Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: Sanders Makes 'Medicare For All' Sound Way Too Simple; Those New Jobs? In Health Care, New Hiring Always Takes Place
The Wall Street Journal: The Burdens Of BernieCare
Bernie Sanders sells Medicare for All as a simple idea: “You will have a card which has Medicare on it, you’ll go to any doctor that you want, you’ll go to any hospital that you want.” So the Congressional Budget Office provided a public service last week by describing, albeit in thick and cautious bureaucratese, what it would really take to float BernieCare. Democrats asked CBO to lay out some parameters of how to set up single-payer, hoping to elude analysis of any one bill in Congress. (5/5)
Bloomberg: Health Care Hiring Boom Has No End In Sight
Of the 263,000 nonfarm payroll jobs that the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates were created in April, 27,000 were in health care. This is not really news: Since the beginning of 2015, the average monthly gain in health-care jobs has been 28,959. Since 2010, it’s been 23,893; since 2000, it’s been 24,041; since 1990, it’s been 23,709. Only four of the 351 months since January 1990 have seen declines in health-care employment. (Justin Fox, 5/3)
USA Today: Medicare For All Isn't Realistic But Military Test Could Show The Way
The Democratic presidential hopefuls are brawling over so-called “Medicare for All.” No doubt, a good number of Americans can be helped by expanding insurance coverage, but debate based on a bumper-sticker slogan is not a plan for improvement. In late 2008 I met with then President-elect Barack Obama as part of a group of retired generals and admirals. I pointedly told him he needed to drill down on the mechanics of how we treat patients, as well as how that treatment gets paid for. He brushed me aside with a comment that his plan was going to fix everything. (Stephen N. Xenakis, 5/4)
Los Angeles Times: Medi-Cal Benefits Were Cut In The Great Recession. It's Time To Restore Them
When the last recession plunged the state government into a multibillion-dollar hole, California lawmakers were forced to cut deeply into numerous valuable programs just to make ends meet. Many of those cuts were penny-wise and pound-foolish, however, especially the ones in safety-net programs like subsidized child-care that helped low-income families stay in the workforce. So as the economy improved, lawmakers and former Gov. Jerry Brown slowly pieced the state’s safety net back together again. But some important benefits have yet to be restored, a full decade after the recession ended. (5/4)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Waivers Can Be Powerful Tool To Cover Uninsured Here
With a waiver, Georgia could enroll some patients in private plans and fund accounts from which they pay out-of-pocket expenses and, ideally, aggregate contributions from other sources such as employers, family and charities. The state could contract with a provider at a flat, per capita rate to cover others in an exclusive network; this is essentially the oft-discussed “Grady waiver.” (Kyle Wingfield, 5/4)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio’s Nuclear Bailout Bill Will Hurt Children’s Health
State lawmakers are currently considering a bill that would endanger the health of all Ohioans, especially the health and well-being of our children. Babies and children cannot advocate for themselves, so it is important that we speak for them. (Aparna Bole And Kristie Ross, 5/5)
