Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Too Many Americans Can't Afford Health Insurance; Why Is Lyme Disease So Ignored?
Bloomberg: Health Care Is Too Expensive In The US. A Public Option Could Help
America’s approach to health care is an outlier among the world’s rich countries, and not in a good way. Extraordinarily complex and hideously expensive, it still manages to leave some 26 million people without coverage. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 made notable progress, but failed to solve the pressing problems of high costs and less-than-universal access. (4/2)
Newsweek: Lyme Disease Is Quietly Debilitating Millions Of Americans And Future Generations
It was May 2013 when I was diagnosed with "the summer flu." I was bedridden with fevers, chills, and body aches. My hands, feet, and face started tingling, and I could no longer turn my head. It was my boss who first suggested I might have Lyme disease. A long-time resident of Martha's Vineyard, she knew something I didn't—the Vineyard is infested with ticks. Even still, I struggled to find a doctor who would treat me. (Lindsay Keys, 4/2)
The New York Times: Dengue Fever Is Surging And We’re Looking The Other Way
Dengue, a mosquito-borne illness, is surging through Latin America and the Caribbean, including in Puerto Rico, where a public health emergency was declared last week. This year is likely to be the worst on record, in part because of El Niño-driven temperature spikes and extreme weather linked to climate change. As temperatures rise and precipitation patterns grow more erratic, the problem will get only worse. (Deborah Heaney, 4/3)
The Washington Post: Republicans’ Abortion Problem Intensifies
Republicans’ zealotry for forced-birth laws might be the best thing ever to happen to the pro-choice movement. “A record 59 percent of surveyed Americans believe abortion should be legal, according to a new Fox News poll,” the Hill reported last week. “Support for abortion rights has increased by double digits since early 2022, just before the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.” The Supreme Court’s decision shredding Roe v. Wade “created a cascading effect of abortion restrictions in Republican-controlled states nationwide and sparked a new movement of abortion rights activism.” (Jennifer Rubin, 4/2)
Bloomberg: Medicare Advantage Companies Can Live With A Slower Gravy Train
The Medicare Advantage program — under which private companies are paid to administer Medicare health plans — has proved a remarkably profitable business over the past couple of decades. Now, the Biden administration is taking responsible steps to rein in the gravy train a bit, and the industry and its investors are losing their minds. (Jonathan Levin, 4/3)
