the accomplishments, honoring the resilience and advocating loudly for the rights of people who are trans. Yet the growing onslaught of anti-trans legislation targeting the health care decisions that families make with their doctors threatens to cast a shadow over this day. (Ashley Andreou, 3/31)
Stat:
Digital Health Is Overlooking Its Biggest Opportunity For Disruption
For years, tech behemoths and digital health innovators have attempted to “reinvent” health care, but they’ve ignored the institutional infrastructure issues that plague the people who deliver care — doctors, nurses, physician assistants, and others — or tried to replace their function altogether. The results have been only small gains and larger skepticism. Health care innovators and disruptors have missed the sweet spot for change by taking aim at the wrong components of the industry: its practitioners. (Sean Doolan, 4/1)
Miami Herald:
US Abortion Rights The Inspiration For Women In Latin America
The Green Tide, advocating for abortion rights, is growing in Latin America. Three countries have already legalized the right to abortion, and several others are relaxing rules that restricted it. As the Green Tide spreads across the region, the United States, once a pillar of abortion rights inspiring feminists around the globe, turns back the clock. (Susana Chiarotti, 3/31)
The Tennessean:
Extend WIC Benefit Increase To Protect Health Of Women, Infants And Children
As a registered dietitian nutritionist who has worked firsthand in the WIC setting, I see how these increased benefits have affected our nation’s most vulnerable. We can see the effects that the WIC program has on its participants, their food security and the overall health and safety of our nation. (Alex Gardner, 3/30)
