Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Longer Looks: King And His Lawsuit; Doctor Miscommunications; A 'Healthier' General Mills
Vox: King v. Burwell's "King" Doesn't Realize His Lawsuit Could Mean Millions Go Uninsured
On Thursday — or maybe Friday, or maybe Monday — the Supreme Court will rule on King v. Burwell, a case that could rip insurance subsidies from the 34 states using Obamacare's federal insurance marketplace. If you need a primer on the case, head to our King v. Burwell explainer. But if you want a depressingly telling anecdote about the case, look no further than the New York Times's interview with plaintiff David M. King. ... the King v. Burwell case that could rip subsidies from 6.4 million people is being brought by a plaintiff who already has government-provided health care and who has been fooled by his lawyers into believing there's some mystery plan that will ensure no one ends up uninsured because of this lawsuit. (Ezra Klein, 6/23)
The New York Times: When Doctors Don’t Talk To Doctors
I could tell my patient was dying. In the final stage of liver failure, she lay listlessly in her hospital bed, her skin ashen and her eyes dull. Intractable intestinal bleeding, likely related to her underlying disease, had landed her in the intensive care unit. Although all patients in intensive care are tenuous, it was clear she was worse off than most. (Allison Bond, 6/18)
The Atlantic: Lucky Charms, The New Superfood
Multinational food producer General Mills announced this week that it will phase out “artificial flavors and colors” from its cereals, which include Lucky Charms, Trix, Count Chocula, and many more. By 2017, the synthetic dyes and flavors that distinguish the company’s various iterations of grain-based sugar puffs from one another will be replaced with extracts from fruits, vegetables, and spices. “People eat with their eyes,” General Mills president Jim Murphy said, speaking metaphorically, in the company’s sanctimony-flavored video announcement on YouTube (titled “A Big Commitment For Our Cereals”). “And so food has to look appealing, and colors give it an appealing look.” The move comes because, Murphy explains, “People don’t want colors with numbers in their food anymore.”(James Hamblin, 6/23)
Time Magazine: Google’s New Device Will Help Your Doctor Track Your Health
Google’s love affair with smart wearables continues with its latest one aimed specifically at medical patients. On Tuesday, Google unveiled to Bloomberg a new health tracking band developed by Google X — the research arm headed by company co-founder Sergey Brin. The band can be used in clinical trials and drug tests, and will provide physicians with minute-by-minute data on patients. It can measure pulse, heart rhythm, skin temperature, light exposure and noise levels. (Kia Kokalitcheva, 6/23)
USA Today: Nation's Sickest Seniors Reshape Health Care
Two-thirds of traditional Medicare beneficiaries older than 65 have multiple chronic conditions, according to a USA TODAY analysis of county-level Medicare data. More than 4 million — about 15% — have at least six long-term ailments. Those sickest seniors account for more than 41% of the $324 billion spent on traditional Medicare. As Baby Boomers begin to move into the Medicare years, they are — by the measure of medical diagnoses — sicker than their predecessors, researchers say. Yet they also are living longer, leaving them to grapple with diseases such as diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart failure, depression and even Alzheimer's for years — sometimes decades. The result: neither the medical system nor most seniors are prepared for the financial and emotional crisis ahead. (Meghan Hoyer, 6/9)
Vox: Transgender Federal Employees Will Finally Be Able To Get The Health Care They Need
The Obama administration on Tuesday told federal employees' health insurers that after 2015 they can no longer contain blanket exclusions for transgender-inclusive health care, such as hormone therapy and other transition-related care for people who identify with a gender different from the one assigned to them at birth. (German Lopez, 6/24)
