Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: CBO's Missing Numbers; Parents' Beliefs And Kids' Health; Rape Kit Backlogs
Bloomberg: Obamacare's Good News Only Tells Half The Story
Is Obamacare costing less than we expected? I've seen notes to that effect on the Web and social media, thanks to newly released estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. However, that's something of a misreading of the CBO document, which only covers the cost of the insurance coverage provisions in Obamacare. Those are obviously a huge part of the law. But they're not the only part of the law, and we don't have a CBO estimate for the rest. (Megan McArdle, 3/10)
The Wall Street Journal: Health-Care Deductibles Climbing Out Of Reach
Deductibles are an element of any insurance product, but as deductibles have grown in recent years, a surprising percentage of people with private insurance, and especially those with lower and moderate incomes, simply do not have the resources to pay their deductibles and will either have to put off care or incur medical debt. (Drew Altman, 3/11)
The Washington Post's Plum Line: More Evidence Republicans Will Probably Do Nothing If Supreme Court Guts Subsidies
Scott Walker has now supplied yet another piece of evidence that Republicans will likely find themselves unable or unwilling to act if the Supreme Court guts Obamacare subsidies for millions in three dozen states. In the process, he’s illustrated how such a Court ruling will likely set in motion a mad frenzy of buck-passing among Republicans over what to do about all those people — and how that might spill over into the 2016 presidential race. A spokesperson for Walker has now confirmed that should the Court rule that way, he will not view it as the state’s responsibility to fix the problem that results — and instead says that responsibility will fall to the federal government. (Greg Sargent, 3/10)
The New York Times' Room For Debate: Parents’ Beliefs Vs. Their Children’s Health
The spread of measles has called attention to parents who don’t vaccinate children because of religious beliefs. New York City is accommodating an Orthodox Jewish circumcision practice that can infect babies with herpes. Some states even let believers in faith healing deny life-saving medical care to their children. Should parents’ religious beliefs allow them to refuse medical care for their children or avoid standard medical practices? (3/10)
Los Angeles Times: Victims Deserve Better Than Nationwide Rape Kit Backlog
Every seven minutes a rape occurs somewhere in the United States, yet fewer than half of those reported to police result in an arrest, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports. One way to catch more rapists would be to eliminate the inexcusable nationwide backlog in laboratory testing of rape kits. How many are untested? No one knows, which is part of the problem. (3/10)
The New York Times: A Sensible Bill On Medical Marijuana
Three senators, two Democrats and a Republican, introduced a bill on Monday that would allow patients to use marijuana for medical purposes in states where it is legal, without fear of federal prosecution for violating narcotics laws. The bill makes a number of important changes to federal marijuana policies — and it deserves to be passed by Congress and enacted into law. Though this legislation would not repeal the broad and destructive federal ban on marijuana, it is a big step in the right direction. (3/11)
JAMA: Deciphering Cholesterol Treatment Guidelines
The publication of cholesterol treatment guidelines by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association immediately met with considerable support as well some criticism related to their applicability in practice. The criticism was based primarily on 2 issues: eliminating numerical targets for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (non–HDL-C) and debate about the value of the new pooled risk calculator for treatment initiation decisions. ... All of these current guidelines emphasize the need for lifestyle changes and to intensify statin therapy as the highly preferred regimen in patients with established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) or those at very high risk of developing CVD. ... Some have misconstrued the ACC/AHA position by assuming little need for lipid monitoring because there are no numerical lipid goals. ... In fact, lipid monitoring is essential. (Dr. Om P. Ganda, 3/10)
