Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Steps Medical Professionals Can Take To Safeguard Immigrant Patients
The New York Times: How Doctors And Nurses Can Protect Undocumented Immigrants
Medical professionals constantly battle insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers to get our patients’ medical treatments covered. We tussle with our own institutions to expedite CT scans and medical appointments. We write advocacy letters for things like walkers and dental clearance and problems with bathroom mold and jury duty. But in this upcoming era we may have to face off against our own federal government. (Danielle Ofri, 1/17)
Houston Chronicle: This Single Change To Texas Abortion Law Could Save Women's Lives
We’re lawyers and lobbyists who work frequently with healthcare, and last year we petitioned the Texas Medical Board to give doctors specific guidelines that clarify exactly when women and girl's life-threatening pregnancies necessitate abortions. (Amy Bresnen and Steve Bresnen, 1/17)
Stat: Covid’s Starring Role In Upcoming Health Confirmation Hearings
“What do you think of Dr. Fauci?” friends and colleagues asked me throughout the Covid pandemic. As a medical epidemiologist, I was flattered they trusted me, but soon recognized that this was a trick question. They were simply applying their “Dr. Fauci test” of pandemic allegiance. This was a forced binary: Was I an acolyte of the gold standard of sound science, or a denier who dismissed his knowledge in favor of the dogma of zealots and crackpots? Did I “follow the science,” or sell out to political ideologues? (Steven Philips, 1/17)
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: Why Hasn’t Black Obesity Become A National Healthcare Crisis?
I’ve long known that obesity is a problem in America. I hear about it all the time in TV ads for miracle drugs and from fitness centers that insist clients do more than they’re willing to do. Americans need another Richard Simmons, a fitness cheerleader who can keep his eyes on our potbellies. From an essay Rev. Al Sharpton wrote for The Washington Post, whites need a Simmons less than Black folk do. (Justice B. Hill, 1/17)
Stat: A New FDA-CMS Approach To Covering Digital Mental Health Treatment Devices
The United States continues to face a pervasive public health challenge: lack of access to behavioral health providers and resources. Behavioral health conditions have been significantly increasing in prevalence, but despite the widespread need, there continues to be a large gap between demand and availability of behavioral health resources. Persistent shortages within the behavioral health workforce often result in lengthy wait times for a behavioral health appointment and delayed patient care, which ultimately lead to worse outcomes. (Meena Seshamani, Emily Parris, Doug Jacobs, Michelle Tarver, David McMullen and Josh Rising, 1/17)
Dallas Morning News: We Need To Clean Up The Way We Talk About OCD
According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, 1 in 40 adults will develop OCD. Also, 1 in 200 children and adolescents will have this condition. (Georgia La Grone, 1/17)
