Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Administrative Burden Makes Care Overly Difficult; How To Solve Obesity
The New York Times: The Overlooked Reason Our Health Care System Crushes Patients
This is the story of our medical system — quick, massive, powerful, able to assemble a team in under an hour and willing to spend thousands of dollars when a patient is sick.This is also the story of a medical system that didn’t think my patient was worth a $12 medication to prevent any of this from happening. (Chavi Karkowsky, 7/20)
The Star Tribune: How The Government Can Solve America's Obesity Epidemic
An estimated 7 in 10 Americans are overweight or obese. The combination, according to the National Institutes of Health, results in an estimated 300,000 preventable deaths per year with extreme obesity lowering life expectancy by 14 years on average. (Robert Pearl, 7/19)
Dallas Morning News: Texas Has A Medicaid Crisis. Why Worsen It With Procedural Denials?
The pandemic is over, and the resumption of Medicaid eligibility reviews this spring has been anything but smooth. Nearly 405,000 recipients in Texas were bounced from Medicaid rolls for procedural reasons, such as missing paperwork deadlines. Another 96,000 people lost benefits when they were deemed ineligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. (7/20)
Stat: Affordable Connectivity Program Vital To Health Care, Experts Say
This past winter, one of us, Alister, was speaking with the daughter of an elderly patient at a community health center in Boston. Her mother had recently been admitted to a local hospital for pneumonia, and doctors believed that she was an ideal candidate for an innovative “home hospital” program, which leverages remote care through the use of internet-enabled devices, video conferencing, and in-person home visits so the patient can receive care in the comfort of her own home. But the plan fell apart. (Sammer Marzouk, Alister Martin and Alessandro Hammond, 7/20)
The Baltimore Sun: Marijuana Use Is Legal In Maryland, Yet It Can Make You Ineligible For Certain Federal Jobs
While medical marijuana use has been legal in Maryland since 2013 and recreational possession became legal on July 1, federal laws classify marijuana (both medical and recreational) as an illegal Schedule I drug. Because of this, qualified individuals who seek employment in the federal government, and who reside and work in jurisdictions where marijuana use is legal, are prohibited from obtaining certain positions — even if their cannabis use is medically prescribed for physical or mental health conditions. (Tiahna Pantovich, 7/19)
