Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Democrats Face Voters Unhappy With Health Law; New 'Pre-Existing Condition'
The Wall Street Journal: Make Democrats Own ObamaCare
“You bet I voted for that bill. I’m proud I did it!” yelled Russ Feingold at a Wisconsin campaign stop in 2010. That pride—in ObamaCare—lost the three-term Democratic senator his job. Now his party’s ownership of the health-care law may once again decide the Senate. ObamaCare is roaring back as a political liability to Democrats in a way not seen since that 2010 wave election. Right in time for this fall’s presidential contest, insurers are bailing out of the government system, leaving millions of voters with dwindling options and skyrocketing premiums. ObamaCare was always destined to crack up, but there is something notable that it comes precisely as so much control of Washington is up for grabs. (Kimberley A. Strassel, 9/1)
Bloomberg: Patients Are Still Playing Games With Obamacare
With insurers pulling out of the Obamacare exchanges, and the remaining plans contracting towards inexpensive Medicaid-style offerings with limited choices of doctors and hospitals, it was a safe bet that regulators would be scrambling to figure out how to stabilize the exchanges. They’ve now stepped in with a sort of early holiday present, releasing their proposed rulemaking for the 2018 marketplaces on Monday, instead of in November. These rules suggest meaningful changes to how the insurance market would operate, especially in its risk-adjustment program. (Megan McArdle, 9/1)
Forbes: Does The Obama Administration Not Have Lawyers That Can Read?
The Obama administration proposed this week new rules for its Risk Adjustment program — a critical component of the Affordable Care Act. There are actually some better-late-than-never parts of the proposal. Most notably the new rules will try to compensate for the extra expense insurers incur when people exploit ACA regulatory and enforcement weaknesses to time their insurance purchases to cover only expensive medical emergencies. Unfortunately, the better parts of the new Risk Adjustment proposal are contaminated by an illegal component : one that would transfer money among insurers in different states. (Seth Chandler, 9/1)
The Hill: Charitable Assistance: The New ‘Pre-Existing Condition’
Today, insurers can no longer deny coverage to sick people and cannot place a cap on benefits paid to treat their illnesses. For many patients, this access to insurance and treatment is crucial to their wellbeing and, often, their lives. But now insurers are engaging in a different kind of effort to avoid covering people with expensive illnesses by refusing to accept premium payments from third-party charities that help low-income patients pay their premiums. In other words, charitable assistance is insurers’ new “pre-existing condition.” (LaVarne A. Burton, 9/1)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Drugs Costs Need Control
Drug makers are entitled to make a profit. But public investment and simple human decency argue that there is a clear public interest to control the price of drugs. The EpiPen isn't the only example of price gouging. A year ago, Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of daraprim, used in the treatment of HIV and malaria, from $13.50 a pill to $750. Following public outrage, it lowered the cost to about $375...Sovaldi, a relatively new treatment for hepatitis C, costs $1,000 a pill. That was enough for the Senate Finance Committee to find the cost was unjustified. But little has happened to lower the price. (8/31)
The Hill: The EpiPen Scandal And Perceptions Of The Washington Establishment
The immediate outrage centered on the clear appearance of price gouging by generic pharmaceutical firm Mylan, the manufacturer of EpiPens. In less than a decade, the price of a dual-pack of EpiPens has increased from just under $100 to over $600. The bulk of that price increase, as the New York Times reported, has come in the last three years. Further fuel was added to the fire when it was discovered that Mylan's CEO, Heather Bresch and other top Mylan executives each received salary increases of approximately 700 percent over the last eight years, as was reported by the Washington Post. (Jesse Heitz, 9/1)
The Hill: Why We Need Precision Medicine—Now
The launch of President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative is putting a cutting-edge approach to research and patient care on the map. Academic medical centers have been pioneering the development of precision medicine for more than a decade—and now it’s time for the biopharmaceutical industry to get deeper in the game. The goal of precision medicine is simple: to offer individual patients exactly the right medical care at the right time, by taking their genes, lifestyle, and environment into account. However, making that vision a reality will require a significant investment of brainpower, technology, and capital. (Jessica M. Bibliowicz, 9/1)
The New York Times: The Real Science Of Abortion Drugs
Since 2000, over a million American women have been able to terminate pregnancies safely using drugs instead of surgery. Over the years, doctors have found ways to make these sorts of abortions even safer and more convenient, but anti-choice politicians in many states have pushed restrictions that make the process more onerous and that could even harm women’s health. (9/2)
The Hill: Why We Should Advocate For Funding Our Public Hospitals
Close to 20 million Americans have gained health insurance since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — also known as Obamacare — was implemented, resulting in about 90 percent of the population now being covered. That’s no small achievement for a country that still hasn’t fully embraced the notion that healthcare is a right of citizenship. With the law’s success, you’d think the nation’s public hospitals would finally have a chance to come out from under the decades-long charity care burden they have been carrying for the $3 trillion-a-year U.S. healthcare system. (Mike King, 9/1)
Dallas Morning News: How The Spread Of Freestanding Emergency Rooms Hurts Patients
Freestanding emergency rooms are expanding fast in North Texas. You can hardly drive down any major street in Dallas without seeing one. But are they good for patients? Park Cities, Allen and Plano are the newest locations for these slick and efficient facilities that claim the capabilities and services of full-service emergency rooms, guaranteeing treatment without the wait of a hospital-based emergency room. In a sense, patients receive the convenience of an urgent care center, but they anticipate receiving the same quality of a hospital emergency service. (Britt Berrett, 9/1)
Des Moines Register: Iowa Must Act Quickly To Stop Heroin's Spread
The heroin epidemic rages around us. Can Iowa act quickly enough as the threat spreads here? This summer's headlines chronicle the tragic toll: Milwaukee records 20 overdose deaths in two weeks. Doctors see a surge in newborns addicted to opiates. Emergency responders treat increasing numbers of overdose victims in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids. (9/2)
Bloomberg: Campbell Learns Health Food's No Picnic
It turns out trying to remake yourself into a "healthy" snack-food company is harder than it looks. Shares in Campbell Soup dropped 6 percent on Thursday after the company reported quarterly earnings that missed expectations and warned next year's results would disappoint, too. It's well-known by now that sales of Campbell's salty soups have slowed. But what's unnerving is that its so-called "fresh business" -- its supposed saving grace -- is shaky, too. (Shelly Banjo, 9/1)
San Francisco Chronicle: A Condom Requirement For Porn Actors Doesn’t Make Sense
Easily the oddest measure on the California ballot is a proposal to require porn actors to use condoms while at work. It attempts to address a worthy subject of concern, but Prop. 60 underscores what’s wrong with trying to impose workplace health and safety regulations through the ballot box. The measure is promoted by Los Angeles’ AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which has long pushed for better health coverage, including condom use to stem the spread of HIV. In this case, it’s pushed the crusade too far with a mandate designed to curb the spread of sex-linked diseases in the porn world. (9/1)
Stat: Women Need To Stand By Their Career, Family Choices
The role of women at home and work remains highly politicized and steeped in stereotypes. This tension plays out in a unique way in academic medicine, particularly pediatrics, where women comprise more than 57 percent of pediatricians and 70 percent of pediatric residents. Despite their numbers, women hold a minority of leadership positions. Across all academic fields, 14 percent of department chairs are female. In pediatrics, with a higher percentage of female physicians, only 25 percent are female. Access to medical school isn’t the problem. Women now comprise 48 percent of medical school students in the United States. (Angira Parel and Sarah C. Bauer, 9/1)
Los Angeles Times: Chiropractors See Diabetes As A Chance For New Patients — And Profit
A Sacramento chiropractor, James Joseph Martin, was arrested in July on felony charges of practicing medicine without a license and grand theft after authorities said he claimed to be a “thyroid and diabetic specialist” who practiced “functional neurology and metabolic medicine.” According to the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners, Martin presented himself as a “doctor of pastoral science,” licensed by the Pastoral Medical Assn. The Medical Board of California ruled that “doctor of pastoral science is not recognized in California and does not authorize anyone to practice medicine or any of the healing arts in the state.” What’s noteworthy about the case isn’t that a chiropractor was passing himself off as a diabetes authority. Rather, it’s that so many other chiropractors do it as well — yet manage to stay within the law. (David Lazarus, 9/2)
