Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Public Health Figures In Political Arena Signal A Healthy Change; Should US Births Be Free?
The New York Times: Covid Politics Don’t Have To Be Toxic
The public health field has spent the past several years wringing its hands about how it has been outcommunicated by its critics, fretting that it needs new strategies and trusted messengers to connect with people in our fractious information environment. “What went wrong” has become the dominant lens through which we consider the pandemic. (Rachael Bedard, 6/23)
Bloomberg: How Much Does Birth Cost In The US? And Should It Be Free?
Second lady Usha Vance’s due date is rapidly approaching. I have no idea how healthcare expenses are treated for the vice president’s family. But JD Vance has long been an advocate for $0 out-of-pocket costs for giving birth. He is not alone. A bicameral, bipartisan group in Congress is working to make free birth a reality for all Americans. (Abby McCloskey, 6/22)
Stat: New Medicaid Work Requirements Include A Trap
There’s a particular cruelty buried in the new Medicaid work requirement rules recently proposed by the administration, and it’s received almost no attention. It’s not just the law itself, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cut Medicaid by nearly $1 trillion last summer. The problem is the regulation implementing those cuts, which goes further than the law requires. (Maria Town and Nicole Jorwic, 6/23)
The New York Times: Doctors Can Test Your Baby For Hundreds Of Genetic Anomalies. Should They?
A National Institutes of Health study will evaluate whether to screen tens of thousands of healthy infants for genetic diseases. (Daniela J. Lamas, M.D., 6/22)
Stat: The Public Health Consequences Of Ending Birthright Citizenship
Sometime before the end of June, the Supreme Court is expected to deliver its opinion in Trump v. Barbara, the case challenging President Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship in the United States. At stake is the long-standing interpretation of the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, which for more than a century has been understood and affirmed to mean that any child born in the United States, regardless of their parents’ citizenship status, is a U.S. citizen (with a remarkably narrow exception carved out for the children of diplomats). (Rachel E. Fabi, 6/23)
