Perspectives: ZIP Code Determines Longevity; Bill H.R. 3 Will Reform Prescription Drug Costs
Editorial pages tackle these public health issues.
The Boston Globe:
Life Expectancy Depends On Where You Call Home
American life expectancy fell by nearly a year and a half in 2020 — the sharpest one-year decline since World War II. A chilling statistic for sure, but one with a clear explanation: COVID-19 led to a profound increase in excess deaths, particularly among Black and Hispanic residents. What’s more complex — and just as alarming — is the trend that emerged long before the pandemic took hold. (Michelle A. Williams, 9/6)
The Baltimore Sun:
Congress Must Act To Lower Prescription Drug Prices
It’s been nearly two years since our dear friend Elijah Cummings died. In that time, we have mourned his loss, lived through a pandemic, faced a reckoning on racial injustice and experienced a monumental election, in which the American people put their faith in Democrats to build our country back and enact change to better the lives of working families. In this time of building back better, we know Elijah would have pushed us to think of those who are struggling the most. With rising health care costs for COVID long-haulers, we need to focus on lowering prescription drug prices for Americans. (Anthony Brown and Kweisi Mfume, 9/7)
Stat:
To Lower Drug Costs, Define 'Cost' To Mean Net Cost After Rebates
In what could be a turning point in the prescription drug debate, President Biden has made clear that the health crisis of unaffordable medications must end. In a speech he gave in the East Room of the White House in August, the president shared how he and his siblings had to chip in to cover the cost of their mother’s prescription drugs as she got older, spending thousands of dollars per month. The Bidens’ experience is shared by millions of other American seniors and families. (Sean Dickson, 9/7)
Scientific American:
The Absurd Pregnancy Math Behind The Texas 'Six-Week' Abortion Ban
The Supreme Court recently upheld a Texas law that would be prevent patients from accessing abortion care after six weeks of pregnancy. There are many reasons this law is concerning—chiefly that it will do considerable harm to many people—but it is also based on bad biology. Pregnancy math is confusing, and it’s unclear whether legislators involved are simply ignorant on reproductive biology or recognize that it’s an indirect way to ban all abortions. (Michelle Rodriguez, 9/4)
The Washington Post:
What The Justice Department Should Do To Stop The Texas Abortion Law
The Texas legislature and five Supreme Court justices have joined forces to eviscerate women’s abortion rights — the legislature by creating and the justices by leaving in place a system of private bounties designed to intimidate all who would help women exercise the right to choose. But the federal government has — and should use — its own powers, including criminal prosecution, to prevent the law from being enforced and to reduce its chilling effects. Of course, the best approach would be for Congress to codify the right to abortion in federal law, although Democrats likely lack the votes to make that happen — and there is a risk that this conservative Supreme Court would find that such a statute exceeded Congress’s authority under the Commerce Clause. (Laurence H. Tribe, 9/5)
Modern Healthcare:
Healthcare Employees Could Hold The Key To A Revealing New Data Set
We live in a world that is utterly flooded with customer satisfaction surveys. If your email inbox is anything like mine, it is chock-full of unread requests for feedback on many of the goods and services you have tried in the past days, weeks or months. In our ever-digital universe, feedback is data. We all know how powerful data can be—especially in the healthcare industry. Indeed, it is extremely important that health system and hospital executives understand where there might be room for improvement in their organizations. Truth be told, an understanding of performance can be a matter of life and death, or quality of life, for patients. (Matthew Lawlor, 9/7)
The New York Times:
Southern Republicans Cannot Be Trusted With Public Health
For those of you keeping score at home, here is where things stand in the 2021 National Calamities Sweeps, Southern Division:In the ever-expanding Climate-Augmented Natural Disasters event, results cannot yet be tallied. Tennessee and North Carolina are both digging out from catastrophic flooding, while parts of Louisiana were flattened by Hurricane Ida, and most of New Orleans remains without electricity. Ida’s remnants also brought even more rain to areas of the South and beyond that were already dangerously waterlogged. In the Utter Failure to Understand What “Pro-Life” Really Means tournament, normally a very close battle in the red states, Texas is currently uncontested: Its leaders just made it easier to carry a gun and harder to end an unwanted pregnancy in the same week. (Margaret Renkl, 9/6)
The Star Tribune:
Secure Caregiving System For Most-At-Risk
For decades, Minnesota has been on the leading edge of helping seniors and people with disabilities get care in their homes. Not only is this where they want to live, but it also saves money in the long run by keeping them out of more costly settings. Democrats and Republicans have championed this approach, and that bipartisan commitment to the health, well-being and dignity of Minnesotans with disabilities and older residents is one of the reasons Minnesota consistently ranks so high in quality-of-life ratings. Now, with President Joe Biden's "Build Back Better" agenda, we have the chance to secure this system of care for our grandparents, parents and children. (John Dahm, 9/5)
