Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Public Health Can Win Back Public Trust; What's Behind The Ever-Increasing Insurance Costs?
Chicago Tribune: Rural And Religious Americans Lost Faith In Science. We Can Win Them Back.
Trust in science is built in the places where people get care. (Michelle A. Williams, 10/29)
Bloomberg: Your Healthcare Sticker Shock Has Been Decades In The Making
Welcome to open enrollment season, when millions of Americans are yet again wracked with anxiety over the sizable chunk of their paychecks being sucked up by healthcare costs. (Lisa Jarvis, 10/28)
Stat: Employers Must Try New Things To Lower Health Care Prices
Right now, millions of workers are choosing their health plans for next year. The average family premium for employer coverage hit $28,303 in 2026, up 28% in the last five years. While employers appear to cover most of that premium, workers ultimately bear the full cost of those benefits through lower wages. Yet no one is really pushing back. (Tony Lo Sasso, 10/29)
Bloomberg: Fending Off Plagues Requires Global Coordination
Too much remains unknown about the death of Darya Shipilova, a 28-year-old lab technician for a Russian research institute. Her employer has denied local media reports that she may have been exposed to plague after breaking a test tube. Russian officials, who say no cases of plague have been reported in the region, have attributed her death to pneumonia. (10/29)
Stat: AI’s Creep Into Biomedical Science Is Useful — And Unsettling
Worried about artificial intelligence destroying all of humanity soon, or, alternatively, turning your toaster or other home appliances against you? For the moment, I’m most concerned about what it might be doing to science, specifically the biomedical sciences and especially us biologists. (Paul Knoepfler, 10/29)
