Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Why The Trump Administration Fought For The Infant Formula Industry Over Breast-Feeding
The New York Times: Why Breast-Feeding Scares Donald Trump
[I]t’s just one of several recent examples of the administration’s zeal for badgering weaker countries into tossing public health concerns aside to serve powerful business interests. The baby formula industry is worth $70 billion and, as breast-feeding has become more popular in more developed countries, it has pinned its hopes for growth on developing ones. (7/9)
Houston Chronicle: Spoiled Milk
When it comes to important global missions like fighting drug traffickers, promoting democracy or hunting terrorists, one of the United States’ most formidable weapons is our wide-reaching soft power. The ability to cut off bank accounts, manipulate trade and roll back military aid can often shape the international order more effectively than any military platoon. Recently, U.S. delegates at the World Health Assembly threatened to unholster a veritable howitzer of soft power in opposition to a policy that wouldn’t seem to merit such aggression: We tried to block a resolution in support of breastfeeding. (7/10)
Los Angeles Times: The U.S. Bullied The World To Stop A Pro-Breastfeeding Resolution? That's The American Way
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week denounced the Trump administration for imposing tariffs that may result in retaliation and an economy-wide trade war. But they haven’t said much about its recent use of trade threats on behalf of multinational corporations. According to a New York Times report, the administration tried to deep-six a resolution at the World Health Assembly to encourage breastfeeding. It warned smaller nations such as Ecuador that it would face trade sanctions and withdrawal of military aid if it introduced the pro-breastfeeding resolution. Countries succumbed one by one to U.S. intimidation until Russia intervened to stop the bullying, and the resolution finally passed. Even then, U.S. negotiators pulled language that would have urged the World Health Organization to support countries seeking to improve infant nutrition. (David Dayen, 7/9)
The Washington Post: Repealing Obamacare Didn’t Work. So Republicans Are Trying Sabotage.
Last year, Republicans learned that conspicuously ripping health insurance from millions of poor and sick people would probably cost them votes. So instead, they pursued a sneakier strategy: sabotage. Undermining Obamacare can be nearly as effective as repealing Obamacare, after all. And relative to a big, splashy legislative vote, boring-sounding administrative actions are much more likely to fly under the radar. (Catherine Rampell, 7/9)
The Hill: The Pipeline To Primary Care Is Drying Up
Last week, a study published in science posited that there is no ceiling in sight for the human lifespan. I am not sure whether to be thrilled or frightened. But I do wonder if I am going to have a primary care provider (PCP) helping me navigate this uncharted territory ten years from now, let alone when I am really old. Another medical school class walked across the graduation stage recently, and though at my institution a quarter of the class entered a primary care field at the end of their residencies, most in internal medicine and about half of those going into pediatrics, will subspecialize or go into hospital Medicine. (Roshini Pinto-Powell, 7/9)
Louisville Courier-Journal: Transparency, Public Input Key Protections In Medicaid Changes
Kentucky’s Medicaid beneficiaries and providers recently woke up to a surprising new reality: Dental, vision and medical transportation services were no longer to be covered. How did we get here? (Angela M. Koch, 7/9)
Stat: What India Can Teach The U.S. About Driving Down The Cost Of Health Care
With the Affordable Care Act under attack and all eyes on Dr. Atul Gawande as he starts this week as CEO of the new Amazon, JPMorgan, and Berkshire Hathaway venture, health care in the United States is more top of mind than ever. Surprisingly, a solution to reducing costs without government intervention and without reducing quality might be found in an unlikely place: India. We have visited more than two dozen hospitals and interviewed more than 125 executives across India and the U.S. We learned that some of the most proactive hospitals in the West are adopting the world-class innovations of Indian health care institutions in order to boost quality, lower costs, and expand access to the underserved — goals that have eluded U.S. policy makers for decades. This trend — which we call “reverse innovation” because the health care innovations flow from a poor country to a wealthier one rather than the other way around — may come as a surprise to many Americans. (Vijay Govindarajan and Ravi Ramamurti, 7/10)
