Viewpoints: Blaming Obamacare For Trump; FDA Approval Of Muscular Dystrophy Drug ‘Triumph’ Of Innovation’
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
The Washington Post:
If Trump Wins, Blame Obamacare
In the event of a victory by Donald Trump in November, political analysis will take on a forensic cast. How did establishment politics — first in the GOP primaries, then in a national electorate — come to die? ... If Trump succeeds in essentially turning out the midterm electorate in a presidential year — whiter, older, angrier — the main motivating issue may be the restriction of immigration. But the general atmosphere of contempt for government that helps Trump — of disdain for the weakness and incompetence of the political class — is due to the Affordable Care Act. More than six years after becoming law, the proudest accomplishment of the Obama years is a political burden for Democrats. (Michael Gerson, 9/19)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Boys Who Beat The FDA
Miracles happen. The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a drug for muscular dystrophy after months of delay and bureaucratic infighting. This is a triumph for scientific innovation, and for young men who will live better and more independently—if the bureaucracy doesn’t strike back. FDA announced accelerated approval for eteplirsen by Sarepta Therapeutics more than 100 days after the agency’s legally mandated decision date. The therapy is the first for Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, typically boys who lose the ability to walk around age 12 before heart or respiratory failure in their 20s. Ten of 12 boys in a clinical trial still walk after four years on eteplirsen—nearly two football fields farther than a control group. (9/19)
Los Angeles Times:
Sick: The Biggest Increase In Healthcare Costs In 32 Years
Healthcare is very much in the news, but for all the wrong reasons.On the one hand, we had Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump visiting the “Dr. Oz” show last week to reveal some tidbits about his physical condition (he’s fat). On the other, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton had a bout of pneumonia but declared herself fit as a fiddle (we’ll see). The real story, however, wasn’t that the two oldest presidential candidates in U.S. history are showing their age but that the rest of us are still getting creamed by rising healthcare costs. (David Lazarus, 9/20)
Forbes:
ObamaCare Medicaid Expansion: A Lot Of Spending Of Little Value
In new research published by the Mercatus Center, I analyze the causes and impact of the much higher-than-expected enrollment and spending associated with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion. Though unpredicted by Washington experts, the results were predictable. The federal government’s 100% financing of state spending on expansion enrollees has led states to boost enrollment and create high payment rates. (Brian Blase, 9/18)
Chicago Tribune:
Health, Taxes And More: What Should Candidates Disclose?
Actuarial tables indicate Trump or Clinton has a higher risk of dying or being incapacitated in office than a younger candidate, everything else being equal. Even given the improved medical care and longer life spans of our time, it's not hard to make a case that they are too old to be taking on such a demanding job. So their health deserves particular attention. (9/19)
Health Affairs Blog:
The Politics Of Medicare And Drug-Price Negotiation
Despite this election season’s divisiveness, both major parties’ presidential candidates have embraced the idea of authorizing Medicare Part D to negotiate directly with drug companies to set prescription drug prices. ... In theory, if the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) could negotiate with pharmaceutical companies, the agency could leverage its purchasing power to pay less for drugs. The idea has received considerable media attention over the past few months and has broad public support, reflected in a recent poll showing 87 percent of Americans have a favorable view of the idea. Nevertheless, if history is any guide, politics may prevent a full repeal of the ban. (Theodore T. Lee, Abbe Gluck and Gregory Curfman, 9/19)
Los Angeles Times:
Stopping Superbugs
On Tuesday, the U.N General Assembly will hold a high-level meeting to discuss one of the greatest contemporary threats to global public health. Not war, not Ebola, not Zika — but antibiotic-resistant microbes. Scientists and public health officials have been warning for decades that overuse of antibiotics would inevitably lead to a rise of bacteria that have adapted to the drugs and developed a resistance to them. This is no longer a distant threat. Old standby antibiotic treatments have lost the fight against some diseases and new strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are emerging with terrible frequency. We haven’t yet reached the post-antibiotic era, but we are fast approaching it. (9/20)
RealClear Health:
Helping Veteran’s Health: Send In The Nurse Practitioners
In an effort to reduce delays and provide our veterans with access to proven, top-quality primary care, the VA has proposed a solid plan granting veterans direct access to nurse practitioners (NPs) and other advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) in VA facilities. The proposal, supported by the VA and its top physician, Under Secretary for Health David J. Shulkin, veterans, caregivers, and concerned citizens alike, would modernize the VA system and allow the VA’s 4,800 nurse practitioners to practice to the full scope of their education and training--providing clinical assessments, ordering and interpreting diagnostic tests, making diagnoses, and initiating and managing treatment plans, including prescribing medications. (CMSgt. Robert L. Frank, 9/19)
Miami Herald:
Where Were The Zika Skeeters Found?
The mosquito-borne disease remains a public threat, particularly in parts of Miami Beach. Yet, Miami-Dade County is keeping the public in the dark, denying residents and visitors public information that will help all make better-informed decisions on how to fight it. The Miami Herald, long a leader in the push to keep public information accessible, rightly filed suit last week to force the county to turn over reports pinpointing where infected mosquitoes were found. (9/19)
Columbus Dispatch:
Heroin’s Signs, Long Seen In Other Cities, Now Visible In Columbus
Not long after coming to central Ohio in 2006 to report on crime for The Dispatch, I noticed the absence of a drug that had plagued eastern cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore for years. When it came to the illegal drug trade, Columbus had its share of problems linked to cocaine and marijuana, but where, I wondered, was the heroin? No one in Ohio asks that question anymore. (Theodore Decker, 9/20)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
A Systemic Approach To The Opioid Crisis
Last month, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy took an unprecedented step in addressing the opioid epidemic. In a letter addressed to every physician in America, he urged doctors to educate themselves, screen patients and destigmatize addiction. Meanwhile, in West Virginia, 29 people touched by the epidemic sued physicians, pharmacists and drug distributors for profiting from the opioid crisis at the expense of vulnerable patients. (Elizabeth Chiarello, 9/20)
East Bay Times/Oakland Tribune:
Vote No On Prescription Drug Measure
It takes more than good intentions to make a ballot measure worth passing. There are good reasons to be outraged at drug pricing by Big Pharma, which sets prices partly from a need to recover research costs but sometimes out of just greed. Proposition 61 proposes an answer, at least for state purchases for Medi-Cal: Prohibit the state from paying more for prescription drugs than the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which generally pays about 25 percent less than other government agencies. But nobody can say definitively how this proposition would play out, or how it would affect the availability of some life-saving drugs. (9/19)
The Columbus Dispatch:
Hospital-Expansion Gift Will Help Many Youngsters
Big Lots, the national retailer headquartered in Columbus, has a big heart. The company is donating $50 million to support a $730 million expansion of Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the centerpiece of which will be a Behavioral Health Pavilion. (9/20)
