Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: 'Taxpayer-First Budget' Inflicting Pain; Slow Rollout Of Menu Calorie Counts
The New York Times: A Budget That Promises Little But Pain
If President Trump’s 2018 budget, to be unveiled on Tuesday, was worthy of praise, you can bet Mr. Trump would be in Washington to bask in it. But his overseas trip keeps him at a distance physically, if not politically. As detailed in a preview on Monday by Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director, the budget is a naked appeal to far-right Republicans aiming for a partisan rallying cry, even as a legislative victory most likely remains out of reach. Of 13 major initiatives in the budget, nine are drastic spending cuts, mostly aimed at low-income Americans. The biggest of those, by far, is an $866 billion reduction over 10 years in health care spending, mostly from Medicaid. (5/23)
The Washington Post: Another Bad Budget From Trump Targets The Poor
President Trump released a proposal for fiscal year 2018 discretionary spending — the “skinny budget” — two months ago, and the $1.1 trillion plan garnered deservedly poor reviews. In a nutshell, Mr. Trump would have gutted the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institutes of Health and similarly crucial domestic agencies to fund a big boost in defense spending and border security. On Tuesday the White House releases its ideas for the remaining $3 trillion or so in federal spending, including large-scale entitlements such as Medicaid, and the early indications are that the priorities embodied in this sequel will be no more humane or rational. (5/22)
Miami Herald: The Federal Budget Released Today Puts Taxpayers First
This Tuesday, the president will release his Fiscal Year 2018 budget request. The title on the cover reads “A New Foundation for American Greatness.” But it’s what’s inside that’s more important. What people will see there is something that has been missing from Washington for a long time: “A Taxpayer First Budget.” ... For years, we’ve focused on how we can help Americans receive taxpayer-funded assistance. Under President Trump’s leadership, we’re now looking at how we can respect both those who require assistance and the taxpayers who fund that support. For the first time in a long time, we’re putting taxpayers first. (Budget director Mick Mulvaney, 5/22)
The Washington Post: Trump’s First Budget: Why Attention Must Be Paid To It
So, with two partial exceptions, the President’s budget cannot be viewed as anything other than the standard issue, highly partisan, thoroughly uncompromising budgets we’ve seen from Republicans since the rise of Paul D. Ryan. The purpose of these budgets, which even Ryan himself has characterized as more “visionary” than realistic, is to shrink government outside of defense and give the savings to their wealthy donors in the form of regressive tax cuts. Their ultimate targets are Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and with this budget, we can see that strategy evolving. (Jared Bernstein, 5/22)
Los Angeles Times: Trump's Budget Plan Continues His Deceitful Attack On The Disabled — And Violates A Campaign Pledge
We pointed out back in March that Trump budget direct Mick Mulvaney displayed an alarming ignorance about Social Security disability benefits during an appearance on the CBS program “Face the Nation.” Now it turns out that there was method to his muttering. In effect, Mulvaney was telegraphing that the Trump White House was planning to cut disability benefits sharply. Axios reported Sunday that the Trump budget due out Tuesday will include $1.7 trillion in cuts to major social insurance and assistance programs, including food stamps, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Social Security disability. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/22)
Forbes: This Week's Rollout Of Trump 2018 Budget Could Be His Biggest Failure Yet
On top of everything else, the Trump 2018 budget and OMB Director Mulvaney's first testimony about it, which is currently scheduled for Wednesday before the House Budget Committee, is virtually certain to get much less attention because the Congressional Budget Office is now expected to release its estimates of the impact of the House-passed American Health Care Act that same day ... and those numbers are very likely to be devastating. ... CBO's new AHCA numbers took on dramatically increased importance last week when the Republican leadership let it be known that the House might have to vote on the bill a second time because, as reported, it might not satisfy all of the Senate's Byrd rule requirements. (Stan Collender, 5/21)
Philly.com: Slash Medicaid And You Jeopardize Care For Everyone
Just before launching his presidential campaign, Donald Trump promised that if elected, he would not cut funding for Medicaid. Chalk that up to yet another campaign promise reneged on. Trump’s budget proposal calls for more than $800 billion in cuts. ... But even more is at stake than the lives of poor and disabled Americans, something the architects of these plans don’t seem to care much about. The cuts would jeopardize the entire health care system. (Robert I. Field, 5/23)
The Washington Post: Trump’s Budget Is So Cruel A Russian Propaganda Outfit Set The White House Straight
Trump, who once vowed “no cuts” to Medicaid, would now cut Medicaid by more than $800 billion, denying support to 10 million people. He lops a total of $1.7 trillion off that and similar programs, including food stamps, school lunches and Habitat for Humanity. Mulvaney, defending the budget Monday, made a frank admission: “This is, I think, the first time in a long time an administration has written a budget through the eyes of people who actually are paying the taxes. Too often in Washington I think we often think only on the recipient side.” (Dana Milbank, 5/22)
USA Today: Calorie Labeling Isn't Rocket Science
Watching your weight while grabbing a bite at your favorite chain restaurant, supermarket food bar or convenience store was supposed to get easier under a 2010 federal law requiring that certain businesses post calorie counts. This isn't rocket science. But after seven years, the final posting rules are still on hold, and this month the Trump administration delayed compliance again. If the newest date — May 7, 2018 — holds, it will have taken nearly as long to post calorie counts as it did to put a man on the moon after President Kennedy announced this ambitious goal in 1961. (5/22)
USA Today: Pizza Makers Weigh In On Calories
America’s pizza delivery companies want a reasonable 21st century solution to the nutrition labeling challenge: We simply want approval to put the information where our customers look for it. At Domino’s, we’ve been posting nutritional information on our website for nearly 14 years because it’s the easiest way to provide the information to our customers where they will most likely see it. Unfortunately, the menu labeling rule as written does not make accommodations for brands whose majority of orders come from people who order online. The rule seems better suited to sit-down chains and fast-food joints. (Tim McIntyre, 5/22)
Forbes: North Carolina Poised To Reform Welfare Programs To Protect Truly Needy
A provision in the [North Carolina] Senate’s budget proposal, spearheaded by Sen. Ralph Hise, would rein in frequently-exploited loopholes in the state’s food stamps and Medicaid systems, bringing overdue protection to valuable resources for families who need them most and protecting the system from abuse. North Carolina’s current broad-based eligibility expansion in food stamps has been ripe for reform since 2010 when former Gov. Bev Perdue took advantage of a loophole that expanded welfare eligibility beyond the federal limits. (Josh Archambault, 5/22)
The New York Times: Hey Parents, Surprise, Fruit Juice Is Not Fruit
Many American children consume more than half of their fruit as juice, and the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued new guidelines clarifying its stance on that substitution: For most kids, it’s a bad thing. The new guidelines aren’t just intended to persuade pediatricians to talk to parents about the disadvantages of the ubiquitous juice box. They also take aim at the federal government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are the basis for the nutritional guidelines in the Department of Agriculture’s School Lunch Program — guidelines that allow for the replacement of half of the recommended daily servings of fruits with 100 percent fruit juice. (KJ Dell’Antonia, 5/22)
Louisville Courier-Journal: Fighting The Opioid Epidemic
As many as two million Americans are struggling with prescription drug addiction across the nation. Tragically, heroin and opioid overdoses claim an average of 91 lives every day. This startling trend continues to get worse, especially here in Kentucky. ... I made securing crucial new resources to help combat heroin and prescription opioid abuse a top priority in the government funding bill that was recently signed into law. These new resources, which dedicates substantial funding through the appropriations process to address this crisis, will allow us to take another step towards ending it. (Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), 5/23)
Stat: Training Medical Students How To Teach Helps Them Embrace Ambiguity
In volunteering to help teach the course, neither of us anticipated that questions asked by first-year medical students would heighten our curiosity and passion for medicine. But they did. We looked for answers and followed up with the students who asked them. In the process, we also reflected on how to be better self-directed learners and more effective teachers. (Jasmine Rana and Taylor Freret, 5/22)
