Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Good Times Cost-Sharing Is Supposed To Encourage Smart Choices. During An Epidemic It Can Discourage Care.
The New York Times: Coronavirus Highlights The Pitfalls Of Health Deductibles
Much of the care provided in the United States is unnecessary or too expensive. Cost sharing is one way to try to push patients to be more thoughtful consumers of medical care. The blunt way we use it, however, often does more harm than good. Cost sharing is a blanket term for things like deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance. If patients are spending money “out-of-pocket” — their own money — they might think harder about whether care is worth it. (Carroll, 3/9)
The Wall Street Journal: How To Keep Calm As Coronavirus Fears Turn Into Market Panic
Markets are usually driven by greed or fear. On mercifully rare occasions, they are driven by outright panic. Monday’s price movements as Asian markets opened were one such occasion. The 30-year U.S. Treasury yield fell by around 0.4 percentage points as markets opened, which would be its third-largest single-day move in 35 years, surpassing the 0.35 point drop on Friday. The two days with larger declines were October 20, 1987, the day after the Black Monday crash, and November 20 2008, during one of the worst weeks in U.S. financial market history. (Bird, 3/9)
San Francisco Chronicle: California Employees Sidelined By Coronavirus May Get These Benefits
California employees who lose work because of the coronavirus may be eligible for a range of benefits including paid sick leave, paid family leave, unemployment insurance and state disability insurance. To inform employees and employers of their rights and responsibilities, the California Department of Industrial Relations and Employment Development Department have issued FAQs related to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, for programs they administer. These benefits are generally available only to employees, not independent contractors. (Pender, 3/6)
Politico: America’s Workers Face An Outbreak Of Uncertainty
Americans are going home — and creating an economic train wreck. The coronavirus outbreak has U.S. companies starting to shutter offices and send workers home through layoffs, furloughs or directives to telecommute until health risks from the spreading virus recede. (Noah, 3/9)
The Wall Street Journal: Can You Play Games With No Fans? Sports Brace For The Coronavirus Impact
The impact of coronavirus on the U.S. sports world switched from theory to reality late Sunday when organizers of a high-profile international tennis tournament in Indian Wells, Calif., said they would not hold this year’s event because of a declared public health emergency in Riverside County, Calif. The sudden cancellation of the BNP Paribas Open, which was scheduled to begin on Monday, was the start of a week that could bring severe disruptions to the sports calendar as the U.S. considers more aggressive measures to mitigate the effects of the virus. (Cohen and Radnofsky, 3/8)
The New York Times: Coronavirus Puts A Wrinkle In Wedding Industry
JoAnn Gregoli, a 30-year veteran of wedding and event planning, has advice for couples with weddings on the horizon: don’t cancel because of the coronavirus, but instead, postpone. “I’ve gone through the swine flu in Mexico, I’ve gone through the avian flu — this is uncharted waters,” Ms. Gregoli said. With worldwide cases now surpassing 100,000, the New York-based planner has seen the panic begin to set in for wedding industry professionals whose businesses rely on dresses manufactured in China, or flights to destination ceremonies and honeymoons, or even organizing large groups of people. (Halleck, 3/6)
NPR: Where The U.S. Coronavirus Emergency Funding Is Headed
The coronavirus funding bill signed into law by the president Friday puts much more money toward treating and preventing the spread of COVID-19 than his administration requested from Congress last week. The Trump administration's initial request — in the form of a two-page letter to Congress on Feb. 24 — was for $1.25 billion in new funds, with additional money moved from other parts of the federal budget to get to a total of $2.5 billion. The amount authorized Friday is more than three times that. (Simmons-Duffin, 3/6)
The Washington Post: Health Agencies’ Funding Cuts Challenge Coronavirus Response
Karen Koenemann wakes up at dawn, rubs the sleep out of her eyes and immediately starts tapping away on her iPhone from her bed. The anxious emails that began to sprinkle in a few weeks ago are now a daily deluge for the public health director for Pitkin County, Colo. Since the coronavirus reached U.S. soil, thousands of local health officials across the country have been working nonstop and scrambling to prepare. Pitkin County has not had a case, at least not yet, but Koenemann has helped businesses decide whether to cancel conferences, walked leaders through potential school closures, pored over response plans with the hospital in the county seat of Aspen. And it is exhausting. (Hawkins and Wan, 3/8)
