Viewpoints: Medicaid Has Two Problems — Fraud And Confusion; Public Health Is Under Attack
Editorial writers examine these public health issues.
Chicago Tribune:
Some Americans May Not Know They Were On Medicaid Until They Lose Coverage.
Medicaid is a federal program jointly funded with the states, providing health and long-term care insurance to more than 80 million low-income Americans. And if you didn’t know all of that, you’re not alone. The government has spent a fortune over the years de-emphasizing the term “Medicaid,” instead promoting other names that carry less of a stigma. The idea has been to encourage eligible Americans to sign up for benefits they otherwise might reject out of confusion, pride or political philosophy. (12/22)
The New York Times:
Trump’s War On Public Health Is A Battle To The Death
The Trump administration had adopted policies condemning a sizable group of its core MAGA supporters — miners, firemen, manufacturing workers — to slow deaths from diseases that cut off their ability to breathe. (Thomas B. Edsall, 12/23)
Stat:
Vaccine Policy Vs. Medical Freedom: 4 Questions Leaders Must Ask
At a press conference earlier this year, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo compared vaccine mandates to slavery: “If we want to move toward a perfect world, a better world, we can’t do it by enslaving people in terrible philosophies and taking away people’s freedoms. That’s not the path … we have to find alternative pathways.” (Sarah Despres, 12/23)
The Washington Post:
Medical Marijuana May Be Causing More Harm Than Good
A new review published in JAMA, which attempted to examine every high-quality study from the last 15 years alongside guidelines from major medical societies, came to a sobering conclusion: For most uses, the evidence was limited or inconclusive. In many cases, medical organizations recommend against using cannabis because the evidence for harm outweighed potential benefits. (Leana S. Wen, 12/23)
The New York Times:
When Dementia Has a Seat at the Holiday Table
Through the holiday season, there will be many families who share a table with someone who has Alzheimer’s or some other version of dementia, who might not grasp what the holiday is. They see people around them and a table laden with food, but they don’t know why everyone is there and, frankly, they don’t care what the reason is. What they do pick up on are the emotional currents that drift around many holiday tables. When a person’s cognition is splintered or absent, they are absorbing the emotions around them with no filter to protect them. They can’t tell themselves, “Well, these two love each other but they disagree politically,” or “There is messy family history between those relatives.” Please don’t tell yourself you can say whatever you want around them because they don’t understand. They may not understand the content, but they very much understand the emotion, and it can be scary. (Patti Davis, 12/23)
