Viewpoints: Possible Increases Ahead For Medicare’s Part B Premiums; Health Care As A Driver Of Wage Inequality
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
The Wall Street Journal:
Will Medicare Premium Increases Be An Issue In November?
Buried in the Medicare trustees report released Wednesday are a few lines that could cause political controversy. “In 2017 there may be a substantial increase in the Part B premium rate for some beneficiaries,” the actuaries write—which means seniors will find out about increases shortly before Election Day. Higher-than-expected Medicare spending in 2014 and 2015 set the stage for a large premium adjustment in 2016. But, notably, the absence of inflation thanks to the drop in energy prices last year meant that seniors receiving Social Security benefits did not receive an annual cost-of-living adjustment. (Chris Jacobs, 6/22)
The Washington Post:
How Health Care Creates Wage Inequality
There’s a largely unknown paradox at work. Companies that try to provide roughly equal health insurance plans for their workers — as many do — end up making wage and salary inequality worse ... Paying for expensive health insurance squeezes what’s left for wage and salary raises. (Robert J. Samuelson, 6/22)
The Wall Street Journal:
House Republicans Have A Better Idea
Donald Trump has already squandered six weeks by insulting a “Mexican” judge born in Indiana, offering conspiracy theories, and needlessly attacking defeated rivals. His fundraising is dismal and his staffing inadequate. All this comes at the expense of focused attention on his Democratic opponent. ... Meanwhile, the Republican House is methodically laying out a comprehensive agenda to spread prosperity, protect the nation, uphold the Constitution, reform health care. ... Last week, the House GOP also released a detailed proposal to replace ObamaCare with a package of reforms centered on the patient and doctor. These include making health insurance portable so workers can take it from job to job, increasing the use of health savings accounts, permitting insurance sales across state lines, allowing small businesses and individuals to band together to get lower prices, expanding wellness programs and reforming medical liability. (Karl Rove, 6/22)
Modern Healthcare:
House GOP Health Plan May Face Political Problems With Tax On Employer Plans
The new House Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare lacks specifics because it would have to broadly tax employer health plans to raise enough money to adequately fund insurance subsidies, a prominent Republican health economist says. On Wednesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan and key House Republican committee chairman presented a 35-page white paper laying out their vision for how to control U.S. healthcare spending and help Americans access and afford health insurance. After fully repealing the Affordable Care Act, the GOP leaders said they would offer everyone who doesn't have Medicare, Medicaid, or employer coverage a refundable tax credit in an unspecified amount, adjusted only by age. (Harris Meyer, 6/22)
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
The Reach Act, A Bipartisan Bill To Reduce Needless Maternal And Baby Deaths, Needs More Sponsors
Given this situation, it is refreshing and eye-opening to find out that there is a bill advancing in Congress that is bipartisan, supported in the House by a total of 57 Republicans and 90 Democrats. It does not involve new taxes and can help save lives. In Ohio, it is co-sponsored by three Republicans (U.S. Reps. Steve Chabot, Dave Joyce and Steve Stivers), and three Democrats (U.S. Reps. Joyce Beatty, Marcy Kaptur and Tim Ryan). What is this bill? It is the "Reach Every Mother and Child Act" (H.R. 3706 and S. 1911). Many members of Congress have decided to come together and support an issue related to the health of mothers and children worldwide. The goal of the Reach Act is simple: to end preventable maternal, newborn and early childhood deaths. (John Hosek, 6/22)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Time For Wisconsin To Expand Medicaid
The Affordable Care Act was designed to provide access to affordable health care to all. While millions of individuals have received care under the ACA, we still have millions more who have no affordable insurance coverage simply because they live in Wisconsin or the other 18 states that have chosen not to fully implement the ACA. Unfortunately, when the Supreme Court made Medicaid expansion optional in the states, many states, including Wisconsin, refused to expand and strengthen their Medicaid programs because of political ideology. (Sara Finger, 6/22)
The Seattle Times:
Veterans Have Earned The Right To Reproductive Services
In what sounds like a bad summer action movie, members of Congress are being called upon to defend injured U.S. soldiers against a small but fierce coalition of religious extremists. Sadly, this battle is actually happening this week in our nation’s capital, and the extremists, though outnumbered, appear to be getting the upper hand. The fight is over whether veterans hurt in Iraq and Afghanistan should receive medical help they need to have children. (6/21)
Stat:
‘You Are A Coward’: Hate And Misperceptions About Substance Abuse Are Broader Than I Thought
For more than 50 years, the medical community has recognized that people with alcoholism and substance-use disorders are suffering from diseases, not from failures of will or character. Today, there’s more frank and open discussion about drugs and alcohol than at any point in history. Movie stars, athletes, and politicians talk openly and unapologetically about their struggles and their pasts. Nevertheless, a stigma remains attached to these fatal, often misunderstood conditions. (Seth Mnookin, 6/23)
The Seattle Times:
Lawmakers Should Fix Mental-Health System, Not Politicize It
Newly appointed Western State Hospital CEO Cheryl Strange was facing possible jail time for refusing to comply with a court order to admit a patient currently being held at a Pierce County community hospital. Western State is full, and Strange said she wouldn’t override the hospital’s waiting list, where other patients who are sicker have priority. The problem at Western State is capacity to house patients, not the decision-making of its leaders. The decisions Strange, as CEO, is making are the same ones hospital leaders and clinicians make daily. Our ethical obligation, always, is to treat the sickest patient first. Treating a patient with a broken leg before a patient with a heart attack would be ethically untenable. Mental illnesses have the same variations in urgency that physical illnesses do. (Cassie Sauer, 6/22)
The Washington Post:
The Critical Public-Health Benefits Of The HPV Vaccine
A decade ago, the world of medical research celebrated the introduction of the first vaccine proven to protect people from an identified cancer-causing agent. Studies over subsequent years affirmed the effectiveness and safety of the HPV vaccine and its potential to spare tens of thousands of people from having to suffer horrible cancers. Yet, inexcusably, pediatricians and family doctors remain reluctant to recommend the vaccine. A new campaign targeting these doctors aims to boost use of this lifesaving vaccine. (6/22)
The Dallas Morning News:
Politics Aside, We Should View HPV Vaccine As A Godsend
...For more than a decade, we have had a safe, efficient, cost-effective vaccine to prevent HPV. Yet vaccination rates remain stubbornly low — a frustrating circumstance arising from misinformation and woefully ham-fisted politics. (6/22)
Louisville Courier-Journal:
Region Lacking In Care For Sickle Cell Disease
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a hereditary blood disorder that causes an abnormality of the red blood cells. It is most prominent in the African-American community with 1out of every 365 African-Americans being born with SCD. While Hispanics are the second most impacted group with 1 of every 16,000 suffering with the disease. (Jo Ann Orr, 6/22)
The Seattle Times:
How Seattle Can Address Public-Health Inequities
Seattle faces a dilemma common to nearly every U.S. city: How will it tackle the growing inequity between the wealthiest and poorest residents? Against a backdrop of prosperity, housing costs have skyrocketed. Homelessness is in a state of emergency and food insecurity is spreading ... Most people think the best way to improve health is through health care, but that’s not the full story. Research shows that up to 90 percent of what determines our life expectancy is where and how we live, work and play. (Leana S. Wen, 6/21)
San Antonio Express-News:
Coal Tar Ban Would Ensure Public Safety
On June 30, City Council members will have an opportunity to ban harmful, carcinogenic chemicals from seeping into our drinking water. Coal tar-based sealcoat products — which are commonly used in the paving of driveways, parking lots and roadways, and contain high concentrations of chemical compounds known to be toxic — have no place in our city. (Ron Nirenberg, Vincent R. Nathan and Doug McMurry, 6/22)
