Viewpoints: Midterms Could Make Or Break Quality Health Insurance; Little Magic Found In Wellness Programs

Bloomberg: Future Of Health Insurance Is At Stake In The Midterms - Bloomberg
Despite promising to repeal it, the Republican-led Congress has left the Affordable Care Act on the books. And despite the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine it, the law’s still working pretty well. Its future success, though, can’t be taken for granted. As the midterm elections approach, and concerns over the health-care system grow, voters ought to take stock of the harm that has deliberately been done — piece by piece, with effects now and in future — to an initiative that the U.S. badly needed. (8/7)

The Washington Post: Your Workplace Wellness Program Probably Isn’t Making You Healthier
Have you ever participated in a “workplace wellness program” or known somebody who tried one? Did you notice any difference? If not — and you wouldn’t be alone — a team of enterprising policy analysts in Illinois may have found an explanation. They ran a neat little experiment on employees of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and wrote up the results in a recent working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research. After the program had run its course, the researchers — Damon Jones, David Molitor and Julian Reif — compared the people who were offered the wellness program with the people who were left alone. Thirty-nine wellness-related outcomes were measured, from sick days to health-care spending. The researchers found no significant effect in 37 of the 39 outcomes. (Megan McArdle, 8/7)

Houston Chronicle: All Secrets Revealed In DNA Testing. Still Want To Do It?
The direct-to-consumer genetic testing industry is booming, and over 12 million people are estimated to have completed testing. Even established companies like weight-loss service Jenny Craig are now offering DNA tests. Last week, amid growing privacy concerns, a group of the largest DNA testing companies, including 23andMe, Ancestry.com, and MyHeritage, jointly released a set of industry best practices regarding user privacy. As DNA testing becomes more mainstream, the question remains: Is your genetic data safe? (Tiffany Li and Mason Marks, 8/7)

The New York Times: The Wrong Way To Fight A Drug War
If you’ve tried shabu, you’ll understand its allure. Taking it begins with ritual — folding foil into a chute, rolling paper towel into a wick and heating the gleaming crystal into running liquid trailing vapor. Inhaling it feels unbelievably clean, as if your body and mind are scrubbed of all weight. It was so good I tried it only once. Shabu, or crystal methamphetamine, manipulates the reward pathways of the brain, flooding it with dopamine. As with other addictive drugs, repetition hinders the brain’s transmitters and receptors, pushing users to seek replenishment artificially. A fraction of users get stuck in that cycle, leading to antisocial behaviors or even criminality. Even kicking that drug can lead to dependency on other substances, increasing the likelihood of relapse. This is why it is addiction — not just shabu — that is at the heart of a public health crisis in the Philippines. (Miguel Syjuco, 8/8)

The New York Times: Surviving Myself
On HBO’s “Sharp Objects,” Amy Adams plays a reporter named Camille, who returns to her hometown, Wind Gap, Mo., to investigate a series of child murders. Camille, a journalist in search of her big break, is also an alcoholic who drives around drinking vodka from Evian bottles, a former hometown It Girl and a cutter. At the end of the first episode, as she sinks into a hot bath, her skin is revealed to be a thicket of scar tissue. The show’s subplot of self-harm casts light upon an often misunderstood condition. But there won’t be another season; Ms. Adams, citing nervous burnout, has quit. (Colton Wooten, 8/7)

Stat: Face Transplantation Should Be Covered By Insurance
Face transplantation, once a headline-inspiring medical treatment, is slowly moving toward mainstream medicine. Since the first such transplant in 2005, more than 40 of these procedures have been performed in more than 15 centers in nine countries. To acknowledge and support this shift, it’s time for insurers to step up and cover the cost. (Miguel Dorante, 8/8)

Billings Gazette: How To Fix Montana’s Tattered Safety Net
Damage done to Montana’s health and human services safety net won’t be repaired by the partial restoration of state budget cuts announced by Gov. Steve Bullock.Since last summer, services have been taken away from some of Montana’s most vulnerable children and adults. Clinics have closed and care professionals have been laid off – all to save money at the expense of seriously ill and disabled people. Families have suffered without services they relied on for daily, dignified living. This was the message from Medicaid providers and clients who participated in a listening session Wednesday in Helena. *8/7)

San Jose Mercury News: Rural Areas Need Affordable Air Ambulances
Unless we spend billions of dollars to build trauma centers 30 minutes away from each other all across rural areas, the access void is filled instead by air ambulances that reduce critical transport time for emergency patients. Simply put, air medical providers save lives, particularly in underrepresented communities.However, air medical bases are at risk of closing. (Ken McEldowney, 8/7)