Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: Climate Change; Abortion; And Global Pandemics
CityLab: Climate Change Might Be Bad for Your Mental Health, Too
Scientists have predicted many troubling consequences of global warming for Earth’s ecosystems and human health and welfare. Among them is an increased risk to our mental health. (Nicole Javorsky, 10/12)
The Washington Post: How Trump‘s Abortion Policy Is Disrupting Women’s Health Care In Some Of The World’s Remotest Places
Nana thought for a second, and then shook her head. Donald Trump? No, never heard of him. Her humble, earthen home and field of cassava are about as far from Washington as it gets. She lives in Madagascar, an impoverished island hundreds of miles off the coast of Africa — and tiny Betsingilo is a week-long trip by bus from the country’s capital. (Max Vearak and Carol Morello, 10/16)
Vox: Flu Pandemic: How The US Could Be Better Prepared For An Epidemic
We cannot totally eliminate the risk of pandemics in the near term. But a three-pronged agenda focused on mitigating that risk — pushing for better and faster vaccine development and deployment, a stronger emergency response infrastructure, and a more robust global health security system — can make us safer. But most importantly, we need to take the risk seriously. A catastrophic pandemic is not merely the stuff of dystopian fiction. It is very much a real danger, as real today as it was 100 years ago. (Ron Klain, 10/15)
The Economist: Could “Medicare For All” Become A Real Thing?
Picture if you can Bernie Sanders, the democratic-socialist senator, as a young lad of four. That is how old Mr Sanders was in 1945 when Harry Truman announced his vision for single-payer health care, in which the government pays all costs. Lyndon Johnson, backed by crushing congressional majorities, resurrected the idea in 1965 when he signed laws creating Medicare, government-run insurance for the elderly, and Medicaid, a programme for the very poor and disabled. Now at the age of 77, Mr Sanders would like at last to enact a single-payer system under the banner of “Medicare for all”. (10/11)
New York Magazine: The GOP’s Most Popular Health-Care Idea Is Politically Toxic
The American people reject the core principles of the Republican Party’s health-care agenda — even if one defines “the American people” as the Republican electorate. (Eric Levitz, 10/16)
