Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Schumer's 'Puzzling' Comments; GOP Needs To Offer An Alternative Plan
The New York Times: Democrats Against Reform
It’s easy to understand why Republicans wish health reform had never happened, and are now hoping that the Supreme Court will abandon its principles and undermine the law. But it’s more puzzling — and disturbing — when Democrats like Charles Schumer, senator from New York, declare that the Obama administration’s signature achievement was a mistake. (Paul Krugman, 12/4)
The Washington Post: The Real Fight Is Among The Democrats
Eighty-five percent of Americans already had health insurance, argued Schumer. Yet millions have suffered dislocations for the sake of a minority constituency — the uninsured — barely 13 percent of whom vote. This has alienated the Democrats’ traditional middle-class constituency. Indeed, in a 2013 poll cited by the New York Times’ Thomas Edsall, by a margin of 25 percent, people said Obamacare makes things better for the poor. But when the question was, does it make things better “for people like you,” Obamacare came out 16 points underwater. Moreover, for whites, whose support for Democrats hemorrhaged in 2014, 63 percent thought Obamacare made things worse for the middle class. (Charles Krauthammer, 12/4)
MSNBC: Trent Lott Urges GOP To Be Responsible On Obamacare
At this point, the only real threat to the Affordable Care Act is one ridiculous Supreme Court case. There’s a phrase in the legislation that suggests, if ripped from context, that subsidies are only supposed to support consumers in states with their own exchange marketplaces – not those who enrolled in insurance plans through healthcare.gov. ... the Supreme Court majority may conclude, then it’s up to Congress to pass a bill to add clarity. In an interesting twist, a prominent Republican has suggested his former brethren do exactly that. (Steve Benen, 12/4)
USA Today: Be Cruel To Obamacare To Be Kind
Thanks to four justices of the Supreme Court, there is now a clear path to repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act next year, finally bringing Obamacare to an end. But Republicans won't accomplish this by waiting for the court or just voting to repeal the law one more time. The only way they can succeed is by crafting their own replacement — and they need to start right away. (Randy E. Barnett, 12/4)
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire: Our Fragmented Approach To Health Care Costs
Positive action on multiple fronts and the recovering economy are helping to reduce the growth in health-care costs to historically moderate levels. But there is no comprehensive national approach to controlling health-care costs. Further, there is little coordination of the disparate efforts across the country, and we can’t say for sure what is working and what is not. (Drew Altman, 12/4)
The New York Times' The Upshot: Big Changes In Fine Print Of Some 2015 Health Plans
At first glance, the 2015 health plans offered by the Ohio nonprofit insurer CareSource look a lot like the ones it sold this year, in the Affordable Care Act’s first enrollment season. The monthly premiums are nearly identical, and the deductibles are the same. But tucked within the plans’ jargon are changes that could markedly affect how much consumers pay for health care. (Charles Ornstein, Ryann Grochowski Jones and Lena Groeger, 12/4)
Los Angeles Times: Dropping Coverage Of Popular Prescription Drugs Is Sad And Shameful
Express Scripts, which handles prescription-drug benefits for millions or people nationwide, is dropping coverage for 66 brand-name drugs next month in an effort to keep costs down. Rival CVS Health is dropping 95 drugs from its own list of covered drugs. Happy holidays. (David Lazarus, 12/4)
Los Angeles Times: How To Make It Easier For Health Workers To Volunteer In Crises
The United Nations estimates that 5,000 more international health care workers will be needed during the coming months in West Africa to fight the Ebola outbreak. But where they will come from is not entirely clear. As World Bank President Jim Yong Kim recently stated, “Right now, I'm very much worried about where we will find those health care workers.” (Helen Ouyang, 12/4)
The New York Times' Opinionator: Fixes: A Depression-Fighting Strategy That Could Go Viral
When Ebola ends, the people who have suffered, who have lost loved ones, will need many things. They will need ways to rebuild their livelihoods. They will need a functioning health system, which can ensure that future outbreaks do not become catastrophes. And they will need mental health care. Depression is the most important thief of productive life for women around the world, and the second-most important for men. We sometimes imagine it is a first-world problem, but depression is just as widespread, if not more so, in poor countries, where there is a good deal more to be depressed about. And it is more debilitating, as a vast majority of sufferers have no safety net. (Tina Rosenberg, 12/4)
The Washington Post: Residents Of Prince George’s Have Waited Too Long For Improved Medical Facilities
More than three years after county and state officials struck a deal with the University of Maryland Medical System (UMMS), a highly regarded nonprofit hospital network, to revamp Prince George’s run-down health-care facilities, final approval is still pending for a facility in Largo that could offer first-rate care to a community where it is still lacking. (12/4)
