Viewpoints: Resistance To Insurance Mega-Mergers; Different Takes On Medicare Part B Drug Cost Experiments
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
The Hill:
Health Insurance Mergers Put Consumers Last
Cigna's chief executive recently admitted what many have expected: the health insurance mega-mergers are running into regulatory resistance and approvals may not be forthcoming, if at all, until next year. Rightly so. The Justice Department should reject these mergers that would result in three $100 billion companies controlling the U.S. health insurance industry. (John A. Quelch, 6/24)
New Hampshire Union Leader:
Public Deserves Info On Anthem-Cigna Plan
In the matter of the proposed Anthem-Cigna deal, New Hampshire health consumers and businesses deserve better than they appear to be getting from their attorney general and insurance commissioner. If Gov. Maggie Hassan weren't so busy running for U.S. Senate, could she perhaps get some answers? (6/25)
Modern Healthcare:
Medicare Part B Drug Proposal Deserves Support
Medicare's first step in reining in the skyrocketing cost of specialty drugs deserves support—something it has not received from hospitals, doctors, politicians or, of course, the pharmaceutical industry, which benefits the most from the status quo. (Merrill Goozner, 6/25)
Cincinnati Enquirer:
Stop The Proposed Part B Drug Demonstration Project
As a local rheumatologist who treats Medicare patients, I am deeply concerned by a recent proposal from the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that could result in further payment cuts for Medicare Part B drugs. If implemented, this mandatory payment model test would wreak havoc on patients and cause massive access and safety problems. Many rheumatologists have already been forced to stop administering biologic therapies to Medicare patients suffering from arthritis, lupus, and other rheumatic diseases because the current Part B payment structure does not cover the cost of obtaining and providing these complex therapies to patients. (Kerry Burte, 6/24)
The Washington Post:
Paul Ryan’s Flimsy Health Plan
It has been more than six years since the Affordable Care Act passed and nearly three years since its major provisions began phasing in. During that time, the rate of uninsured Americans has plummeted to a historic low. Also during that time, Republicans have blamed the law for practically every problem with the health-care system, the economy and more. But they have infamously not united behind a credible alternative. (6/26)
Chicago Tribune:
When The Feds Overreach: A Hospital Merger That Should Happen
Earlier this month, a federal judge green-lighted the merger of two major Chicago-area hospital systems. He slapped down the Federal Trade Commission's argument that the combination of the systems would cut competition and lead to higher health care prices. Because we start from the long-held belief that markets generally operate best with the least government interference, we think the judge got this one right. (6/24)
Philadelphia Daily News:
Supreme Court's Upcoming Ruling Has Direct Ties To Philly
For months, [Kermit Gosnell's] name has been dropped again and again by anti-choice advocates in Texas who are invoking Gosnell to justify restrictions that have made it harder than ever for women to exercise their legal right to an abortion. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will rule whether those restrictions are justified or are unjustly blocking a woman's right to choose to end her pregnancy. (Ronnie Polaneczky, 6/27)
Lexington Herald Leader:
Bevin Misfires On Medicaid Makeover
The Medicaid revamp proposed by Gov. Matt Bevin last week is built on a belief that providing health care to low-income people somehow robs them of their dignity. Also, that 20 percent of Kentuckians lacked health insurance only a few years ago, not because they couldn’t afford it, but because they were disengaged or didn’t understand deductibles. On that dubious base, Bevin wants to replace a fairly straightforward system with a red-tape tangle of penalties, incentives, premiums and cutbacks in coverage, including some proposals that the federal government already has rejected in other states. (6/26)
Miami Herald:
Don’t Keep Cheating Kids On Medicaid
As a result of settling a class-action lawsuit, Florida must significantly change the government insurance program for low-income children. State leaders, including members of the Legislature and the governor, have a choice: They can continue to grudgingly invest in Medicaid for children and provide minimal oversight, or they can significantly increase financial support for the program and insist — demand — that the managed-care companies in charge efficiently and effectively serve the patients and their parents. (6/26)
Louisville Courier-Journal:
STEAM | Rx For Progress: Cultural+Health Equity
Louisville, a national health care industry hotspot, has the resources to do whatever we put our mind to doing. So why do we rank 14th out of 17 peer cities in overall health outcomes? I think it boils down to two things: trust and communication. It is a fact that a person’s ZIP code has more impact on one's health than genetic code. A strong correlation exists between health, longevity and socioeconomic status. Communities of color face additional burdens. (Theo Edmonds, 6/24)
The Washington Post:
The Government’s Ban On Gay Blood Donors Isn’t Science, It’s Bias
The attack at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando this month horrified the world, but it was a particularly profound blow for the LGBT community. Afterward, when calls for blood donations came roaring in, hundreds and hundreds of people lined up to give what they could. But for gay and bisexual men, this call was like salt in a fresh wound: During their community’s hour of need, their contributions were unwelcome. According to the Food and Drug Administration, any man who has had sex with another man within the past 12 months is forbidden from donating blood. (Ryan Carey-Mahoney, 6/24)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Medical Schools Right To Put The Spotlight On Stress
Children don’t choose to have asthma or depression, to be obese, hyperactive or abused. But they frequently develop these health problems, and many others, when they are raised in environments with chronic levels of stress. Doctors in training in St. Louis are learning about the toxic effects of stress on children, and the grim health statistics for adults who experienced traumatic childhood events. This is part of a worthy effort by medical schools across the county to increase young doctors’ awareness of the effects of toxic stress among patients raised in poverty. (6/25)
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
New Law, Born From HB 116, Is Boon To People On Multiple Prescriptions: State Rep. Tim Ginter
Studies show when patients follow the instructions of their physician and pharmacist and take their medications as directed, they live longer and healthier lives. However, a major barrier to this, especially among our senior population, is when prescription dates do not fall on the same day of the month, resulting in the patient begin forced to make multiple trips to the pharmacy each month. Because of this some go without life-saving medication until their additional prescriptions can be filled at the same time. (Tim Ginter, 6/26)
San Francisco Chronicle:
Is It Ethical To Purchase Human Organs?
In the United States, the wait list for kidneys alone is around 100,000. Those waiting for kidneys make up most of the 120,000 people awaiting organ donation. The need for kidneys has led some to ask: Would purchasing organs be a solution? (Samuel Kerstein, 6/24)
KQED:
My Abortion Story
Like two-thirds of women who have abortions, I am a mom, and like 30% of women seeking abortion, my kids were a big part of my decision not to have another child. I knew that bringing a baby into our family would draw resources, attention, and even love away from them. So I prioritized my existing family, my first loves. (Rana Barar, 6/17)
Cleveland Plain Dealer:
AIDS Drugs Come With Their Own Set Of Problems: Robert Toth
Nowadays people with HIV, like myself, are not dying of rare exotic parasites or cross-species diseases anymore. It's the simple things like stroke, heart attack, diabetes, kidney failure, things "old folks" are supposed to get, not 50-year-olds. Now there's talk of HIV-related hearing and memory loss. For many of us long-term survivors of AIDS, our gears are being shredded by the very treatments that are keeping us alive but accelerating old age. (Robert Toth, 6/26)
The Des Moines Register:
Iowa Can't Afford To Wait For Mental Health Reform
A 2015 report estimates there are 120,000 people in Iowa with a serious mental illness, but only about 300 psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who can prescribe medication. Iowa now ranks last among the states in terms of the available state psychiatric beds. (6/23)
