Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: H.R. 1 Passage Threatens Contraceptive Access; Peer-To-Peer Prior Authorization Review Is A Farce
The Commonwealth Fund: Changes To Medicaid Threaten Contraceptive Accessibility
Medicaid provisions passed under H.R. 1 will have a cascading impact that threatens the landscape of vital contraceptive care. (Anna Britt, Kate Meyer and Zara Day, 11/3)
Stat: Insurance Peer-To-Peer Prior Authorization Can Feel Like A Sham
While the headaches and life-altering results of insurance pre-authorizations are not new to physicians or patients, lately things have been getting worse. Patients are sending more and more messages to their doctors, scared that they won’t have essential medications renewed in a timely way and pleading for help. (Alexa B. Kimball, 11/5)
Chicago Tribune: Pritzker Should Veto ‘Right To Die’ Bill Passed In The Veto Session
Last Friday, the Illinois General Assembly narrowly passed a law allowing terminally ill people to end their own lives. The legislation now awaits Gov. JB Pritzker’s signature. If he signs it, Illinois will join 11 other states (and the District of Columbia) that allow terminally ill adults to choose when and how they want to end their own lives. There’s an element of the macabre in the fact that this bill passed on Halloween, but we digress. (11/4)
The Washington Post: Tylenol In Pregnancy Is Not The Problem. This Drug Is.
Many expectant moms are unaware of the dangers of cannabis use. (Leana S. Wen, 11/4)
Stat: Wall Street Tools Can’t Rescue Global Health’s Finances
Twenty years ago, Science celebrated “a revolution that is fundamentally altering the way the haves of the world assist the have-nots”: Governments and philanthropies were donating tens of billions of dollars to global health annually. “Everyone started dreaming,” no longer “scraping for the pennies that would fall off the table,” declared Jim Yong Kim, who would later become president of the World Bank. (S.L. Erikson, 11/5)
