Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Perspectives: Government Control Not Answer To Drug Pricing; ADA Anniversary Marks Progress, Obstacles
The Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Drug Price Panic
President Trump’s decline in the polls is getting more expensive by the day. The next virus spending bill will cost trillions, and late Friday the President made a pitch for seniors with haphazard executive orders to lower drug prices. His prescription is akin to what Democrats are offering: more government control. (7/26)
The New York Times: We’re 20 Percent Of America, And We’re Still Invisible
Yet just as many of the injustices that the Civil Rights Act aimed to eliminate are still very much with us, and still being resisted, the full promise of the Americans With Disabilities Act has yet to be realized. We are not yet where we need to be. (Judith Heumann and John Wodatch, 7/26)
CNN: The Story Of The Americans With Disabilities Act Is All About Bridges
In remembering disabled activists who were instrumental in the creation of America's disability rights movement and imagining what a more inclusive movement for social justice and full civil rights for the future could look like, we keep coming back to the partnership during the late 1970s between the Black Panther Party and the 504 activists, disability rights advocates who were pushing for implementation of a long-delayed section (section 504) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. (Vilissa Thompson and David J. Johns, 7/25)
The Hill: Religious Freedom Is No Reason To Deny People With Disabilities The Right To Equality In The Workplace
Exactly 30 years ago today, on July 26, 1990, President Bush proclaimed proudly, “With today's signing of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act, every man, woman, and child with a disability can now pass through once-closed doors into a bright new era of equality, independence, and freedom." But can they? (Arlene S. Kanter, 7/26)
The New York Times: Medical School, Blackness And Blame
A senior white physician stands by silently as a white patient uses a slur to describe a Black nurse. A middle-aged doctor asks a Black student why the lower-income Black patients in the clinic aren’t able to speak and act the way she does. Several young doctors make fun of “Black-sounding” names in a newborn unit and speculate when each infant will later enter the penal system. Instances of racism like these are happening in medical schools across America today, just as they happened when I was a medical student 20 years ago. (Damon Tweedy, 7/27)
Stat: We Need To Forecast Epidemics Like We Forecast The Weather
Disease-modeling communities around the world have been working tirelessly since January to predict how and where Covid-19 will spread, with some real successes. A host of models have illustrated how, with the right resources, we can create relatively accurate disease forecasts that give communities and public health officials an idea of what to expect — and time to prepare. But what if we could forecast epidemics regularly, before there’s a global crisis? That notion is inching closer to reality. (Sara Del Valle, 7/27)
Fox News: Mayors' Life Or Death Decision – This Is How They Can Stop The Violence
A simple decision by mayors throughout the nation will determine if thousands of people live or die. That decision is whether these cities seek the assistance of the FBI and other federal law-enforcement agencies to combat the growth of violence within their jurisdictions. (Steve Levy, 7/27)
Fox News: Police Face Coronavirus, Riots And Now A Funding Crisis – Congress Must Help In Next Relief Bill
But the risks faced by law enforcement are not limited to the rioters in the street. They are facing a defunding crisis that wasn’t brought on by Antifa, but by the coronavirus and upcoming state and local budget crises. Across the country, law enforcement faces massive budget shortfalls, because “stay at home” orders put people out of work, and blew a hole in the revenue those workers generated. It’s happening in blue and red states, and it should scare all of us. (Bernard Kerik, 7/27)
Modern Healthcare: It’s Time To ‘Refresh’ The Healthcare Provider-Vendor Relationship To Ensure Ongoing Innovation
It didn’t take long for COVID-19 to highlight some glaring issues in health information technology. Like most businesses globally, healthcare organizations were largely unprepared. We weren’t adequately prepared to move workforces home; quickly shift to virtual care, and appropriately communicate with patients, families, care teams, and so many others who help deliver the services we provide. We did the best we could, though. We quickly cobbled together solutions and together made them work. (Marc Probst, 7/25)
