Viewpoints: The ACA’s Wellbeing — Healthy Or Ill?; Health Care Costs And Transparency

The New York Times: Obamacare Appears To Be Making People Healthier
Obamacare has provided health insurance to some 20 million people. But are they any better off? This has been the central question as we’ve been watching the complex and expensive health law unfurl. We knew the law was giving people coverage, but information about whether it’s protecting people from debt or helping them become more healthy has been slower to emerge. (Margot Sanger-Katz, 8/9)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: The ACA's Ill Health
In July alone, three co-ops, HealthyCT in Connecticut, Community Care of Oregon, and Land of Lincoln in Illinois, announced they are closing up shop. They join 13 other failed co-ops out of the original 23 that were a centerpiece of the Affordable Care Act's vision for the future of health-care organization - an unrealistic vision based on wishful thinking and sabotaged by the ACA itself. (Joel Zinberg, 8/8)

Bloomberg: Who's Gaming Obamacare? Better To Ask: Who Isn't?
Last week, I outlined eight possible futures for Obamacare. By curious coincidence, few of them looked like the paradise of lower premiums and better care that the law’s supporters had promised. In the best case scenarios, they looked more like what critics had warned about -- "Medicaid for all," or fiscal disaster, or a slow-motion implosion of much of the market for private insurance as premiums soared and healthy middle-class people dropped out. (Megan McArdle, 8/8)

Modern Healthcare: Behind Trump's Claim That Obamacare Cost 2 Million Jobs
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed in an economic speech Monday that his proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act would “save” 2 million American jobs. But there are serious problems with that statement. The Congressional Budget Office tentatively projected in early 2014 that the ACA would reduce the total number of hours Americans work by 1.5% to 2% between 2017 and 2024—“almost entirely because workers will choose to supply less labor—given the new taxes and other incentives they will face and the financial benefits some will receive.” It updated those projections in a second report in December. (Harris Meyer, 8/8)

The New York Times: How Common Procedures Became 20 Percent Cheaper For Many Californians
At a time when health care spending seems only to go up, an initiative in California has slashed the prices of many common procedures. The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers) started paying hospitals differently for 450,000 of its members beginning in 2011. It set a maximum contribution it would make toward what a hospital was paid for knee and hip replacement surgery, colonoscopies, cataract removal surgery and several other elective procedures. Under the new approach, called reference pricing, patients who wished to get a procedure at a higher-priced hospital paid the difference themselves. (Austin Frakt, 8/8)

Miami Herald: Florida’s Healthcare Price-Transparency Law Is A Scam
Last month, Florida’s new law regarding price transparency requiring hospitals to publish “average charges” went into effect. But the concept of price transparency in our dysfunctional system is a scam. It misleads the public into believing help is on the way; easing political pressure from consumers who are livid over skyrocketing healthcare costs. This new law perpetuates the current abusive system in which patients are unable to determine their costs, and shopping for good value is, by design, impractical. The idea that publishing price ranges or average prices will help consumers or spur competition, insults our intelligence. (Steven I. Weissman, 8/8)

The Hill: FDA’s Cognitive Dissonance On Smoking
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently launched “This Free Life”—a first-of-its-kind anti-smoking campaign aimed directly at the LGBT community. The crusade reflects data showing that members of the LGBT community smoke at approximately twice the rate of their straight counterparts. But the FDA’s actions don’t match the message of its P.R. campaign. (Gregory T. Angelo, 8/8)

The Kansas City Star: America, Unlike Congress, Cannot Take A Vacation From Zika Virus
If you’ve ever wondered whether Congress really deserves its approval rating, which just barely rises into the double digits, witness lawmakers’ reaction to the Zika virus. Although the virus ordinarily is relatively harmless, if a pregnant woman is infected, it can cause microcephaly in the fetus, a serious birth defect resulting in an abnormally small head and stunted brain development. (8/8)

Bloomberg View: Lesson Of Theranos: Fact-Checking Alone Isn't Enough 
What’s needed to evaluate a talk like this is a combination of critical thinking skills – strong mental defenses against confirmation bias and subtle manipulation. Critical thinking would have helped investors realize much sooner that the company was headed for trouble. After all, they poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Theranos, though Holmes refused to explain how its revolutionary technology worked. Maybe they didn't know what to look for. (Faye Flam, 88)

The Hill: Hyde Amendment Is Bad Policy (And Unpopular Too!)
It’s time to get the facts straight. The reality is, voters oppose the 40-year-old policy. A poll from Hart Research Associates shows 86 percent of voters agree that “however we feel about abortion, politicians should not be allowed to deny a woman’s health coverage because she is poor.” People of all ages and political stripes share this view: 90 percent of voters ages 18 to 34, 84 percent of voters 65 and over, 79 percent of Republicans, and 94 percent of Democrats all agree.

The Wichita Eagle: KanCare Anger Justified
The rough questioning of Brownback administration leaders at last week’s KanCare legislative oversight panel hearings revealed bipartisan frustration with constituent experiences and official assurances. Anger is justified, as is legislative talk of rolling back the recent 4 percent reimbursement cut and blocking a worrisome proposal to consolidate seven in-home care programs. (8/9)

The Louisville Courier-Journal: How Medicaid Is Improving Health
We all want to live in a thriving community where everyone has the chance to succeed. The building blocks of such a community include a good education, safe neighborhoods, reliable roads and healthy people – and insurance coverage is foundational for ensuring we are all healthy. Thanks to the Medicaid expansion, more and more Kentuckians’ loved ones and neighbors are able to take a stake in their own health care, and all of us will benefit because of it. (Dustin Pugel, 8/8)

The Baltimore Sun: Supporting Baltimore's Seniors
With over 100,000 Baltimoreans over the age of 60, we cannot create well-being in our city without also ensuring the health and wellness of our older adults. This includes supporting the ability of residents to age in their communities with choice, independence and dignity...Beginning in 2013, the Maryland State Department of Aging reallocated funds to jurisdictions based on an area's share of the older population as a whole. While Baltimore City has fewer older adults than some jurisdictions, it has the largest proportion of those living in poverty — nearly 41 percent in the entire state. (Leana Wen, 8/8)

Lexington Herald Leader: Immunize Children, Teens For School Year 
Summer vacation is winding down, and soon students across Kentucky will be heading back to school. To protect their own health and the health of others around them, children and teens of all ages should make sure their immunizations are up to date before beginning another academic year.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children start building immunity against infectious diseases at an early age. (Tracy Kielman, 8/8)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Don't Shut Out Retirees In Bid To Secure Social Security Online Site
The Social Security Administration has created a potentially huge but avoidable problem for millions of account holders in an overzealous attempt to fight computer hackers. As of this month, online users have been required to own a cellphone, register that number and obtain a text-messaged security code for use when accessing the Social Security website. The rationale for tighter security is understandable. Identity theft typically involves stealing a person’s Social Security number. (8/8)

Sacramento Bee: School Dental Clinics Good For Kids, Taxpayers
Tucked in a corner of a building on campus, the pocket-sized dental suite is equipped with an examination chair, teeth-cleaning equipment, a portable X-ray gun and a miniature camera that sends digital photos to a computer. Every Friday, a dental hygienist is on duty to clean teeth and do routine exams.The results, along the with each child’s dental record, are shipped via the internet to a local dentist, who reviews the exams and schedules full office visits for those children who require more extensive care. (Daniel Weintraub, 8/8)