Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Parsing Policy: 'Don't Get Sick' Is Trump's Message To Americans; Work Requirements Work Against Health Of The Poor
The Washington Post: We’ve Finally Learned Trump’s Grand Plan For Fixing Health Care
During his presidential campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump promised to replace Obamacare with “something terrific.” For a long time, that “something terrific” was left unspecified. Now, more than a year and a half into Trump’s presidency, we have finally learned his grand plan for reducing Americans’ health-care costs. It is: Don’t get sick. Ever. (Catherine Rampell, 8/2)
The Wall Street Journal: Work Requirements Hurt Poor Families — And Won’t Work
With the unemployment rate around 4% and people flooding back into the workforce, the question facing economic policy makers has changed: Once the cyclical recovery has fully run its course, what can be done to help into employment Americans still left behind? The answer offered by many Republicans is to increase work requirements on low-income benefits. The House farm bill would tighten eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps. States are doing the same for Medicaid under federal waivers. But such steps would jeopardize the health and nutrition of millions of Americans, while doing little to increase work. (Jason Furman, 8/2)
USA Today: Donald Trump's Obamacare Sabotage Is Illegal And Unconstitutional
American health care has been under assault for the past 18 months, and the health care of millions threatened, as the Trump administration makes cut after cut to inflict harm on the Affordable Care Act. The effort to fight back began Thursday with a lawsuit against the administration that includes a stunning, nearly 60-page account of President Donald Trump’s attempts to sabotage the ACA. This lawsuit is not a screed about political differences. The challenge from the cities of Chicago, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio, as well as two residents of Charlottesville, Virginia, is far more fundamental: It takes Trump to task for his own words and deeds, contending that they are in direct violation of the Take Care Clause of the Constitution and the Administrative Procedure Act. (Andy Slavitt, 8/2)
The Hill: Comprehensive Health Care Must Include Mental Substance Abuse Treatments
As the Trump administration, Congress and insurance companies debate various future health-care plans for the American people, it’s important to remember that comprehensive coverage must include mental health and substance abuse treatment. Perhaps if we increased public awareness of mental health issues and the effective preventions and interventions out there, they would be demanding such coverage too. The estimated past-year prevalence of mental illness, excluding substance use disorders, is 18.3 percent of individuals aged 18 and older. If you add in the number of persons with alcohol or illicit drug use disorders, the number grows substantially. With the occurrence so high, we all likely know, and possibly love, someone with a mental illness or substance abuse disorder. (Joan Cook, 8/2)
