Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Health Savings Propel Good Deficit News; VA Delays; Medicine, Race And Poverty
The New York Times' The Upshot: More Good News On The Deficit, This Time Because Of Private Insurance Health Premiums
Estimates for government health care spending keep coming down. A few months, ago, we wrote about how a slowing trend in Medicare spending had led federal budget forecasters to make drastic reductions in their estimates of the program’s costs. On Monday, they made similar cuts in their forecast of what the federal government will spend on private insurance premiums. (Margot Sanger-Katz, 3/9)
The New York Times' The Upshot: In Forecasting Health Costs, Let Technology Be Your Guide
The expansion of health care insurance can drive the development of new technologies that can drive up health care spending. But it doesn’t have to. By historical standards, health spending growth has been low since 2002. As the federal and state governments expand health insurance coverage, will this relatively low growth continue? The answer depends in large part on how investments in health care technology are encouraged. (Austin Frakt, 3/9)
Modern Healthcare: The High Price Of Precision Medicine
Financial markets have sent another signal that the coming era of precision or personalized medicine could wind up making cancer care unaffordable for millions of people. AbbVie announced last week that it will purchase a little-known biotechnology firm called Pharmacyclics for the stunning sum of $21 billion. To put that into perspective, Gilead Sciences in 2011 bought Pharmasset, the maker of Sovaldi, for half that price. Somebody is going to have to pay the return on that $21 billion investment. (Merrill Goozner, 3/7)
The San Antonio Express-News: VA Reform Needed Without Delay
Do the nearly 1.7 million Texas veterans deserve quality health care? For most of us, this is a no-brainer, but the Department of Veterans Affairs has a harder time answering that question. If the VA is as concerned as the rest of us are with the quality of veterans’ care, why are thousands of veterans in Texas still waiting months to see a doctor? (Cody McGregor, 3/9)
Modern Healthcare: Are Republicans, Chief Justice Roberts Sweating King Doomsday Scenario?
Even if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the healthcare reform law's premium subsidies, Obamacare will live on in many important ways, a recent New York Times article argued. But would it? Given the awful mess such a ruling would create, why wouldn't Congress and the White House instead repeal the entire law and put an end to the hemorrhaging? (Harris Meyer, 3/9)
Los Angeles Times: No Regrets: Reclaiming Abortion As A Force For Social Good
You’d think from the frenzy of anti-abortion regulations that have swept the country in the last few years that Americans have decided abortion should be outlawed. They have not, although it’s become wildly unfashionable, if not downright revolutionary, to speak of abortion as an unmitigated social good. (Robin Abcarian, 3/9)
The Tennessee Daily Times: Mental Health Care Funding Cuts Would Be Shortsighted
Gov. Bill Haslam is right to be taking a second look at budget cuts in case management of adults with mental illness. The impetus for the proposed spending limits is a $10.5 million savings in the 2015-2016 budget sent by the administration to the Legislature. (3/9)
Des Moines Register: Iowa Needs To Get A Handle On Medicaid Costs
The way Iowa provides health care for its neediest citizens is about to change dramatically, and I am concerned it may lead to lower-quality care at a higher cost to Iowa taxpayers. Some 564,000 low-income Iowans are covered by the state Medicaid program, which costs $4.2 billion per year. ... Currently, Iowa runs its own Medicaid program under a “fee-for-service” model for the majority of the Medicaid patients in the state. Gov. Terry Branstad and the director of the Iowa Department of Human Services, Charles Palmer, want to move Iowa Medicaid to a “managed-care” model administered by private companies. (State Rep. John Forbes, 3/9)
JAMA: The Health Of Young African American Men
Deaths in Ferguson, Missouri; New York City; Sanford, Florida; and other areas have focused international attention on young African American men. In a recent campaign, young African American men draw attention to key overlooked facts that describe their demographic: 1 of 3 goes to college, 3 of 4 are drug free, 5 of 9 have jobs, 7 of 8 are not teenaged fathers, and 11 of 12 finish high school. How can clinicians help address existing health disparities and add to these positive outcomes? (Stephen A. Martin, Kenn Harris and Brian W. Jack, 3/9)
JAMA: Achieving Health Equity By Design
Disparities in health outcomes by race and ethnicity and by income status are persistent and difficult to reduce. For more than a decade, infant mortality rates have been 2 to 3 times higher among African American populations, rates of potentially preventable hospitalization have been substantially higher among African American and Latino populations, and the complications of diabetes have disproportionately afflicted African American and Latino populations. ... A common explanation for long-standing disparities is the challenge of addressing social determinants of health .... At the same time, the increasing appreciation for social determinants can have the perverse effect of undermining the potential role of public health and health care in promoting health equity. It is tempting, when confronted with substantial disparities, for leaders in health to implicate factors beyond their control. (Winston F. Wong, Thomas A. LaVeist and Joshua M. Sharfstein, 3/9)
JAMA: Race, Poverty, And Medicine In The United States
I spent most of my career at the Boston City Hospital, now known as Boston Medical Center, that has emphasized “exceptional care without exception.” At Boston City Hospital the 2 worlds of race and poverty collide on an almost daily basis. Under the 4-decade leadership of 2 pediatric chairs, Joel Alpert, MD, and Barry Zuckerman, MD, and continuing under the current chair Robert Vinci, MD, the Department of Pediatrics expanded the boundaries of traditional medicine. In addition to providing care for medical problems such as asthma, HIV/AIDS, seizures, prematurity, and sickle cell disease, the department is committed to addressing issues of poverty, violence, poor housing, and food insecurity. (Howard Bauchner, 3/9)
