Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Latest Ebola Outbreak Is A Stress Test, And The World Is Failing It; Why Are Farmers Tangled Up In SNAP Funding?
Stat: I Led The 2014 U.S. CDC Ebola Response. An Action Plan Is Needed Now
By the time the world began responding to the West Africa epidemic in 2014, which killed more than 11,000 people before it ended in 2016, there were 40 to 50 suspected cases. The current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo had approximately 10 times that number by the time the response started. Three weeks in, it has spread from three health zones to 25, with new areas added almost daily. (Tom Frieden, 6/6)
The Washington Post: Delaying SNAP Cost-Sharing Reforms To Pass The Farm Bill Is A Mistake
Food stamps should help the hungry, but the program’s funding structure has been feeding state-level mismanagement. Now an obvious fix passed by Congress last year is at risk of unraveling because of partisan horse trading. (6/6)
The Hill: Mental Health Must Be Part Of Cancer Care
A cancer diagnosis doesn’t just affect the body. It shakes up every part of a person’s life. It brings fear that keeps people up at night, anxiety that makes it hard to focus or make decisions, and depression that can drain the will to keep going. It can mean lost income, mounting bills, and impossible choices between treatment and financial stability. Relationships strain under the weight of uncertainty, and caregivers burn out. (Patrick J. Kennedy and Sheri Biller, 6/6)
Penn Live: In Rural PA, The Pharmacist Is Often The Last Health Care Provider Standing
The challenge facing Pennsylvania is not whether pharmacists can help transform rural healthcare. They already are. The question is whether policymakers will modernize laws and payment systems before more communities lose one of their last accessible healthcare providers. (Robert L. Maher Jr., 6/7)
Stat: What Obese Horses And People Have In Common
The horses in America are getting fat. They are trying to tell us something. Fifty-one percent of mature light-breed horses in the United States are obese — a rate that ranks among the world’s highest, slightly above Britain and nearly twice that of Australia or Denmark. That figure comes from a peer-reviewed prevalence study, and it sits alongside a number that should give any clinician pause: The U.S. also leads the G7 in human obesity. The same country. The same epidemic. A completely different species. (Joshua Moen, 6/8)
