Viewpoints: ‘Medicare For All’ Is One Gigantic Wrecking Ball; Putting Veterans Into The Civilian Health System Would Be Irresponsible
Opinion writers weigh in on these health issues and others.
The Hill:
'Medicare For All' Is An Expensive Wrecking Ball
"Medicare for all" sounds good and may make good electioneering slogan sense for presidential candidates like Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.). It is a sales pitch to younger voters and will likely remain popular — at least until the public really understands what an expensive wrecking ball it is. (Marc Siegel, 3/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Unforced Error Of Medicare For All
Prominent Democrats falling over themselves to support Medicare for All are making a big mistake. For a party seeking to rebrand itself—especially in places like my native Ohio, where health crises abound—this scenario is a GOP dream. It’s easy to demand universal health care, but as efforts dating back to FDR have shown, legislative victories are a slow burn. Megaphones on social media won’t change that. Recent polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that although voters like the concept of Medicare for All, net favorability falls by almost 50 points when they are presented with hard truths such as the higher taxes, less provider choice, and increased wait times that will inevitably result. (Vin Gupta, 3/7)
The Hill:
VA In-House Healthcare Is Great; Community Care Efforts Have Fallen Flat So Far
Quality health care is delivered at over 1,200 Veteran Healthcare Administration facilities every single day. While there’s no question some veterans require private care options because of personal circumstances and experiences, as Anuradha Bhagwati outlined in a recent op-ed for the New York Times, there is no need to disparage the whole system, which — by every measure — is serving its constituents well, as evidenced by any number of the dozens of customer satisfaction and health outcomes reports and articles published recently. (Danielle Corazza, 3/7)
Stat:
'Tech-Savvy' Gottlieb's Resignation Will Alter Forward-Looking FDA
We’re about to lose the most tech-savvy commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration in recent memory. At its core, the FDA is about keeping people safe. But Scott Gottlieb helped transform the agency’s top role from “custodian of safety” to “advocate of innovation” by pushing for progress and refusing to let outdated regulations stand in his way. I hope his replacement doesn’t backpedal to the agency’s more conservative past and undo the progress that he’s made. (Pratap Khedkar, 3/7)
The Washington Post:
Disability And Disease Aren’t Interchangeable
Not long ago, I was hired to do a sensitivity reading of a book manuscript, a guide for young adults about how people live with disabilities. I was born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a congenital neuromuscular disorder, and I did my best to make a few gentle suggestions to ensure the text didn’t offend. For instance: “Delete ‘wheelchair-bound’ — substitute ‘wheelchair-user’ or equivalent.” But then I came upon a word that gave me pause. (Ben Mattlin, 3/7)
The New York Times:
Why Do We Think Suffering Is Good For Us?
Feeling anxious or depressed and want to get better? You have to really work at it and suffer through years of therapy and sometimes try lots of drugs. No pain, no gain, or so we’ve been told. That would make a stoic happy, but as a psychiatrist — and an admittedly impatient one — I know that just because something feels bad doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good for you. I’m pretty confident that people who are suffering prefer relief sooner rather than later and that if there was any way to make the treatment — be it psychotherapy or medication — more effective, they would gladly try it. (Richard A. Friedman, 3/7)
New England Journal of Medicine:
After The Storm — A Responsible Path For Genome Editing
Though the first application of embryo editing was deeply flawed, not least because it didn’t address an unmet clinical need, and has prompted calls for a ban, halting research and deliberation on more responsible ways to maximize human benefit would be unwise. (George Q. Daley, Robin Lovell-Badge and Julie Steffann, 3/7)
Stat:
Step 1 Test For Medical Students Should Be Pass/Fail Again
Are you OK?” a medical school classmate asked when I snuck back into the lecture hall. I had just learned that I bombed arguably the most important test of my life. I was not OK. I was employing every technique I could muster so I wouldn’t break down in public. I had just checked my score on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 test. The first of three “Step” exams that physicians-in-training must pass to become licensed to practice independently, the computer-based test focuses on the basic sciences. It’s an eight-hour grind done in a single sitting. (C. Nicholas Cuneo, 3/8)
Des Moines Register:
GOP Lawmakers Should Support Bill To Fix Some Privatized Medicaid Woes
A rose to Democratic state Sens. Liz Mathis of Hiawatha and Amanda Ragan of Mason City for introducing a common-sense bill on Medicaid. Senate File 156 attempts to address some of the many problems created by the Republican-led experiment of privatizing the $6 billion health insurance program. The bill would, among other things, return Iowans with complex medical needs to state management, end prior authorization for substance abuse treatment, encourage private insurers receiving billions of public dollars to work toward expanding the health care workforce in Iowa, and make it easier for Iowans to change insurance companies. (3/7)
Billings Gazette:
Montana Hospitals Step Up To Keep Medicaid
When Montanans talk about our state's unique Medicaid expansion, the first success touted is covering 96,000 low-income adults, most of whom are working at low-wage, part-time or seasonal jobs. The second success is extending health care to so many Montanans with relatively little of that cost falling on Montana taxpayers.
Austin American-Statesman:
A Health Care Crisis Threatens Texas, And No One's Talking About It
The 1115 waiver represents a lifeline to more than 1 million Texans every year. It provides essential resources to physicians, hospitals and providers, and it supports innovative programs that give people without insurance access to cost-effective preventive and primary care services. (Doug Curran, Rebecca Hart and John Henderson, 3/7)
Chicago Tribune:
Abortion Rights Are Under Fire, But Illinois Is Fighting Back
Illinois is poised to fulfill one of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s campaign promises and become the most permissive state in the nation for abortion rights. And I’m thrilled.House Bill 2495 “provides that every individual who becomes pregnant has a fundamental right to continue the pregnancy and give birth or to have an abortion, and to make autonomous decisions about how to exercise that right.” (Eric Zorn, 3/7)
