Viewpoints: Set Aside Lawsuit Against The ACA And Talk Improvements; Disclose Prices, Put An End To Surprise Bills
Opinion writers focus on these health care topics and others.
USA Today:
Health Care Can Get Better Even Under Divided Government. Here's How.
In early 2017, I offered advice to incoming Trump administration officials on how they ought to handle health care based on lessons from the Obama administration. I suggested proceeding incrementally and continuing to expand access to care and preexisting condition protections. They didn’t listen. Instead, Donald Trump consumed much of his first year as president on an ill-conceived adventure to repeal the Affordable Care Act without a plan for anything better. At the risk of being ignored a second time, I offer members of the new Congress advice as they begin their terms. (Andy Slavitt, 1/8)
Los Angeles Times:
The Boys And Girls In Washington Haven't Killed Obamacare Yet
It was a pretty good year for President Obama’s major legacy, healthcare reform, aka Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act. The pace of new signups has been respectable if not miraculous, and now Republicans in Congress have decided (correctly) that perhaps total war against Obamacare is not their wisest strategy. People seem to like the ACA. They especially like the provision forbidding insurers to discriminate against those with preexisting conditions. This formerly obscure technical term of the insurance business has become the center of the healthcare discussion. You can’t call it a debate, because there’s no basic disagreement. Everyone’s for covering preexisting conditions. The question is, Who got there first? (Michael Kinsley, 1/8)
Stat:
Stop Outrageous Air Ambulance Bills By Disclosing The Transport Price
We and many others have written about the dangers of surprise bills. They are now widely understood to be a problem in need of a regulatory solution. The emergence of the especially egregious charges by air ambulances is a stark indication that policymakers have not yet solved this pervasive problem. Air ambulances illustrate that the harm from surprise bills is not just high prices secretly charged to vulnerable patients. Prices are important for consumers, but they are also vitally important signals in a market, and economic harm results when charges cannot be readily compared to market prices. When market prices are absent or hidden, providers can charge whatever they want, and private equity follows the lucrative opportunity. (Kevin Schulman, Barak Richman and Arnold Milstein, 1/8)
Richmond Times-Dispatch:
Let's End Surprise Billing
There’s been an increase in public outrage over balance or “surprise” billing. As physicians, we agree and share in our patients’ concerns. And, we’re fighting to change the system. (Mark B. Monahan, 1/7)
Columbus Dispatch:
No Reason To Keep Patients In Dark About Health-Care Prices
A federal requirement meant to provide patients with more information about the cost of their health care has forced hospitals to post online their prices for everything from acetaminophen tablets to zoledronic acid. It also has prompted the sort of response that is not unique to the health care industry. In a nutshell, it involves talking down to the little people. (Theodore Decker, 1/8)
Stat:
Apple Watch 4 Is An Iffy Afib Detector In People Under Age 55
According to data that Apple submitted in its petition asking the Food and Drug Administration to give clearance to the heart monitoring app, the app accurately detects atrial fibrillation 99 percent of the time it gets a good reading.Related: The next Apple Watch wants to monitor your heart. Should you let it? That sounds amazing. But it leaves out an important little something: the likelihood of having atrial fibrillation is low among younger individuals and increases with age. I did some calculations to answer the question, “If my watch tells me I have atrial fibrillation, what are the odds it is correct?” The answer depends on the watch wearer’s age. (Daniel Yazdi, 1/8)
The New York Times:
How My Stillbirth Became A Crime
In the video above, Anne Bynum describes the harrowing experience of being criminalized and incarcerated after having a stillbirth.Ms. Bynum is one of several hundred women in the United States who have been prosecuted for their pregnancy outcomes. Numerous states across the country have passed laws recognizing fetuses — even fertilized eggs — as persons separate from the mother, and more are considering doing so. These laws have had the perverse consequence of not just pitting the health of a fetus against that of a pregnant woman but of also, in some cases, overriding the woman’s rights entirely. (12/28)
The Hill:
We Need To Make Things Easier For Doctors
Despite the need to spend more time with my patients, insurance is reimbursing for shorter visits, while the amount of time I spend documenting has increased. This is far from ideal. In fact, a recent study showed that family doctors spend almost an hour and a half of “pajama-time” nightly on documentation. This leads directly to physician burnout. According to a 2017 National Academy of Medicine paper, more than half of U.S. physicians are experiencing substantial symptoms of burnout including emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and a low sense of personal accomplishment. (Marc Siegel, 1/7)
Charlotte Observer:
Vaping Is An Epidemic For Teens
The vaping epidemic arose so quickly that nobody knows how to help the addicted teenagers. Existing methods to help adults quit smoking often don’t work with vaping, and most of the medications have not been tested for teenagers. Research into how to help teens could take years, so the FDA is right to try to get things started. Meanwhile, it should get tougher on marketing and sales to teenagers, and local authorities should make sure those laws are enforced. (1/4)
Cincinnati Enquirer:
Public Health Initiatives Increased Life Expectancy
At the end of the day, we measure public health effectiveness through two important measures: life expectancy and infant/maternal health. While we have made significant strides in both over the last century, there remains much work to do. (Tim Ingram, 1/7)
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Sensitivity Needed If City Wants Positive Results From Banning Nicotine In Drug Rehabs
City officials sparked controversy late last year, extending the tobacco ban from mental health facilities (enacted in 2016) to include city-funded inpatient substance use disorder (SUD) programs. Citing overall health concerns and the risk to sustaining abstinence-based recovery, the bold move hopes to reduce negative impacts of concurrent tobacco and substance use, which include elevated risks of cancer, to cognitive functioning, and of all-cause mortality. (Robert Ashford, 1/7)
Columbus Dispatch:
New Governor Can Restore Ohio EPA's Effectiveness
Soon Ohio will have a new governor and a new opportunity to clean Ohio’s streams. Immediate actions are needed by Gov.--elect Mike DeWine to halt environmental degradation and to restore the EPA’s effectiveness and pride. This can be accomplished only by installing a leadership team at the Ohio EPA that eliminates the atmosphere of fear and paranoia, respects scientists and engineers and creates a work environment that makes staff members feel that they are valued. (George Elmaraghy, 1/8)
