Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: It's Now Up To States To Keep Residents Insured; California's Abortion Haven Status Is In Jeopardy
The Boston Globe: Health Insurance Cuts: How States Can Help Millions
Over the past decade, the United States has made meaningful progress in expanding health coverage and improving care for millions of Americans. But that progress is now in jeopardy. The newly passed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” will have far-reaching consequences for the health insurance of millions of Americans. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly 10 million Americans could lose their health insurance by 2034 as a result of the new legislation. In Massachusetts, officials estimate 300,000 people are at risk of losing their health coverage. (Ashish K. Jha, 7/28)
San Francisco Chronicle: No, California Is Not Guaranteed To Remain An Abortion Haven
The sudden closure of five Planned Parenthood clinics in Northern California last week reveals a sad, stark truth: California is not the national “haven” for abortion rights that it has aspired to be since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. No state could be under Republican rule in Washington, or while federal law trumps state law, the Supreme Court majority opposes abortion rights and clinics are reliant on federal money to survive. (Joe Garofoli, 7/27)
The Wall Street Journal: The Sarepta Mugging And Drug Innovation
The Food and Drug Administration this month asked Sarepta Therapeutics to suspend shipments of its gene therapy Elevidys. The drug treats Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and few ailments are more wrenching: Young boys lose muscle function as the disease progresses and eventually need wheelchairs, often before they’re teenagers. Some die in their 20s. The stakes here for drug development are enormous if Mr. Trump’s regulators crush a drug that has already won FDA approval. Several early gene therapies aren’t home runs, but drug development is iterative and builds on trial and error. Forget about better drug iterations if the agency kills a company for an emerging safety warning in some patients. (7/27)
Stat: How New York’s Covid Vaccine Rollout Failed Older Residents
As Covid-19 has receded from everyday life, New Yorkers — and Americans more generally — haven’t shown much interest in poring over their governments’ pandemic-era performance. In 2024, congressional Republicans released a deeply partisan Covid-19 report, focused on issues like the lab-leak origin theory. But there has been little neutral analysis of real-time policy decisions aimed at truly learning what worked, what didn’t, and what if. The U.K., by contrast, set up a Covid inquiry in June 2022 so that, as a nation, it is better prepared next time. (Nina Schwalbe, 7/28)
Stat: Discovering What My Mind Is Like Without SSRIs
I’m crying more these days because I recently tapered off antidepressants after nearly 10 years. Escitalopram (the generic version of Lexapro) had long helped improve my mental health with minimal side effects — apart from stopping up my tear ducts. Now I’m in the process of discovering what my mind is like without the assistance of medication. (Sarah Todd, 7/28)
