Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: How Obamacare Could Put The GOP In A Pickle; Is That Doughnut Becoming Less Deadly?
The Washington Post's The Fix: The GOP’s Looming Pickle On Obamacare
If there's one thing that Social Security and Medicare have shown us, it's that once a big government program that provides assistance to many Americans is in place, you'll have a devil of the time rolling it back. Polling these days shows basically any reform that involves cutting benefits in these entitlement programs is an overwhelming political loser. (Aaron Blake, 6/16)
New Republic: A Victory For Obamacare's Challengers Will Be A Disaster For Republican Candidates
Once the conservative legal strategy that gave rise to King v. Burwell got off the ground, Republicans in Congress probably had no choice but to become cheerleaders for, or active participants in, the ensuing litigation. The imminence of the decision in the Obamacare challenge, expected from the Supreme Court sometime this month, is exposing the terrible predicament the entire strategy created for the party. (Brian Beutler, 6/17)
New Hampshire Union Leader: Betsy McCaughey: Don't Believe The King v. Burwell Hysteria
Health insurers have announced they will hike premiums on Obamacare plans by double digits in 2016. That’s not a problem for consumers eligible for Obamacare’s taxpayer-funded subsidies. Their cost is calculated based on their income. It’s you — the taxpayers — who get gouged when premiums are hiked, because you foot the bill for the subsidies. That makes the Supreme Court ruling in King v. Burwell, expected some day this month, even more consequential. It will determine the fate of these subsidies. Without them, Obamacare buyers in 37 states will have to pay the actual — and unaffordable — sticker price of Obamacare. And taxpayers will be off the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade. (Betsy McCaughey, 6/16)
Bloomberg View: Your Doughnut Is No Longer Out To Kill You
Over the past decade, Americans have cut their consumption of "partially hydrogenated" solid fats -- also known as trans fats -- by 85 percent, thanks to government-mandated labeling, consumers' preference for more healthful products and changes by food producers. But the 15 percent that remains is far too much. That's why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is right to make good on its promise to ban added trans fats entirely. It's a move that could save thousands of lives. (6/16)
The Wall Street Journal: Is The FDA Sexist?
Hillary Clinton isn’t the only one hoping to break a glass ceiling. Eighteen years after the Food and Drug Administration approved the first treatment for male sexual dysfunction, the FDA is poised to do the same soon for a drug sometimes called “Viagra for women.” If only this milestone for gender equality didn’t seem so, well, political. Flibanserin is a new medicine to treat a lack of sexual desire in premenopausal women. Hypoactive sexual desire disorder may effect as many as one of 10 women, who are eight to 10 times more likely than their peers to report feeling unhappy, frustrated or ashamed, and it can undermine relationships, confidence and self-image. (6/16)
The Detroit Free Press: Nation Must Help Those With Serious Mental Illness
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow has been a champion for mental health care throughout her career. Her efforts paid off for the 1 in 4 Americans impacted by a serious mental illness with the passage of the Excellence in Mental Health Act. The senator’s efforts are personal and professional. Her father struggled with bipolar disorder and went undiagnosed for nearly a decade when she was growing up; that drove her passion to seek change. Her father didn’t get the treatment he needed for years, and it affected her entire family. (Watkins, 6/14)
The Washington Post: D.C.’s Slow Reaction To Synthetic Drugs
What has taken so long? Bewailing the problem of dangerous synthetic drugs, used primarily by young people in the District, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) announced this week — and with much fanfare — a plan to shut down businesses peddling that stuff. (Colbert I. King, 6/16)
