Viewpoints: Doctors Working With Legal Aid Improve Patients’ Health; Medicaid Cuts Won’t Matter In Election
Editorial writers tackle these public health topics.
The Washington Post:
Legal Aid Organizations Help Overcome Social Barriers To Health
During my residency training, when I worked shifts in the pediatric emergency department, I treated a boy whose mother kept on bringing him back because of asthma exacerbations. Each time, we gave him nebulizers to help him breathe. Sometimes, we ordered a chest X-ray to rule out pneumonia or gave him steroids if his symptoms were especially bad. But we couldn’t address a key underlying issue: the mold in his apartment that was triggering his asthma. (Leana S. Wen, 7/9)
The Washington Post:
Republican Medicaid Cuts Might Not Help Democrats In Midterms
For Kentucky, one of the poorest states in the country, the largely federally funded expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare has been a huge policy boon. The state’s uninsured rate has dropped by half over the past decade. Rural hospitals that might have otherwise closed stayed open. The state has rewarded Democrats for passing that law by … overwhelmingly voting against the party in almost every election since. (Perry Bacon Jr., 7/8)
Stat:
Health Care Cybersecurity Policies Are Based On A False Assumption
Health care cybersecurity policy rests on a fundamental misunderstanding of what cybercriminals actually want. For years, regulators and providers have assumed that medical records — diagnoses, lab results, treatment histories — are the crown jewels hackers are after. This assumption has shaped everything from HIPAA compliance strategies to hospital security budgets. But it’s wrong. (John X. Jiang, 7/9)
The Boston Globe:
Insurance Cutbacks On Costly GLP-1 Coverage Are Good For Small Businesses
The flashy television ads for GLP-1 medications are everywhere — part of a massive effort to expand the use of these diabetes drugs as mainstream weight loss drugs. More than $1 billion is being spent annually to market these drugs — and why not, when the manufacturers charge up to $16,000 per year per consumer? Those prices are as much as 10 times higher in the United States than in other countries. (Jon B. Hurst, 7/7)
Bloomberg:
Quicker Psychedelic Drugs Offer Investors A Better Trip
More than three years after a bubble in psychedelic drug stocks burst there are signs that the bad trip for investors is over. Confidence and capital are tentatively returning to this pioneering sector amid encouraging trial data and as senior Trump administration officials signal openness to utilizing these mind-altering drugs to tackle mental health conditions such as depression. (Chris Bryant, 7/9)
