Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Algorithms Cutting Health Care, Prisons As Asylums & Health Care Profits
The Verge: What Happens When An Algorithm Cuts Your Health Care
For most of her life, Tammy Dobbs, who has cerebral palsy, relied on her family in Missouri for care. But in 2008, she moved to Arkansas, where she signed up for a state program that provided for a caretaker to give her the help she needed. (Colin Lecher, 3/21)
The Atlantic: Prisons Are The New Asylums
Across the country, correctional facilities are struggling with the reality that they have become the nation’s de facto mental-health-care providers, although they are hopelessly ill-equipped for the job. (Alisa Roth, 3/15)
Wired: With Medicare Support, Genetic Cancer Testing Now Goes Mainstream
Starting this week, Medicare patients with advanced cancers will have access to a more 21st century diagnostic: Their cells can now be sequenced, matching patients with the drugs most likely to make a difference. (Megan Molteni, 3/20)
The Atlantic: The Trauma Of Having A Newborn In The NICU
When Kelli Kelley awoke from her C-section 17 years ago, having delivered her son after just 24 weeks of pregnancy, her husband gave her a Polaroid of their baby. He was tiny, underdeveloped, eyes still fused shut, with translucent skin covered in fine hair, and lying in a sea of medical equipment and lines. To Kelley, he looked like a baby bird. (Sarah Stankorb, 3/19)
The Economist: Which Firms Profit Most From America’s Health-Care System
EVERY year America spends about $5,000 more per person on health care than other rich countries do. Yet its people are not any healthier. Where does all the money go? One explanation is waste, with patients wolfing down too many pills and administrators churning out red tape. (3/15)
