Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: GOP's Difficulties With Abortion; Physician-Assisted Suicide; Problems At WHO
The Washington Post: What Is The GOP Thinking?
There they go again. Given control of Congress and the chance to frame an economic agenda for the middle class, the first thing Republicans do is tie themselves in knots over . . . abortion and rape. (Eugene Robinson, 1/22)
The New York Times: Abortion Bill Bait-And-Switch
House Republican had planned to mark Thursday’s 42nd anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision by pushing through a brazenly unconstitutional measure to prohibit almost all abortions 20 weeks after fertilization. That plan was abruptly abandoned when some female representatives objected to the bill’s callously narrow and politically tone-deaf rape and incest exceptions. (Dorothy J. Samuels, 1/22)
USA Today: The Ultrasound Generation
Thursday, hundreds of thousands took to the mall to march in protest of abortion, which stills thousands of tiny beating hearts in America daily. The crowd has become an overwhelmingly young one. So young that the site of the 2010 March for Life prompted the then-departing head of NARAL, Nancy Keenan, to remark, "I just thought, my gosh, they are so young. There are so many of them, and they are so young." (Ashley McGuire, 1/22)
The New York Times' The Upshot: The People Most At Risk Of Losing Insurance In The Supreme Court’s Health Ruling
The people who could lose their health insurance as a result of a Supreme Court decision this year are predominantly white, Southern, employed and middle-aged, according to an Urban Institute analysis. (Margot Sanger-Katz, 1/22)
The Wall Street Journal: Dr. Death Makes A Comeback
"I guess Jack’s won,” a pal of mine said, alluding to Jack Kevorkian , whose views on physician-assisted suicide are lately back in vogue. With backing from liberal financier George Soros —a longtime supporter of “right to die” legislation—proponents are intent on expanding beyond Oregon, Vermont and Washington the roster of states where the practice is legal. Legislation to allow assisted suicide is moving through New Jersey’s statehouse, last month a New York legislator vowed to introduce a similar bill, and in California state Sens. Bill Monning and Lois Wolk are working to legalize the practice. (Paul McHugh, 1/22)
The Washington Post: Mr. Hogan Proposes A Sensible Approach To Spending Cuts
Mr. Hogan’s proposals include cutting the state’s reimbursements to doctors who treat poor patients under Medicaid. That’s painful and may prompt some doctors to opt out, forcing more patients into emergency rooms. Still, the proposal also appears to piggyback on a similar Medicaid cut Mr. O’Malley made just days before he left office as he sought to close a deficit in the current year’s budget. (1/22)
The Wall Street Journal: All Is Not Well At The World Health Organization
It killed nearly 300,000 people, but the influenza pandemic of 2009 was a lucky escape. The H1N1 strain of the virus turned out to be milder than initially feared, limiting deaths and severe illness. That was just as well, said an independent review at the time. The report concluded that the World Health Organization was ill-prepared to deal with any global public-health emergency. Among its recommended reforms: an international reserve of responders who could mobilize swiftly against a dangerous epidemic, clear command structures so the WHO could lead this response, and a contingency fund to pay for it. (Jeremy Farrar, 1/22)
JAMA: Optimizing High-Risk Care Management
The most costly 1% of patients account for one-fifth of national health expenditures—accruing average annual expenses of nearly $90 000 per person. These individuals typically have several complex, co-occurring conditions for which they often receive poorly coordinated care, driving unnecessary utilization and poor outcomes. Given these characteristics, high-risk care management programs have potential to improve care and reduce costs for this population. ... Drawing on our experience implementing these programs across a large, integrated health system, we propose 3 overarching principles to guide the design and implementation of high-risk care management services. (Brian W. Powers, Sreekanth K. Chaguturu and Timothy G. Ferris, 1/22)
