Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Medical Apps Need Regulation; Assembly Bill 988 Vital for Mental Health Emergencies
Stat: FDA: Make Medical Apps Reliable, Not Risky
The fear of Covid-19 catapulted symptom checkers from the periphery of public attention to the center. Wearables like the Apple Watch, Fitbit, and Oura Ring have shown promise as Covid-19 early-warning systems, while apps like MyCovidRisk let you enter your location and other factors for a quick estimate of your odds of infection. But the deserved praise for these devices shouldn’t obscure a troubling underside of health-related apps. Loose regulatory policies have allowed many thousands of consumer-facing apps to avoid oversight by claiming to be “low risk” and make it impossible to clearly assess the benefits and risks even for those approved by the Food and Drug Administration. (Michael L. Millenson, 4/21)
San Diego Union-Tribune: As A Psychiatrist, I Have Seen How The Current Emergency Response System Fails My Patients
Fifty years ago, if you fell and broke your leg or had a heart attack, there likely weren’t ambulances around. Instead, someone called 911 and the police came to take you to the hospital. It wasn’t until the 1970s when national policy changes and grassroots advocacy led to the emergency medical services (EMS) model we rely on today. Assembly Bill 988 gives us the opportunity to similarly update our mental health emergency response with the same important premise: Mental health emergencies need trained professionals, not police. Last year, the federal government established a 988 calling code, requiring it to be available nationwide by July 2022. There are many goals for this new 988 number, foremost to serve as an alternative to 911 for mental health emergencies. To support this effort, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has created recommendations for implementing best practice crisis services. Congress has also appropriated millions of dollars for states to enact these life-saving measures. (Eric Rafla-Yuan , 4/19)
Stat: FTC's Challenge To Illumina's Vertical Merger With Grail Is All Wrong
My mom died of stage 4 cancer in February 2008. Had the technology existed then to detect her cancer earlier, she might have met my three young daughters. Improving cancer prevention and treatment is an urgent priority for the United States. President Biden has repeatedly signaled as much through his work with the Biden Cancer Initiative and a previous administration’s Cancer Moonshot. (Joe Lonsdale, 4/20)
Stat: Don't Stop Reimbursing Phone-Only Telehealth Visits
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and private insurers made the timely decision to rapidly expand coverage for telehealth visits, throwing a lifeline to millions of Americans who needed ongoing medical care despite nationwide stay-at-home orders. At the time, virtual visits done by video or by telephone were covered at the same rates as conventional, in-person office visits. (Sachin Shah, Lolita Alkureishi and Wei Wei Lee, 4/21)
