Perspectives On Health Care On The Campaign Trail; N.C.’s Medicaid Expansion

The New England Journal Of Medicine: Health Care In The 2016 Election — A View Through Voters’ Polarized Lenses
This article examines the potential effect of the 2016 election on the future of health policy in the United States. It brings together results from 14 national public opinion polls from various sources and as recently as September 2016 to address four broad questions: What is the mood of the country about health care issues as we approach the 2016 election? How do voters feel about the major health care policy issues likely to be debated after the election? How different are the health care policy views of Republican likely voters and Democratic likely voters? And what are the implications for future health care policy on the basis of the outcome of the presidential and congressional elections? (Robert J. Blendon, John M. Benson and Logan S. Casey, 10/27)

The Charlotte Observer: Poor Die Without N.C. Medicaid Expansion
Careful studies have long indicated North Carolina’s rejection of Medicaid expansion is extraordinarily costly. Not only does the state forgo tens of billions of federal health care dollars, hundreds of millions of state and local dollars in tax revenue, tens of thousands of jobs, hundreds of millions in savings for uncompensated hospital care, but, more directly, 463,000 low-income Tar Heels are denied health care coverage intended under expansion. (Gene Nichol, 10/27)

The New England Journal Of Medicine: Data Sharing — Is The Juice Worth The Squeeze?
The past few years have seen considerable interest in the sharing of patient-level data from clinical trials. There is a clear and logical “ethical and scientific imperative”for doing so, to permit activities ranging from verification of the original analysis to testing of new hypotheses. This interest has resulted in many publications and meetings, attention from the Institute of Medicine, proposed changes in journals’ policies, and enormous effort from pharmaceutical sponsors and other groups to provide access to patient-level data. It is critical that we learn from these early experiences as we move forward. (Brian L. Strom, Marc E. Buyse, John Hughes and Bartha M. Knoppers, 10/27)

Detroit Free Press: Will We See Action On State Flint Water Crisis Reports?
Where do we go from here? A bipartisan joint select committee on Flint has issued its report, and it's up to Gov. Rick Snyder and the Legislature that impaneled the committee to act. Not a blame-casting document, this report offers a slew of suggestions aimed at ensuring that another man-made crisis like the poisoning of Flint's water supply can't happen again. (10/27)

The New England Journal Of Medicine: Days Spent At Home — A Patient-Centered Goal And Outcome
Most measures of the quality of health care delivery focus on what health care providers do, not what patients want. If “high-value, patient-centered care” is to be more than rhetoric, health care organizations need to measure outcomes that matter to patients. Only when they do so will care be designed and organized in ways that improve those outcomes. (Adam C. Groff, Carrie H. Colla and Thomas H. Lee, 10/27)