Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Don't Back Away From Mental Health Needs Of Parkland Survivors; More States Need To Pass Better Gun Policies
Miami Herald: The Mental Wounds Of The Parkland Shooting Survivors Cannot Be Ignored, Students Will Need Counseling, Treatment To Heal
Florida’s legislative session will end. The TV cameras will go away — yes, just as they left Sandy Hook. But the collateral damage of Nikolas Cruz’s horrific act will remain. Wednesday, South Floridians got a glimpse of the wounds that his victims bear, not to the bodies of the injured, but to the psyches of those survivors who were able to get out of the building; who hid in closets listening to the shots that wouldn’t end; who ran past the bloodied bodies of classmates they were sitting next to moments before. (2/28)
Bloomberg: More States Should Raise The Red Flag On Guns
Some people are simply too dangerous to have access to firearms. It’s an axiom that common sense and research both confirm, and it’s increasingly being codified into law -- in states, if not in Washington. (2/28)
The New York Times: Once Again, Push For Gun Control Collides With Political Reality
Here’s how significant things don’t get done in Washington even in a moment of crisis and opportunity. The president throws out a hodgepodge of ideas, thoroughly confusing both sides about what he really supports. Senate Republicans, grappling for an answer that responds to public clamor but doesn’t alienate their conservative base, would prefer instead to focus on a small fix unlikely to satisfy many people even if it could overcome internal divisions. House Republicans say they will wait to see what the Senate does — though history has shown that can be a very long wait. Democrats push for a broad debate that Republicans want nothing to do with. (Carl Hulse, 2/28)
Los Angeles Times: Treating And Housing The Mentally Ill Is Harder Than Jailing Them. But It Might Actually Work
If only we could make Les Jones’ story more commonplace. As the 62-year-old Texas native leans back from his desktop computer in his small apartment, he details his journey from a successful radio career to a mental breakdown, to the streets, to shelter and finally to treatment and a healthy, happy life in this tidy complex at perhaps the most enviable corner of Santa Monica, steps from the Third Street Promenade, a short walk to the beach. “I am one verse,” Jones says of the composition of the American population of the mentally ill. “There are others. Modern treatment of mental illness produces miracles. It literally saved my life.” (2/28)
Los Angeles Times: Are Hollywood Movies Teaching Men And Boys That Predatory Behavior Is OK?
We've all sat in horror these last several months as some of the most influential and powerful men in the movie business have been accused of sexual abuse, harassment and assault. Yet, as a film buff, reading account after account of predatory men behind the scenes in Hollywood, it's been impossible to ignore how similar the predatory behavior we've been reading about is to what often see celebrated on the big screen. (Jonathan McIntosh, 3/1)
The New York Times: The Downsides (And Upsides?) Of Aggressive Masculinity
Last week, The Times published an essay by Michael Ian Black, “The Boys Are Not All Right,” that drew more than 2,100 comments on the Times site. Mr. Black is addressing some of those comments here; they have been edited for length and clarity. (Michael Ian Black, 2/28)
MarketWatch: Republicans Will Lead Us Unwittingly To Single-Payer Health Care
Congressional Republicans have adequately demonstrated they are fiscal conservatives when Democrats occupy the White House, but find big deficits all too seductive when they enjoy the levers of power in both political branches of government.Up next, the GOP will try to fix the most unfixable of liberal contraptions — the Affordable Care Act. By revoking the individual mandate as part of their tax cut, Republicans set in motion a process that could put the Democrats in charge for the next decade. (Peter Morici, 2/27)
The Hill: Veterans Choice Applies To Types Of Treatments, Not Just Access
In discussing veterans’ health care, one of the most commonly used words is “choice.” Most often, choice is used in the context of allowing veterans to seek care within their community, rather than at a VA facility. However, there are other important aspects of choice that are less discussed, but equally important when it comes to veterans’ health care is the choice of treatment options. (Rory E. Riley-Topping, 2/28)
Boston Globe: Balance On Cannabis May Lead To Answers On Opioids
The United States is the midst of an opioid crisis. Ninety Americans die each day from opioid overdoses on prescription opioids, heroin, or fentanyl, and Massachusetts has not been spared. Many states are using the best available tools to battle the crisis, with an eye on developing better science and policy to put an end to the crisis. As more states implement either medical or legalized recreational cannabis policies, they should consider whether cannabis can play a role in the opioid crisis. (Kevin P. Hill, 3/1)
The New York Times: The Cruel Ploy Of Taking Immigrant Kids From Their Parents
The Department of Homeland Security may soon formalize the abhorrent practice of detaining the children of asylum-seekers separately from their parents. ...This country’s medical and mental health organizations have rightly recognized the trauma of this practice. The American Academy of Pediatrics has condemned immigrant family separation, and family detention overall, as “harsh and counterproductive.” The American Medical Association has denounced family separation as causing “unnecessary distress, depression and anxiety.” (Dora Galacatos, Alan Shapiro and Brett Stark, 2/28)
New England Journal of Medicine: Can Work Be Required In The Medicaid Program?
On January 11, 2018, a new policy encouraging states to develop work requirements in their Medicaid programs was issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Under this policy, states can require nonelderly, nondisabled adults to work or engage in community service to qualify for Medicaid coverage, unless they are deemed medically frail or have a substance use disorder. ...The question is whether CMS has the authority to make such a shift, which will allow states to create barriers to enrollment for eligible Medicaid beneficiaries. (Nicole Huberfeld, 3/1)
New England Journal of Medicine: Vaccination Without Litigation — Addressing Religious Objections To Hospital Influenza-Vaccination Mandates
In April 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued Mission Hospital, a large North Carolina health system, over its denial of employee requests for religious exemptions from an influenza-vaccination requirement. The lawsuit, which alleges religious discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, settled in January 2018, with Mission agreeing to both compensate the employees and revise its policy on vaccination exemptions. ...Influenza-vaccination mandates for health care workers represent good policy, but heavy-handed, context-free implementation does not. Hospitals that pursue an inflexible approach to minimize religious exemptions are likely to find that the juice isn’t worth the squeeze. In contrast, well-drafted and reasonably applied policies should avoid or withstand legal challenge, while also protecting patients. (Douglas J. Opel, James A. Sonne and Michelle M. Mello, 3/1)
San Antonio Press Express: Straus Is Right, Investigate State Health Agency
What is going on at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission? A recent state audit found Superior HealthPlan, an insurance company that contracts with HHSC, spent nearly $30 million in “unallowable” bonus and incentive payments. That allowed Superior to understate profits, the audit said, warping what it might owe taxpayers under a profit-sharing agreement. In other words, contract requirements were ignored in a way that benefited Superior and cost taxpayers. (2/27)
Kansas City Star: Should Harrisonville Recognize Student Who Committed Suicide?
The last time they counted, 10,042 people lived in Harrisonville, Missouri. More than twice that number, some 23,000, have signed a petition urging officials at Harrisonville High to have a heart. They want school officials to call the name of a member of the Class of 2018 who committed suicide two years ago at this year’s graduation, as her family is pressuring them to do. But those 23,000 people are not necessarily right. (2/28)
