Viewpoints: Defining ‘Affordable’; Louisiana’s Innovative Medicaid Expansion Approach
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Lincoln Journal Star:
The Meaning Of 'Affordable'
News stories that insurers are seeking double digit increases in premiums next year under the Affordable Care Act are a reminder of how imperfect a solution the legislation is to what ails America’s health care system.
The health care reform law does not do enough to address rising health costs, which dropped during the Great Recession but have started to rise again. (5/11)
New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Louisiana Gets Innovative To Catch Up On Medicaid Expansion
Louisiana is behind on expanding Medicaid because the state refused to accept the extra federal money until Gov. John Bel Edwards took office in January. But an innovative approach by the Department of Health and Hospitals could allow tens of thousands of eligible residents to be approved almost immediately. ... DHH officials are "highly confident" that federal Medicaid officials will approve their request to use food stamp records to add uninsured residents to the health care program for low-income residents. A half-dozen other states have been allowed to fast track their enrollment process, but Louisiana would be the first one to use food stamps. (5/10)
Los Angeles Times:
So What Does A Corporation Owe You After A Data Breach?
The most common response when a corporate database gets hacked is for the business to offer a year of free credit monitoring -- a better-than-nothing measure that will alert people to suspicious activity involving their credit files but will do nothing to prevent fraud, identity theft or other mischief. (David Lazarus, 5/10)
Modern Healthcare:
Clinton Suggests Letting People In Their 50s Buy Into Medicare
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton unexpectedly floated the idea Monday of letting people in their 50s buy into Medicare as an alternative to her previous proposal to let states establish public health insurance plans to compete with private insurers. (Harris Meyer, 5/10)
The Washington Post:
For Republicans In Congress, Does ‘Pro-Life’ Extend To Fighting Zika?
Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican, has called himself “pro-life” since he came to Congress a decade ago. This month, he’s proving it. Buchanan last week announced his support for President Obama’s request for $1.9 billion to fight the Zika virus — a decision he based in part on “new research revealing that Zika eats away at the fetal brain and destroys the ability to think.” He’s right about that. The mosquito-borne virus is going to cause thousands of babies in this hemisphere to be born with severe birth defects, and Zika is on the cusp of devastating the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico and of spreading to the southern United States. Untold numbers of the unborn are being irreversibly harmed. (Dana Milbank, 5/10)
USA Today:
Zika Threat Pales Next To 1964 Rubella Outbreak: Column
It is a virus that can spell disaster for a pregnant woman. It causes miscarriages or a fate many people view as far worse: congenital malformations of the newborn. It swept the globe. No, I am not referring to Zika; I am referring to rubella. (Amesh A. Adalja, 5/10)
The Washington Post:
The FDA Finally Steps Up On E-Cigarettes
Over the past several years, the e-cigarette business has boomed, tying public-health experts in knots. On one hand, the devices are far less dangerous than conventional cigarettes. It would be a public-health victory if every smoker stopped lighting up and chose to vape instead. On the other hand, e-cigarettes seem designed to appeal to children and teenagers. E-cigarette liquids come in a variety of candylike flavors that, according to federal health officials, have driven interest among young users. Some young people — it is unclear how many — would not have gotten hooked on nicotine without e-cigarettes. (5/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
Obesity: The New Hunger
Each May, private charities in Boston organize a “Walk for Hunger” to help the Massachusetts households—one out of every 10, we’re told—that require “hunger relief.” A national organization of food banks named Feeding America promotes its own work by asserting that “1 in 7 Americans struggle to get enough to eat.” A 2015 ad campaign sponsored by Great Nations Eat warned that “America Can’t Be Great on an Empty Stomach.” (Robert Paarlberg, 5/10)
CNN:
Doctors Must Lead Us Out Of Our Opioid Abuse Epidemic
Veteran doctors don't need a blood test to tell when someone is on the verge of a drug overdose. They can even narrow down the culprit by observation alone. Dilated pupils mean cocaine, amphetamines, maybe LSD. Constricted pupils mean an opiate. (Sanjay Gupta, 5/11)
Slate:
Lightening Nurses’ Loads
Hotel rooms have occupancy limits, as do elevators, and even taxi cabs in New York City, but few laws in the United States regulate or even monitor the number of patients that any one hospital nurse can be responsible for at a given time. This hit home for me after the publication of my book The Shift: One Nurse, Twelve Hours, Four Patients’ Lives. Many nurses reacted by reminding me that four patients is a cakewalk, not worth writing a book about—their usual load is eight patients or more. (Theresa Brown, 5/10)
Lexington Herald Leader:
McConnell, Legislature Can OK Bills To Improve Mental-Health Care
Mental illness impacts millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians, but is largely undiagnosed and untreated. As citizens of the commonwealth, we must hold our federal and state leaders accountable so they can fix gaps in the mental healthcare system. With a basic knowledge of mental illness, who it impacts and the current inadequacies of treatment, Congress and the Kentucky General Assembly can enact legislation to correct these problems. (Michael Gray, 5/10)
The Dallas Morning News:
Cheaper Telehealth May Cost Parkland Even More
Telehealth usually costs much less than traditional treatment and could help bend the cost curve. But if Parkland Health & Hospital System goes all in on the emerging service, it figures to lose even more money. (Michael Schnurman, 5/10)
The Oregonian:
OHSU Follows Up Medical Negligence With Financial Indifference
The facts of Tyson Horton's case are simple. In 2009, doctors at OHSU Hospital mistakenly sliced through blood vessels to his liver as they removed a cancerous mass from the then 8-month old. The error – OHSU admitted its negligence – nearly killed him. (5/10)
