Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Requiem For The Medicare Doc Fix; Health Law Aids Christie Plan; More Work At VA
Health Affairs: May The Era Of Medicare’s Doc Fix (1997-2015) Rest In Peace. Now What?
After seventeen years (eight months, 9 days…), over a dozen acts of Congress and enumerable reams of debate and conjecture about its fate, it’s time to say goodbye to the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. As a proper wake, let’s take a moment to reflect on this enigma of health care economic theory. And then let’s not ever do it again. (Billy Wynne, 4/14)
Time: How Obamacare Makes Chris Christie’s Medicare Plan Possible
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie would like to raise the age to qualify for Medicare, part of a bold plan to reform entitlements that he released Tuesday morning. The proposal was greeted with cheers from many conservatives, but there’s a twist. The main reason that slowly raising the retirement age from 65 to 69 is politically feasible is a law that many conservatives hate: Obamacare. (Haley Sweetland Edwards, 4/14)
Los Angeles Times: Chris Christie's Big Presidential Idea: Torch Social Security
If there's any immutable rule in politics, it should be: beware of candidates who try to be "bold" merely for the sake of looking bold. Chris Christie, trying desperately to keep his presidential hopes alive, wants to look bold, and he's not above throwing millions of elderly Americans under his campaign bus to do so. That's the only conceivable explanation for the New Jersey Republican governor's misinformed and dangerous proposals to "fix" Social Security. (Michael Hiltzik, 4/14)
The Wall Street Journal: Unfinished Repairs At Veterans Affairs
[A new law] allows veterans to see non-VA health-care providers if they live more than 40 miles from the nearest VA medical facility, or if they cannot be seen at a VA facility within 30 days. The Veterans Choice Program isn’t a solution for every challenge the VA faces, and positive changes haven’t come as fast or been as thorough as some might like. But one large step forward came in late March when the VA announced that it was changing how the 40-mile rule is calculated. ... No exemption, however, has been announced for veterans who have a local VA that cannot serve their medical needs. For instance, a Vietnam veteran from Jackson, Tenn., currently seeks treatment for a neurological condition in Memphis, which requires him to travel, round-trip, 170 miles. He would prefer to visit a non-VA doctor closer to home through the Veterans Choice Program, but he is ineligible because he resides within 40 miles of a VA outpatient clinic—a clinic that does not have a neurologist on staff. (John W. Stroud, 4/14)
Homer (Alaska) Tribune: Medicaid Expansion Makes Sense For Alaska
It may seem counter-intuitive to commit to expansion in a time of contracting state budgets. Nonetheless, when you dig deeper into the facts, figures and underlying rationale, it makes good sense to move forward with Medicaid expansion. Many come to the discussion with the core belief that all Alaska citizens deserve access to medical care, as a basic human need. I agree. I also believe Alaska should participate in Medicaid expansion because it makes good economic sense for our state. (Mike Navarre, 4/14)
The New York Times' The Upshot: Why California’s Approach To Tightening Vaccine Rules Has Potential To Backfire
In a number of states, parents are allowed to opt out of legal requirements to have their children vaccinated before entering school by claiming a “personal belief” or “philosophical” exemption. These provisions have raised a great deal of concern since the Disneyland measles outbreak, including in California, where it began. Unfortunately, the blundering approach state legislators there have taken shows how direct attacks on exemptions can rally the anti-vaccine cause. (Brendan Nyhan, 4/14)
Reuters: School Lunches Are U.S. National-Security Issue
What’s on kids’ school-lunch trays can have an impact that reaches far beyond the cafeteria — even to the frontlines where our men and women serve. If you’re wondering why a retired general cares about school lunches, know that childhood obesity is a serious national security issue. When I served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for military personnel policy, I was responsible for recruitment, retention and related human-resource management of the U.S. Armed Services’ 1.4 million active-duty members. That is why I am alarmed that nearly one in three young adults ages 17 to 24 is too heavy to serve in the military. (Samuel E. Ebbeson, 4/15)
