Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: How To Manage Our New Covid Normal; Will China Ever Stop Its Zero-Covid Policy?
The Washington Post: The Gridiron Club Outbreak Shows What Living With Covid-19 Looks Like
At least a dozen high-profile guests who attended Saturday’s Gridiron Club dinner have tested positive for the coronavirus, including Attorney General Merrick Garland, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Reps. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.). While contact tracing investigations have yet to confirm that these infections occurred at the dinner itself, the growing number of cases among attendees suggests the Gridiron was a super-spreader event. (Leana S. Wen, 4/7)
CNN: For China's Xi, Zero-Covid Is Personal
Those hoping China relaxes its zero-Covid policy would have been deeply disappointed with Vice Premier Sun Chunlan's loud and clear signal that an end was nowhere near in sight, during a visit to virus hotspot Shanghai last week. China, she declared, would be clinging to its "dynamic zero-Covid" strategy "without hesitation or wavering." Unsurprisingly, we are seeing Shanghai -- well known for its targeted and flexible approach to the pandemic -- now turning to draconian measures to control the virus. In addition to multiple rounds of city-wide mass testing and lockdown of 25 million residents, it is relocating close contacts and sub-close contacts to other cities. And building perhaps the world's largest quarantine center, with 40,000 beds. (Yanzhong Huang, 4/8)
Bloomberg: For China’s Leaders, 'Lying Flat' Is Scarier Than Covid
In the U.S. and Europe, the phrase “living with the virus” refers to reopening the economy and trusting that vaccines work. Not in China. In the public discourse, that would be tantamount to “lie flat,” a catchphrase for encouraging inaction — an approach that has grown so popular that it drew a condemnation from President Xi Jinping last year. (Shuli Ren, 4/7)
The Washington Post: My Mother Was Dying Of Covid. Being Poor Made It So Much Worse
My mother died several weeks ago in the covid-19 “red zone” of a nursing home in northeastern Pennsylvania, after having been bounced among three public hospitals over the last three weeks of her illness. The room in which she died looked as though it had been used for storage, with supplies and unused furniture stacked near her bed. No phone, no television, no dresser for her belongings. She had three roommates, one of whom screamed nearly incessantly. (Bobbi Dempsey, 4/7)
Also —
The Boston Globe: Affordable Care Act Could Become A Midterm Election Albatross
Oh, the many incarnations of the Affordable Care Act. In its short life, it’s gone from popular plan to political albatross to positive asset. The Lazarus-like law has been falsely and repeatedly declared dead, only to rebound from nearly repealed to newly esteemed. The latest poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation puts public support of the ACA at 55 percent, with 42 percent opposed. On Tuesday, President Biden had former president Barack Obama back to the White House to underscore — and bask in — the law’s current public regard. Obama admitted in good-humored fashion that he had once worried that passing the ACA might cost him reelection. (Scot Lehigh, 4/7)
The Star Tribune: Fix For Health Law Flaw Will Help Working Families
If health insurance is affordable for a family's breadwinner but not everyone else in the household, that's a problem. Illnesses minor and major are a part of life. Throughout the year, even family members in good health will likely need to see a doctor at some point. For kids, it could be for an ear infection or a soccer injury. A spouse might need maternity care. (4/7)
Stat: Averting The Looming Purge Of People From Medicaid
Up to 16 million Americans on Medicaid, the federal-state program that provides health care to low-income people, are on the verge of calamity, and it will take thoughtful, decisive action on the part of government to avert it. In the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the federal government increased its share of Medicaid reimbursement to states. In exchange, states agreed to not remove anyone from Medicaid. This protection, and the expanded reimbursement, were to stay in place until the federal government ended the pandemic public health emergency. (Gerard Vitti, 4/8)
