Viewpoints: Evidence Doesn’t Back Changes To Childhood Vax Schedule; Medicare Rating System Needs Clarity
Opinion writers tackle these public health topics.
CIDRAP:
We Owe Parents Real Data Before We Mess With Kids' Vaccination Schedule
In the United States, the childhood vaccination schedule has played a critical role in virtually eliminating life-threatening infectious diseases that once hospitalized and killed thousands of children each year. Now, however, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which is led by vaccine skeptics handpicked by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, has created a new working group to examine the schedule, and officials in Washington, DC, are floating changes to how and when children receive vaccines. (Vaccine Integrity Project Staff and Advisers, 10/15)
The Baltimore Sun:
How Medicare's Ratings System Misleads Seniors
Medicare’s open enrollment begins this week, and I feel for the millions of seniors who have to navigate a bewildering set of choices. Many want to find the highest-quality plan, but the process isn’t just confusing, it’s misleading. (Andrew Anderson, 10/15)
The New York Times:
Kennedy's Comments On Circumcision Are Only Going To Confuse And Shame Parents
About a week ago, I joked to someone that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was going to say that clouds cause autism; he’d been quiet for a week or two, which meant he would be plucking something new out of the sky. It turns out that I chose the wrong C-word. (Jessica Grose, 10/15)
The Baltimore Sun:
Our Housing Crisis Is Also A Health Crisis
People who work in health care know firsthand that housing is health. Those experiencing homelessness have higher rates of emergency room visits, and that rate only seems to be increasing, according to data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Bhavya Ancha, 10/14)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Medicare's Proposed Changes Put Rural Wound Care In Jeopardy
Medicare has proposed several changes to coverage and reimbursement for wound care. These changes threaten my ability to treat patients in rural Southeastern Missouri. I personally serve a patient population across a three-hour driving radius, which includes in-clinic, in-facility and in-home care. My patients are often confined to wheelchairs or beds, which makes wound care incredibly challenging. (Sarah Hull, 10/15)
