Viewpoints: GOP Health Plan Light On Care; Teaching Doctors; Vaccine Prices
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Bloomberg:
Republicans' Health-Care Plan: Not Much Care, Not Much Plan
Republicans’ long-promised health-care plan has arrived -- though it’s light on the health care and offers too little detail to tell whether it’s a realistic plan. Many aspects of House Speaker Paul Ryan’s proposal are clear: It would permit health insurers to cover far fewer services than they have to cover under Obamacare, and it would reduce federal subsidies for buying insurance, pare protections for people with pre-existing conditions, roll back funding for Medicaid, and convert Medicare to a voucher-type program. ... The question is: What problem is the plan meant to solve? (6/28)
Bloomberg:
A Better Way To Educate Doctors
Just when it seems as if citizens everywhere are revolting against government, a county in Texas provides a vivid counterexample. In 2012, voters in Travis County approved an increase in their property taxes to help fund a new medical school at the University of Texas at Austin. The school illustrates that taxpayers are willing to support a project they believe is justified. And this project -- the Dell Medical School (it also has funding from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation) -- is well justified, because its curriculum breaks from tradition to address the challenges doctors increasingly face in the effort to improve the value of medical care. (Peter R. Orszag, 6/28)
The New York Times:
Low Prices For Vaccines Can Come At A Great Cost
A $30,000 price tag for cancer drug therapy that extends life only a few weeks is understandably alarming. But a $2,000 price tag for all childhood vaccines — credited with eradicating smallpox, preventing a million or more cases of other diseases and averting thousands of deaths each year — is a bargain. In fact, the price of childhood vaccines may be too low for our own good because it contributes to shortages. (Austin Frakt, 6/27)
Wichita (Kan.) Eagle:
Medicaid Reporting Error Just The Latest Fiasco
The state reported to federal authorities that the number of people awaiting approval of their Medicaid applications was about 3,500. It turns out the real total is more than four times that much – nearly 15,500. What’s more, most of that increase is among people waiting more than 45 days (the federal approval deadline). That total increased more than five times – from about 2,000 to 11,000. This isn’t just a bureaucratic misstep. The processing delays can endanger the lives of vulnerable Kansans. (Phillip Brownlee, 6/27)
Orlando Sentinel:
Overtime Rule For Home Care Workers A Mixed Blessing
On Jan. 1, the Department of Labor extended federal wage protections to the nation's home health care workers, entitling them to the federal minimum wage and time-and-a-half pay for overtime beyond 40 hours per week. These new government protections are positive for several reasons. They recognize home health care as professional work that should be held to high standards, compensated fairly, and provide income security to caregivers, most of whom locally are women and many of whom immigrated to America in search of a livable wage. Additionally, it's an important first step in preparing for the reality that with 76 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964, there will be a need in the future for more home health caregivers than ever before. (Zachary Desmond, 6/27)
Orange County Register:
State Officials Addicted To Nicotine Taxes
The tobacco-tax initiative’s backers say “an increase in the tobacco tax is an appropriate way to decrease tobacco use and mitigate the costs of health care treatment.” It’s true that a higher tax discourages smoking. So a higher e-cigarette tax would also discourage vaping, which happens to be a great way to stop smoking. The logic seems inescapable that hiking taxes on vaping products is more about revenue than public health. (Steven Greenhut, 6/25)
The Tennessean:
Medicare Changes Would Jeopardize Cancer Patients
Former President Jimmy Carter announced to the world last summer that he had been diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to his liver and brain. Just months later, after receiving a groundbreaking, personalized treatment known as immunotherapy, his cancer was in remission. ... Many of the more than 1.6 million Americans who will be diagnosed with cancer this year might not have the same options. Last month, Washington bureaucrats with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced plans to alter Medicare Part B drug benefits for patients with cancer. (Jeff Patton, 6/27)
Orange County Register:
The High Price Of "Cheap" Drugs
Fifty percent more people overdose today than in 2006.
Fortunately, the Food and Drug Administration just approved the anti-addiction treatment Probuphine. It’s an implant placed in a person’s upper arm, where it releases a steady stream of an anti-addiction drug called buprenorphine to help addicts stay sober. (Sally C. Pipes, 6/27)
