Viewpoints: GOP Wants To Dismantle VA For All The Wrong Reasons; Pence’s Plan On Abstinence For Teens Is Ridiculous

The Washington Post: The VA Is Working Just Fine, Thank You Very Much
What is clear is that the dismantling of VA is desirable to Republicans because of what it represents: a successful, publicly funded, integrated health-care system. Yes, I said successful. Sure, VA suffers from a bloated bureaucracy. Delays in getting appointments with primary-care providers have been subjected to considerable scrutiny. But doctor shortages plague U.S. health care as a whole. Just ask anyone who is seeking a new primary-care physician. (Andrew J. Cohen, 5/11)

Los Angeles Times: Undermining An Effective Birth Control Funding Program To Promote Abstinence Is The Height Of Stupidity
For nearly half a century, the Title X Family Planning Program has been a crucial source of federal dollars for family planning and related healthcare services for low-income Americans. Enacted with bipartisan support in 1970, the program's mandate to provide "a broad range of acceptable and effective family planning methods and services" has helped millions of lower-income women each year obtain contraceptives and take control of their destinies, at least in terms of deciding if and when to have children .In 2015, according to a federal government report, more than 4 million patients (the vast majority of them women) got healthcare through Title X funds, including screening for breast and cervical cancers and sexually transmitted diseases. Researchers at the Guttmacher Institute, which supports reproductive rights, estimates that Title X care helped women avoid more than 800,000 unintended pregnancies that year. (5/14)

The New York Times: Medical Mystery: Something Happened To U.S. Health Spending After 1980
The United States devotes a lot more of its economic resources to health care than any other nation, and yet its health care outcomes aren’t better for it. That hasn’t always been the case. America was in the realm of other countries in per-capita health spending through about 1980. Then it diverged. (Austin Frakt, 5/14)

The Washington Post: A Near-Universal Health-Care Plan That Wouldn’t Break The Bank
Since the day Obamacare passed, as Republicans have sought to sabotage it, Democrats have hoped for more. Their hopes have taken them ever closer to pushing a radical upending of the health-care system, exemplified in Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders’s plan for a European-style single-payer program, which a growing list of prospective Democratic presidential candidates has endorsed. But there are options that are neither as cruel as the GOP’s miserly repeal-and-replace nor as disruptive as the more sweeping left-wing proposals. In other words, they are compassionate and realistic. (5/13)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Calorie Nags At The FDA Won't Make Us Healthier, Just Grumpier
This week, a new federal rule went into effect mandating virtually all businesses that serve food prominently display the calorie count for the items they sell. ...Yet with the new rule, the federal government is taking away the delight of enjoying restaurant food, reducing every bite to an antiseptic caloric transaction. (Christian Schneider, 5/11)

The New York Times: The World Doesn’t Need Trans Fats
Most of the American food industry stopped using artificial trans fats, a leading cause of heart disease and death globally, well in advance of a federal ban that goes into effect next month, and few consumers noticed the change in their French fries or doughnuts. But these fats are still commonly used in the Middle East, India, Pakistan and elsewhere, which is why it is welcome news that the World Health Organization is calling on countries to phase them out by 2023. (5/14)

Columbus Dispatch: Kansas Medicaid Plan Is Too Harsh
The Trump administration is all too willing to cut Medicaid benefits and the number of people receiving them. They’ve signaled this by allowing states to end retroactive eligibility and to impose work requirements. Their overall message is that states need maximum flexibility because states almost always know best. But remarkably, Kansas went too far even for this administration. Last week, Kansas became the first and so far only state to be refused a Medicaid waiver under the current president. The federal government ruled that no, Kansas can’t kick people off Medicaid, the health care program for low-income Americans, just because they’ve been on it for three years. (5/13)

Miami Herald: The New Poor People’s Campaign Seeks To Fight Enduring Poverty And Injustice
The new Poor People’s Campaign (www.poorpeoplescampaign.org) will begin Monday in 30 state capitals, including Tallahassee, and continue for 40 days. (Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis) Theoharis says it will involve “organizing, educating and power building, voter registration and mobilization” around “issues like voter suppression, issues like poverty and low wages, issues like the lack of healthcare, issues like the fact that more people die in this world from pollution than from any other cause.” (Leonard Pitts, Jr., 5/11)

Orlando Sentinel: Florida's Dismal National Ranking On Health Care Deserves Attention And Action From Every Aspiring State Leader
Florida politicians might be more comfortable on the stump talking about jobs created, taxes cut and tourists attracted. But unless they have a serious plan to deal with the state’s festering health-care problems — which threaten our economy and quality of life — the accomplishments politicians like to showcase are on shaky ground. (5/11)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Food Stamp Cuts In Farm Bill Are A Needless Attack On The Poor. 
In the famous passage from Chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says to his disciples, "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink ...." His disciples are confused, saying, "When did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink?" Jesus replies, "Whatever you did for the least of my brothers, you did for me." Offering food and drink to our neighbors in need is at the heart of our shared values in Greater Cleveland. ...Sadly, these values are not reflected in the latest farm bill, a critical piece of legislation governing America's agriculture and nutrition programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly called food stamps). (Rachel Cahill and Paul Bernier, 5/13)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin's BadgerCare Work Rules A Barrier In Opioid Treatment
Imposing work requirements on BadgerCare will keep MAT out of reach of the Wisconsinites who need it most; Wisconsin has an application pending with the federal government to impose work requirements on BadgerCare patients. The Trump administration has signaled a readiness to approve the application, as it has done in four states already this year. (Annie Stumpf, 5/11)

Cincinnati Enquirer: It's Time To Tell The Truth About The Opioid Crisis
As political rhetoric, grandstanding and baseless claims have swirled about who is to blame for the opioid epidemic, the crisis itself rages onward, harming – and even killing– Kentuckians in its destructive path. It’s time to embrace solutions for this crisis, and one solution stands above the rest: Enable Advanced Practice Nurse Practitioners (APRNs) to reduce the opioid crisis by removing collaborative agreement restrictions. (Jessica Estes, 5/11)

Detroit News: Get Drugs Out Of The Mail
Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a successful takedown of drug traffickers in Operation Saigon Sunset, dismantling a major criminal network responsible for trafficking drugs from Detroit to Huntington, West Virginia. The investigation was massive, seizing enough fentanyl to kill a quarter-million people. Every American should be grateful for the brave law enforcement agents who took these drugs off our streets, but they should be troubled that toxic synthetic opioids like fentanyl are able to enter Michigan so regularly and easily in the first place. A security gap in the global postal service enables much of this deadly trade, and is helping fuel the opioid epidemic in Michigan and across the country. (Tom Ridge, 5/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Why California Leaves Its Homeless Out In The Sun
When most people think about the city of Anaheim, Disneyland or the Angels baseball team probably comes to mind. But until recently it was also home to one of California’s fastest-growing housing developments: a homeless encampment. ...Rising vagrancy in Southern California is creating a Catch-22: People don’t want the homeless living on their streets, but they don’t want homeless shelters in their neighborhoods either. (Allysia Finley, 5/11)

Des Moines Register: Hy-Vee Earns Rose For Offering Health Insurance To Part-Time Workers
Like many companies, Hy-Vee is struggling to find enough employees amid a labor shortage in Iowa. It knows this state has many reliable, good people who cannot or do not want to work full-time, and it wants to accommodate them. "Benefits are an important component to the health and satisfaction of our employees," Sheila Laing, Hy-Vee’s chief administrative officer and executive vice president, said in a press release. The company began in January offering benefits to employees 19 and older who work 20 or more hours a week. Those eligible can choose from benefits that include health, dental, short-term disability, life, homeowners and rental insurance. The program also covers spouses and dependents. (5/11)

Kansas City Star: Unvaccinated Children In Missouri Don't Need Extra Protection From Discrimination
Proposed legislation introduced by Missouri state Rep. Lynn Morris would prohibit discrimination against people who are not immunized. But language in the bill is vague and would pose a risk to public health if passed in its current form. In other words, it’s a flawed and unnecessary measure. State law requires children attending public, private, parochial or parish schools to be immunized against measles and other contagious diseases unless they have a medical or religious exemption. (5/13)

Kansas City Star: Missouri House’s Medical Marijuana Bill Is A Smokescreen
It is very clear from statewide polling data that the majority of Missourians want access to medical marijuana if they have a terminal illness or are suffering from a debilitating medical condition.While I appreciate the opinion expressed in a recent Star editorial that a legislative solution is preferable to a constitutional amendment for addressing the legality of medical marijuana in Missouri, I respectfully disagree. (David Clark, 5/13)