Viewpoints: Opioid Attack In Ohio; Iowa’s Lack Of Credible Information On Medicaid Changes
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
The Washington Post:
There’s An Ongoing Terrorist Attack In Ohio
There is an ongoing terrorist attack happening in Ohio. It has nothing to do with the Islamic State or political anarchists. The weapons in this case come in the form of heroin and other opioids, and the terrorists are the pushers who spread the deadly poison. ... With the FBI reporting that most heroin enters the United States from Mexico, and local officials saying that it then makes its way here through metropolitan drug rings, it’s no wonder that few people in Hillsboro think President Trump’s border security plans are extreme. (Gary Abernathy, 6/30)
The Baltimore Sun:
As A Physician, I Am Contributing To The Opioid Epidemic
Even as a pediatrician, I share some of the blame for the drug abuse epidemic that is now the leading cause of death for people under 50 years old. A significant percentage of those who are now addicted to opioids obtained their first dose from a physician. This is a function of how we are trained. (David Myles, 7/2)
Los Angeles Times:
The U.S. Medical System Is Broken. We Should Be Listening To Doctors About How To Fix It
Dr. Robert Pearl has spent his life in medicine — most recently 18 years as executive director and CEO of Kaiser Permanente’s medical group in California, and president and CEO of its mid-Atlantic group. But it was the death of his father, and a simple medical miscommunication, that prompted him to look long and hard at an American medical system that doesn’t always deliver bang for its billions of bucks. In his book, “Mistreated, Why We Think We’re Getting Good Health Care — And Why We’re Usually Wrong,” Pearl lays out his four ways though the morass of American medical practice: integrated, not fractured care; a flat-fee capitated payment system instead of pay-per-treatment; embracing mobile and video medical technology; and most of all, care that’s led by doctors themselves. (Patt Morrision, 7/5)
The Des Moines Register:
Lawsuit Is Welcome In Iowa Medicaid Debacle
For more than a year now, the Iowa Department of Human Services has consistently failed to disclose reliable, detailed information on the impact of its controversial Medicaid privatization scheme. Health care providers, legislators and the media have all complained that some of the information that has been disclosed by the state seems unsupported by hard data or appears to be contradicted by other information that’s readily available. (7/2)
Kansas City Star:
Gov. Greitens’ Decisions Aimed At Helping One Person: Greitens
In a flurry of bill-signings and statements, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens cut the wages of thousands of Missouri workers, made it easier to discriminate, blocked help for some 8,000 elderly and disabled residents, hammered Missouri’s beleaguered universities, cut Medicaid payments to health care providers and slashed spending for a department charged with protecting children. ... Punishing Missouri’s most vulnerable citizens — children, the elderly, the poor — isn’t tough. (7/3)
