Tough Policy Talk: Azar Takes To The Hill – With Lots Of Questions To Answer; Congress Should Step Up For Kids’ Insurance
Opinion writers offer strong thoughts, advice on a number of health policy issues now in the news.
CNBC:
HHS Nominee Azar Needs To Come Clean On Obamacare, Medicare In Senate Hearings
While [former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom] Price distinguished himself as a zealous opponent of the ACA, [nominee Alex] Azar has the opportunity to enact a proactive agenda to improve America's health care. But first he has to decide whether he's going to be an agent for the future or a captive of his past as an executive for a top U.S. drug company. Azar can revive HHS's mission to "enhance the health and well-being of Americans," or follow the profit-driven path he plowed at Eli Lilly which jacked up the price of insulin by 225 percent since 2011. (Margarida Jorge and Ethan Rome, 1/8)
The New York Times:
Republicans In Congress Are Failing America’s Children
After passing a lavish tax cut for corporations and wealthy families, Congress hastily left town last month without reauthorizing the federal-state health insurance program, which benefits nearly nine million children. Authorization expired in September, and so far states have kept CHIP going with unspent funds carried over from previous appropriations. Before Christmas, Congress allocated $2.85 billion to the program, saying that the money would take care of the children’s needs until the end of March. But that appears to have been a gross miscalculation, because the Trump administration said on Friday that some states would start running out of money after Friday, Jan. 19. (1/8)
Bloomberg:
Britain's Health-Care Choice
Can a relatively low-tax country run a high-quality, taxpayer-funded health service that's free to all? Britain's National Health Service suggests the answer is no.The NHS is good at some things but bad, bordering on disastrous, at others. Its great virtue is truly universal coverage, no questions asked -- and by international standards, the system is also cheap to run. As a result, though, it's perpetually short of money, and the service is erratic. Today the NHS is yet again dealing with a financial crisis and a surge of complaints about standards. (1/8)
The News & Observer:
ACA Alive And Well In NC
In North Carolina the ACA remains popular indeed. Despite Trump’s administration having shortened the signup period for 2018 – the mandate requiring signup or a penalty also has been nixed in the GOP budget – some 523,989 North Carolinians signed up for health insurance through the ACA. That’s the third highest enrollment in the country, behind Florida and Texas. (1/7)
