Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Ending Medical Expense Deduction Pinches Middle Class; The 'Demise' Of CHIP
Los Angeles Times: Killing The Medical Expense Deduction Will Hit The Middle Class — And Hard
Republicans drafting their tax cut proposal have been awfully cavalier in particular about one deduction they’re proposing to repeal: the deduction for medical expenses. A fact sheet issued by House Ways and Means Committee Republicans when they unveiled their tax plan denigrated this deduction as one of "a myriad of provisions that many will never use and others may use only once in their lifetime." ... Tell that to Bill Storey. “This would be a massive hit,” Storey, 61, told me Tuesday. He and his wife, Joan, 64, had to retire from their jobs a few years ago as a technology professional and schoolteacher, respectively, at a St. Louis-area school district—he to take care of a sick parent, and she because a heart condition made it impossible to continue working. Now their medical expenses reach about $37,000 a year. (Michael Hiltzik, 11/7)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Demise Of Insurance Program Is Devastating To Millions Of Children
A month has passed since Congress allowed the funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program to expire. While states are using available funds to keep the program in place until Congress acts, eventually if they do not act this could lead to the demise of one of the most successful government programs ever implemented. The CHIP program covers more than 9 million low-income children across the U.S. In Missouri, roughly 90,000 children are covered by CHIP and more than 600,000 by a combination of CHIP and Medicaid. (Timothy McBride, 11/7)
The Washington Post: Let This Sick 10-Year-Old Girl Stay In The Country
Ten-year-old Rosa Maria Hernandez is finally and thankfully back home with her family. Federal officials who had detained the undocumented immigrant with cerebral palsy as she was recovering from surgery were essentially shamed into doing the right thing — the humane thing. Let’s hope that continues so that a fragile little girl who poses no threat to anyone is allowed to stay in the country where her family has made a home and where she is able to receive the best treatment. (11/7)
Richmond Times-Dispatch: To Beat The Opioid Crisis, Virginia's Next Governor Should Think Like Portugal
Virginia’s next governor will confront many pressing needs but few burning oil platforms — except one. The opioid crisis just keeps getting worse. ...According to the latest report from the state medical examiner’s office, drug overdoses have been the leading cause of unnatural death in the commonwealth for the past four years. (A. Barton Hinkle, 11/7)
Georgia Health News: How To Help Our Infants Survive — And Have Better Lives
Georgia’s fetal death rate is well above the national average, and the state ranks 47th in the country for infant mortality. Seventy percent of Georgia infants who die before their first birthday were born low birthweight (LBW, less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces). It is no surprise that Georgia ranks 45th for its LBW rate. (Merrilee Gober, 11/7)
The Washington Post: The Killer Responsible For More Yearly Deaths Than AIDS, Malaria And TB Combined
A major study published last month in the Lancet, a British medical journal, found that there is a global killer responsible for more yearly deaths than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined: pollution. The problem is pervasive, affecting every country on the planet. It is expensive, costing the globe a whopping $4.6 trillion a year — about 6 percent of global gross domestic product — in hours not worked, premature deaths, health spending and eroded quality of life. The study associated pollution with 1 in 6 premature deaths, 9 million people in 2015. Even if the numbers are off a bit, the magnitude is striking. (11/7)
The Wichita Eagle: When Seeing The Doctor Means Immediately
Consider a company called Teladoc, which provides access to a doctor through a computer screen, telephone or mobile app. The waiting time, a company official tells me, is between eight and 10 minutes. That beats any doctor’s office I have ever been in, even with an appointment. ... Virtual medicine, led by companies like Teladoc, is not the wave of the future, but of the present. (Cal Thomas, 11/8)
