Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Ohio Needs A Lead-Poisoning Fix; The Impact Of Trump's Executive Order On Contraception
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Lead-Poisoning Fix To Safeguard Ohio Children Must Be High On Ohio Senate's To-Do List
The Ohio House got rid of some troubling proposals in Ohio's two-year operating budget, including required business internships for teachers. But House members -- whose budget now goes to the Ohio Senate -- more than made up for it with a long list of wrongheaded moves, led by a proposed "Poisoning Ohio's Children Act." It's not called that, of course, but the budget amendment does just that by taking away the right of municipalities to pass laws aimed at ridding rental housing of lead that can poison young children's minds and rob their futures. (5/6)
Boston Globe: Trump Order Endangers Access To Contraception
The same day that the US House of Representatives voted to strip access to medical insurance for millions, President Trump also signed an executive order that authorized an indefensible attack on women’s reproductive rights. ... Although the order did not go as far as social conservatives hoped — language that would have rolled back protections for gay and lesbian employees was dropped at the last minute — it’s a continuation of Price’s crackpot campaign to eliminate insurance coverage for birth control. (5/6)
Des Moines Register: Legislature Doubles Down On State-Sanctioned Medicaid Scam
Late in the 2016 legislative session, Iowa lawmakers quietly approved a massive, taxpayer-funded giveaway designed to provide 400 of the state’s privately operated nursing homes with hundreds of millions of dollars. It was one of the biggest corporate hand-outs in Iowa history. But when asked about the bill after the Legislature adjourned for the year, the governor and state lawmakers professed ignorance, claiming they had no idea that over five years the bill would result in a billion-dollar windfall for Iowa’s nursing homes owners, courtesy of the Medicaid program. (5/7)
Sacramento Bee: How California Should Spend Its Cigarette Tax
Between Congress and Sacramento, it is now clear that the capacity to play politics with health insurance is boundless. Not so the resilience of those who most need coverage. A week-and-a-half ago – as Washington plotted another cruel shot at the Affordable Care Act and state lawmakers fought over a cigarette tax windfall – a clinic that for 30 years had been a refuge for Sacramento-area women quietly closed, thanks to a scenario that is all too familiar to Medi-Cal providers. (5/5)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Too Many Ohio Seniors Choosing Between Food And Medicine
Reducing senior hunger in Ohio is one of The Center for Community Solutions' top public policy priorities. We believe that state lawmakers have an opportunity to make things better. They can invest in better health through increasing support for the senior community services block grant, or they can invest more in Medicaid to pay for increased hospitalizations and nursing home stays. (John Corlette, 5/5)
