Viewpoints: GOP Candidates And The Health Law; Voters Paying Attention To Drug Costs
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
The Washington Post:
The Success Of The Affordable Care Act Is A Hugely Inconvenient Truth For Its Opponents
Remember how much Republicans wanted to repeal Obamacare? The Republican majority in the House of Representatives has voted more than 50 times to repeal the law. Conservatives have twice brought challenges to the Supreme Court .... Some suggest that the calls for repealing Obamacare are fading. ... Maybe, but don’t count on it. [Jeb Bush's] team of economists stresses that repealing the Affordable Care Act will be an “important means of enhancing economic growth.” Front-runner Donald Trump said just last week that he was going to replace Obamacare with “DonaldCare,” which would be both “absolutely great” and “really spectacular.” Repealing health-care reform remains a prominent talking point for ... Sen. Ted Cruz. (Jared Bernstein, 9/21)
Tampa Bay Times:
Governor, Lawmakers Responsible For Florida's Health Care Mess
As Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature look to pin down responsibility for the state's rising health care costs for the poor and uninsured, they should look in the mirror. It's not the hospitals, which are their favorite target. It's the Medicaid managed care system they created that is costing money rather than saving money. It's their refusal to accept billions in federal dollars to subsidize health coverage for more low-income Floridians. And it's their failure to create an economy that produces enough good-paying jobs that offer private insurance that employees can afford. (9/21)
Salt Lake Tribune:
Utah Falls Behind On Access To Health Care
All of Utah's pride over being rated as a well-managed state is falsely placed when it sees itself falling behind the rest of the nation in a key measure of building a decent society. Not all that far behind, arguably. And Utah is moving in the right direction. But the progress that has been seen here is in spite of local actions, not because of them. New U.S. Census figures show that an important measure of progress in the United States — the number of people who lack health insurance — is creeping slowly downward. (9/21)
The New York Times' The Upshot:
Prescription Drug Costs Are Rising As A Campaign Issue
Both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Rodham Clinton are trying to make the rising cost of prescription drugs an issue in the presidential campaign. Mr. Sanders introduced a bill in Congress this month, spelling out a host of policy changes to drive down drug costs. Mrs. Clinton tweeted on Monday that her plan would be released Tuesday. ... Here’s why prescription drugs are bubbling up to the top of the Democratic health care agenda: Drug prices are bubbling up. Per capita drug spending increased by more than $100 last year, a big jump. At the same time, a growing share of Americans are being asked to foot the bill for their medicines, even if they’re insured. (Margot Sanger-Katz, 9/21)
Los Angeles Times:
A Huge Spike In The Cost Of An Old Drug Reignites The Pharma Pricing Debate
Until last month, patients suffering from the parasite-borne disease toxoplasmosis -- which in its worst manifestations can cause blindness, neurological problems or death -- had reasonable access to a remedy: a six-week, two-pill-a-day course of the drug Daraprim, at a cost of about $1,130. Then an entrepreneurial company called Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired the exclusive rights to Daraprim and raised its price from $13.50 per pill to $750, bringing the total treatment cost to $63,000. For longer-term patients such as sufferers from HIV, the annual cost can go as high as $634,000, according to a joint statement from the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Assn. (Michael Hiltzik, (9/21)
The Washington Post:
Why The Pro-Life Fiorina’s Ascent Should Terrify Democrats
In the wake of her stellar performance at the CNN debate, Carly Fiorina has shot to second place in the polls, and her ascent raises a possibility that should terrify Democrats: The GOP might just nominate a passionate, articulate pro-life woman as its standard-bearer in 2016. If that happens, Democrats can say goodbye to their beloved “war on women” rhetoric. (Marc A. Thiessen, 9/21)
The New York Times' The Upshot:
Trapped In The System: A Sick Doctor’s Story
We spend a lot of time talking about various metrics of quality or access in the American health care system. The problem with many of them is that they rarely seem to capture the issues that people face in dealing with care. Although many metrics are improving, problems remain that still seem insurmountable. ... The Affordable Care Act, which seems so complicated to so many, was almost entirely about getting more people in the United States health insurance. That was just a first step, arguably an easy one, and we’re still fighting about it. Reforming the ways in which we actually deliver care and try to improve outcomes? That’s so much more important, and we barely talk about that at all. But that’s what matters to the people who use the system, and it’s why so many of them are frustrated.(Aaron E. Carroll, 9/21)
The New York Times' Room For Debate:
Is Depression Treatable With A Mobile Phone App?
Thousands of new mobile phone apps have popped up to treat symptoms of depression and anxiety. Though many claim to employ clinically sound methods, critics say that human interaction is key to mental health care. Is it safe or effective to use apps to treat anxiety or depression? (9/22)
