Viewpoints: Doctors Deserve Higher Payments For Treating Sickest Medicare Patients; Dangerous Lessons On Dismissing Women’s Health Concerns

Stat: Medicare Should Pay Doctors More, Not Less, For Treating The Sickest Patients
Some doctors don’t like to admit it, but money can have a major influence on physicians’ behaviors. For years, Medicare seemed to recognize this by paying doctors more for complicated patient visits and less for straightforward ones. In addition to properly compensating physicians for more challenging work, this payment schedule helped encourage them to take on complex, time-consuming cases. The federal government recently announced plans to drastically alter Medicare payments to physicians by instituting a flat rate per visit, regardless of how sick a patient is. This change, which is slated to start in 2019, could have unintended — and harmful — consequences for patients with severe illnesses. (Timothy Sullivan, 8/15)

WBUR: Why Don't We Believe Women When They Tell Us They're Sick?
For decades, studies have shown that women with chronic pain conditions are more likely than men to be wrongly diagnosed with mental health conditions and prescribed psychotropic drugs. When men and women offer similar complaints of pain, women are more likely to be prescribed sedatives instead of pain relieving drugs. (Amy Carleton, 8/15)

Stat: All States Should Require Mammogram Reports To List Presence Of Dense Breast Tissue
Most women — and their doctors — tend to think of mammography as a one-scan-works-for-all test. I learned the hard way that it isn’t. When I turned 36, I had a baseline mammogram. Then, beginning at age 40, I dutifully had a mammogram every year, convinced that it was the best way to detect breast cancer early should it ever appear. ...How could I be diagnosed with advanced breast cancer after not missing a mammogram in 11 years? I later learned that I have dense breast tissue, something that had been documented in the reports from the radiologists who read my mammography exams to my primary care physician. None of that information was ever shared with me. (Nancy M. Cappello, 8/15)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Dangerous Dehumanization Of The ‘Other’
No sooner had I ordered the 2011 book “Less Than Human” for a late-summer read than President Trump called Omarosa Manigault Newman a “dog” and a “lowlife.” Those two slurs fit nicely into author David Livingstone Smith’s philosophical study of man’s capacity to inflict cruelty by first dehumanizing the “other.” (Kathleen Parker, 8/14)

The Hill: Our Nation’s Community Health Care Centers Need Our Support 
Imagine being sick but lacking access to a primary care doctor. Consider needing a dentist or mental health practitioner but having no specialists available in your neighborhood. It’s a reality for 90 million Americans living in medically underserved communities across the country. That’s why community health centers play such a vital role helping more than 27 million Americans access comprehensive, affordable primary care. (Mark Leenay, 8/14)

WBUR: What's Next Now That Monsanto Was Found Liable In First Trial Over Weed Killer's Cancer Link
In the first of hundreds of lawsuits against Monsanto to go to trial, a jury in San Francisco concluded Friday that Roundup, the controversial agrochemical company's popular herbicide, likely caused the plaintiff to develop cancer. The jury ordered Monsanto to pay $289 million in damages. (Richard Stevens, 8/14)

The Hill: Medicaid Needs To Be Allowed To Experiment With Work Requirements 
The Bible, Luke 12:48, it reads, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” Much of society has functioned on this axiom since biblical times, and it has been a good thing. Our social safety net has been exempt from any requirement to receive benefits. While that may have worked in the past, or financial reality as a nation necessitates that change. But there is a push to make sure it doesn’t, a push that is going to speed the collapse of government programs designed to help those in need that have far exceeded their mandate and will end up hurting the very people they were created to help. (Richard Topping, 8/14)

Boston Globe: Ignoring The Benefits Of Supervised Injection Facilities Isn’t Just Callous. It’s Deadly
Despite a strong push from advocates and some movement in the Legislature, a proposal to begin experimenting with a controversial but lifesaving treatment strategy is on hold, possibly for years. Supervised injection facilities, or SIFs, provide a safer place to use drugs — a place where needles are clean and sterile, and where an overdose can be quickly treated by a professional. (Nestor Ramos, 8/14)

Los Angeles Times: How To Get Everyone To Agree On A New Site For Homeless Housing In Koreatown? Community Buy-In
The goal of these community conversations should be to determine where to put shelters — not to reopen the question of whether shelters are needed. Community groups and politicians around the city should take away that lesson from the Koreatown brouhaha. This should not be seen as an invitation to yell at your council member until he or she scotches plans entirely for a shelter. Shelters are essential all over the city. (8/14)

Sacramento Bee: California Legislature: Pass These Three Police Reform Bills
Assembly Bill 931, which is in danger of being abandoned by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, wouldn’t specifically require law enforcement agencies to adopt a foot pursuit policy. But by permitting the use of deadly force only when it’s “necessary” to stop an imminent threat of injury or death and only when attempts to de-escalate the situation with nonlethal tactics haven’t worked, the legislation would force cops across California to completely rethink the way they deal with suspects. (8/14)

The Star Tribune: Critical, Close-To-Home Challenge For New Mayo CEO: Rebuilding Trust Among Those Served By Regional Network
All Minnesotans should wish Dr. Gianrico Farrugia well as he steps up to lead the world-renowned Mayo Clinic. The Rochester medical center isn’t just an economic powerhouse vital to the state’s future; it’s where Minnesotans for generations have sent their loved ones when serious illness strikes. While Mayo has navigated a turbulent era of reform well under outgoing CEO Dr. John Noseworthy, the pace of change is quickening in the health care industry, even at a medical destination with such a powerful brand name. Farrugia — a gastroenterologist and native of Malta who was named Noseworthy’s successor last week — has an impressive portfolio of management and medical accomplishments and appears well-prepared. We hope that Farrugia recognizes that a critical, close-to-home task lies ahead of him — rebuilding trust among those served by Mayo’s clinics and hospitals in Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin. (8/14)