- KFF 国产精品视频 News Original Stories 3
- 鈥楨verybody in This Community Has a Gun鈥: How Oakland Lost Its Grip on Gun Violence
- She Once Advised the President on Aging Issues. Now, She鈥檚 Battling Serious Disability and Depression.
- Back Pain? Bum Knee? Be Prepared to Wait for a Physical Therapist
- Political Cartoon: 'X-Ray Puzzle?'
From KFF 国产精品视频 News - Latest Stories:
KFF 国产精品视频 News Original Stories
鈥楨verybody in This Community Has a Gun鈥: How Oakland Lost Its Grip on Gun Violence
A few years ago, Oakland won national acclaim for slashing gun-related crimes. Then the covid-19 pandemic tore through poor neighborhoods, and the murder of George Floyd fueled distrust in police. With guns readily available, violent crime has once again skyrocketed, leaving the community struggling to contain it. (Samantha Young, )
Coping with disability 鈥 and the cost of coping with disability 鈥 is an enormously important issue for older adults. Nora Super, an expert on aging, shares her personal story. (Judith Graham, )
Back Pain? Bum Knee? Be Prepared to Wait for a Physical Therapist
Physical therapists left the field en masse during the covid-19 pandemic, even as demand from aging baby boomers skyrocketed. While universities try to boost their training programs to increase the number of graduates, patients seeking relief from often debilitating pain are left to wait. (Mark Kreidler, )
Political Cartoon: 'X-Ray Puzzle?'
KFF 国产精品视频 News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Political Cartoon: 'X-Ray Puzzle?'" by Maddie Dai.
Here's today's health policy haiku:
THE POST-THANKSGIVING COVID BLUES
Uh-oh, Thanksgiving.
My stash of free covid tests,
now disappearing
- Anonymous
If you have a health policy haiku to share, please Contact Us and let us know if we can include your name. Haikus follow the format of 5-7-5 syllables. We give extra brownie points if you link back to an original story.
Opinions expressed in haikus and cartoons are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions of KFF 国产精品视频 News or KFF.
Each month, KFF 国产精品视频 News鈥 Rural Dispatch newsletter covers health issues in places where accessing care can be more challenging.
Summaries Of The News:
Biden Invokes Defense Production Act To Target Medical Supply Shortages
The Cold War-era measure allows the president to direct private companies to invest in the manufacturing of medicines or medical supplies characterized as essential to national defense.
President Joe Biden on Monday invoked a Cold War-era measure to boost investment in U.S. manufacturing of medicines and medical supplies that he has deemed important for national defense. Biden used the first meeting of his supply chain resilience council to boast about his administration efforts to improve supply chains upended by the COVID pandemic and help bring inflation under control, but acknowledged more work needs to be done. 鈥淲e know that prices are still too high for too many things, that times are still too tough for too many families,鈥 Biden said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檝e made progress." (Holland and Lange, 11/27)
The Korean War-era law, invoked by Biden and former President Trump during the pandemic, allows the president to direct private companies to produce materials and goods needed for national defense.
Biden will give the 国产精品视频 and Human Services Department authority to invest in medical products unrelated to the pandemic, including insulin, morphine, vaccines and ventilators, a White House official told Axios. (Goldman, 11/28)
"I'm proud to announce that I'll be invoking what's known as the Defense Production Act to boost production of essential medicines in America by American workers," Biden said. "You notice that people have to get certain kinds of shots overseas" because they're not available in the U.S. "Well, that supply chain is going to start here in America. "President Biden also will issue a Presidential Determination giving HHS the authority to invest in domestic manufacturing of essential medicines and medical countermeasures. "HHS has identified $35 million for investments in domestic production of key starting materials for sterile injectable medicines," according to a White House fact sheet. ( Frieden, 11/27)
In related news about drug costs and PBMs 鈥
In response to strained budgets, a growing number of state and local governments across the U.S. are suing insulin makers and pharmacy benefit managers over claims the companies conspired to illegally drive up prices. In recent weeks, state officials in Utah and Arizona, and municipalities in New York, Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio have filed lawsuits alleging that the companies artificially drove up the cost of insulin, making the medication unaffordable for countless residents who have diabetes and causing the governments to overpay for the medication. (Silverman and Wilkerson, 11/28)
10 States Approach Universal Coverage With Uninsured Rates Under 5%
News outlets report on the tools and the innovations 鈥 provided largely under the Affordable Care Act 鈥 that states are employing to chip away at the number of people who do not have health insurance in the U.S.
Universal health care remains an unrealized dream for the United States. But in some parts of the country, the dream has drawn closer to a reality in the 13 years since the Affordable Care Act passed. ... Today, 10 states have an uninsured rate below 5 percent 鈥 not quite universal coverage, but getting close. Other states may be hovering around the national average, but that still represents a dramatic improvement from the pre-ACA reality: In New Mexico, for instance, 23 percent of its population was uninsured in 2010; now just 8 percent is. (Scott, 11/26)
With their recent stability, the Affordable Care Act marketplaces are well-positioned for innovation, according to a new report. (Minemyer, 11/27)
Also 鈥
Yes, Republicans still say they dislike Obamacare and want to bring health care costs down. But as far as scrapping the law? 鈥淚 don't see that as being the rallying cry. I really don鈥檛,鈥 Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said. 鈥淏oy, I haven鈥檛 thought about that one in a while,鈥 Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) said. 鈥淚 just don't know what [Trump's] thinking or how we would go about doing that. That fight, as you know, was six years ago now. And so, if he鈥檚 got some ideas, we鈥檙e open to them.鈥 (Everett, 11/27)
What鈥檚 clear is that an effort to 鈥渢erminate鈥 Obamacare is not something Americans are pining for. Not only were the GOP鈥檚 efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare during Trump鈥檚 term historically unpopular, but the law also appears to have gotten more popular since then. Perhaps most strikingly, this doesn鈥檛 even appear to be a major emphasis for the GOP base. (Blake, 11/27)
The president鈥檚 aides quickly jumped on a statement by Donald Trump that he was 鈥渟eriously looking at alternatives鈥 to the health law. (Epstein, 11/27)
Christmas has come early for Democratic campaign staffers, courtesy of former President Trump's vow over the holiday weekend to "never give up" on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Democrats are eager to revive their health care playbook from 2018, when the party rode a "blue wave" to the House majority by aggressively campaigning on Republican attempts to gut Obamacare. (Basu, 11/27)
Idaho Pushes To Lift Block On Its Strict Emergency Abortion Laws
State law only allows abortions when they're necessary to prevent death during pregnancy, or when rape or incest was involved. But the Biden administration sued and won, arguing that federal laws allow abortions under a broader health emergency range. Idaho has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider.
Idaho asked the Supreme Court on Monday to allow enforcement of the state鈥檚 abortion ban as it applies to emergency rooms, after federal courts blocked that aspect in a legal challenge from the Biden administration. Idaho鈥檚 law allows state officials to prosecute or revoke the professional license of doctors who perform abortions unless it was necessary to prevent the woman鈥檚 death, or the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest. (Macagnone, 11/27)
On Tuesday, the Texas Supreme Court will consider this question: Are the state's abortion laws harming women when they face pregnancy complications? The case, brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights, has grown to include 22 plaintiffs, including 20 patients and two physicians. They are suing Texas, arguing that the medical exceptions in the state's abortion bans are too narrow to protect patients with complicated pregnancies. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is fiercely defending the state's current abortion laws and arguing that the case should be dismissed. (Simmons-Duffin, 11/28)
When Trish Mitchell got an abortion three decades ago in Missouri, she didn鈥檛 tell the doctor her pregnancy was a result of sexual assault. She couldn鈥檛 bring herself to. It would be years before she told anyone that she had been raped. 鈥淪peaking for myself, it was literally almost impossible,鈥 said Mitchell, who was 21 at the time of the assault. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 able to talk about what happened to me for many, many years.鈥 (Spoerre, 11/27)
Even when voters choose to protect abortion, people can be thwarted in their efforts to get the care they need. 鈥淐risis pregnancy centers鈥 are a highly effective tool that anti-abortion groups use, even in blue states such as Massachusetts, to prevent people from making informed decisions and receiving quality maternal care. (Baruch and Shachar, 11/27)
In related reproductive health news 鈥
"If the CDC has to tell you to respect patients' rights and to respect the medical ethics of autonomy, I think we've really gone off the rails," said Julie Cantor, a women's rights advocate and attorney who is representing Doe. The CDC analysis of a recent survey of 2,400 new mothers includes reported cases of ignored requests for help; being shouted at or scolded; violations of physical privacy; and threats to withhold treatment, or made to accept unwanted treatment. (Dwyer and See, 11/28)
BA.2.86 Is The New Covid Variant To Be Wary Of
New CDC data show this particular covid variant represents nearly 1 in 10 new covid cases, triple its estimated infection rate from just two weeks ago. Meanwhile the WHO has upgraded BA.2.86, plus subvariants, to a variant of "interest." Also: U.S. flu hospitalizations are continuing to rise.
Nearly 1 in 10 new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are from the BA.2.86 variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Monday, nearly triple what the agency estimated the highly mutated variant's prevalence was two weeks ago.聽Among the handful of regions with enough specimens reported from testing laboratories, BA.2.86's prevalence is largest in the Northeast: 13.1% of cases in the New York and New Jersey region are blamed on the strain. (Tin, 11/27)
The World 国产精品视频 Organization (WHO) last week reclassified the Omicron BA.2.86 variant鈥攁nd its offshoots, including JN.1鈥攁s a variant of interest as global proportions grow, including in the United States, where it now makes up about 9% of circulating viruses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today. (Schnirring, 11/27)
Also 鈥
U.S. vaccine maker Moderna began construction of its first facility in China this month to manufacture mRNA medicines, the company said on Tuesday. Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine has yet to be approved in China, but the company said in July it had signed a deal with the city government of China's financial hub Shanghai to work towards opportunities for it to research, develop and manufacture mRNA medicines in the country. (Silver, 11/27)
A surge of respiratory illnesses related to flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other infections has been sweeping across some parts of China and mainly infecting children, as the country experiences its first full winter since easing COVID-19 restrictions. Amid media reports of "undiagnosed pneumonia" cases overwhelming hospitals over the past few weeks, health authorities have insisted that the uptick is linked to common illnesses. (Benadjaoud and Kekatos, 11/27)
Flu cases are rising across the United States 鈥
Seasonal influenza cases continued to edge upward in most parts of the United States last week, with notable upticks in the south central, southeast, Mountain, and West Coast regions, according to the latest report today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). FluView data for the week ending November 18 show an overall 4.9% hike in flu positivity, up 0.5 percentage points from last week. The highest positivity rates were in the Mountain (11.2%), south central (7.6%), southeast (7.6%), and West Coast (7.2%) regions. (Van Beusekom, 11/27)
And in other health alerts 鈥
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researchers report the first known cluster of ocular syphilis cases linked to a common heterosexual partner, which they say suggests the presence of an unidentified causative bacterial strain with increased risk for systemic complications. (Van Beusekom, 11/27)
For First Time, New Swine Flu Variant May Have Infected A Person In The UK
News outlets cover what's said to be the first time a flu strain normally found in pigs has infected people in the United Kingdom. But the story is fuzzy: Authorities, for example, don't know how the patient became infected and do not know if there is community spread of this exact type of porcine flu.
UK health officials have reported a person with a flu strain typically found in pigs, marking the first time this variant has been detected in a human in the country. The UK 国产精品视频 Security Agency is working to determine any risks the pathogen might pose to human health, it said in a statement Monday. The person experienced only a mild illness and has fully recovered, according to the agency. (Fourcade, 11/27)
The individual concerned had experienced a mild illness and fully recovered. The UK 国产精品视频 Security Agency (UKHSA) said that the case was detected as part of routine national flu surveillance and the source of infection was not known. (11/27)
Authorities are unsure of how the UK patient became infected, leaving open the possibility that the virus is spreading in the community. And mild symptoms in one patient isn鈥檛 a guarantee of mild symptoms in others, if they become infected, experts tell Fortune. ... The infection marks the first time the exact type of H1N2 virus has been detected in humans, though an incredibly similar strain has been detected in area pigs. There have been a total of 50 human cases of H1N2 reported globally since 2005. But none are genetically related to the clade, or subgroup, just detected in the U.K.: 1b.1.1. (Prater, 11/27)
Ransomware Attack Forces 2 ERs In New Jersey To Divert Patients
Hospitals in Westwood and Montclair, New Jersey had to turn away patients from their emergency rooms after the facilities became aware on Thanksgiving of the probable cyberattack.
A ransomware attack on a health system in New Jersey is forcing two hospitals in the state to divert patients coming to their emergency rooms to other facilities. ... EMS personnel and patients coming to Mountainside Medical Center's emergency room in Montclair had to be diverted to other facilities Monday, according to a hospital spokesperson. Ardent 国产精品视频 Services, which runs the hospital, blamed the move on a ransomware attack. (Sloan, 11/27)
In other health industry developments 鈥
As nonprofit hospitals鈥 expenses rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, they provided proportionally less free or discounted care, also known as charity care. But the trend may shift as Medicaid beneficiaries lose coverage and as lawmakers ramp up pressure on providers. Nonprofit hospitals鈥 median operating costs jumped roughly 20% from 2020 to 2022 ... The increase may explain, in part, why health systems鈥 median charity care as a percentage of operating expenses declined from 1.21% to 0.99% over that time period. (Kacik, 11/27)
After an eight-week trial in Venice, a jury this month held Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital liable for mistreatment of Maya Kowalski. The St. Petersburg hospital now must pay over $260 million in damages. In June, a Netflix documentary called 鈥淭ake Care of Maya" was released. It shares the Kowalski family's emotional story about the care Maya received when she visited the hospital in 2016. (Bowman, 11/27)
KFF 国产精品视频 News:
Back Pain? Bum Knee? Be Prepared To Wait For A Physical Therapist聽
At no point along his three-year path to earning a degree in physical therapy has Matthew Lee worried about getting a job. Being able to make a living off that degree? That鈥檚 a different question 鈥 and the answer is affecting the supply of physical therapists across the nation: The cost of getting trained is out of proportion to the pay. (Kreidler, 11/28)
You'll Lose More Weight And Do It Faster With Mounjaro, Data Show
An analysis found that within one year of starting treatment, 42% of those taking tirzepatide (Mounjaro and Zepbound) had dropped at least 15% of their weight. In the same time, 19% of those taking semaglutide (Wegovy and Ozempic) had done the same.
Overweight or obese adults lost more weight and shed pounds faster using Eli Lilly's Mounjaro than those taking Novo Nordisk's popular rival weight loss drug, according to an analysis of health records and other data. Within one year of starting treatment, 42.3% of those taking tirzepatide - the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound - had lost at least 15% of their weight, compared with 19.3% among patients taking semaglutide - the main ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, the study published on medRxiv in advance of peer review found. (Lapid, 11/27)
In related news about menopause treatments 鈥
Kymberly Smith had had enough. It was February 2020, and she was grieving the sudden death of her husband when Covid lockdowns began. She was alone, without any access to her support network, and she was 鈥渋n the throes of menopause.鈥 Eventually, Ms. Smith, 57, started using antidepressants for her grief. She was also on hormone therapy to ease her constant hot flashes and disruptive night sweats. But when it came to the 20 pounds she had gained, around her belly, she 鈥渏ust couldn鈥檛 shake it away.鈥 (Gupta and Blum, 11/27)
Hormone replacement therapies have long been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use by cisgender patients, such as women who take estrogen when going through menopause. Now, for the first time, a nonprofit group is pursuing research with the goal of FDA approval for the use of estrogen as a gender-affirming treatment for trans and gender-diverse patients. (Gaffney, 11/28)
In other news 鈥
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved the first treatment for people with desmoid tumors, a localized cancer that invades soft tissue and muscle. The new drug, called Ogsiveo, is made by Springworks Therapeutics. It鈥檚 the company鈥檚 first approved medicine. (Feuerstein, 11/27)
Investors, analysts, doctors, and even patients face an avalanche of news from biotech companies about their human trials of experimental drugs, and wading through all that data to draw reasonable conclusions is a challenging task. This week, STAT has published a 2023 update of its Guide to Interpreting Clinical Trial Results, which can help consumers of company readouts navigate the process. (11/28)
Just 3% of more than 3,700 studies run exclusively in Canada over a recent 10-year period were registered prospectively, reported results, and published the findings, underscoring ongoing concerns about clinical trial transparency, according to a new analysis. (Silverman, 11/27)
When Victoria Gray was still a baby, she started howling so inconsolably during a bath that she was rushed to the emergency room. The diagnosis was sickle-cell disease, a genetic condition that causes bouts of excruciating pain ... Four years ago, she joined a groundbreaking clinical trial that would change her life. She became the first sickle-cell patient to be treated with the gene-editing technology CRISPR鈥攁nd one of the first humans to be treated with CRISPR, period. (Zhang, 11/27)
Amid concerns over the use of medically important antibiotics given to food-producing livestock, sales of veterinary medicines across Europe dropped by 53% between 2011 and 2022, which regulators reported is the biggest drop ever recorded and a sign that campaigns to reduce usage are working. (Silverman, 11/27)
Researchers at the University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division found that trans-vaccenic acid (TVA) 鈥 a long-chain fatty acid in meat and dairy products from grazing animals like cows and sheep 鈥 improves the ability of CD8+ T cells in the immune system infiltrate tumors and kill cancer cells. The research was published last week聽in the journal聽Nature. It shows in addition that people with higher levels of TVA circulating in their blood responded better to immunotherapy. (Harrington, 11/27)
New Zealand鈥檚 new right-wing government has said it will repeal a law that would have gradually banned all cigarette sales in the country over the course of several decades. The law, passed by a previous government led by Jacinda Ardern, a prime minister who became an international liberal icon, took effect this year and was celebrated as a potential model that other countries might someday follow. It would have gradually introduced changes in retail cigarette sales and licensing over several years until tobacco could eventually no longer be legally sold in New Zealand. (Ives and Frost, 11/28)
Study: Indiana Lost $4.2 Billion In 2019 On Untreated Mental Illness
A new study throws a sharp light on the broader economic impact of a health system not properly addressing mental health needs, with Indiana's leading crop sales not even equaling the economic cost of untreated mental illness.
Newly published research in Indiana shows the state lost $4.2 billion in 2019 due to untreated mental illness, according to the JAMA Network study. For context, corn, Indiana鈥檚 leading commodity, generated $3.8 billion in sales the year before. Indiana lawmakers recently adopted a new law to improve access to mental health care. Still, those efforts are not nearly enough to help hundreds of thousands of people navigate a complex system and find treatment. Measuring untreated mental illness and putting a price tag on it is difficult because individuals who are untreated have little to no interaction with the healthcare system, said Heather Taylor, the study鈥檚 lead author. (Gabriel, 11/27)
For more than a decade, Sam Buser watched the lights of fire trucks bounce off the city streets of Houston, heard the roars of burning blazes and stood before the caskets of too many firefighters. He never held a hose or kicked in a door, but, as senior psychologist for the Houston Fire Department, he spent many sleepless nights at fire stations. His job was to convince those who run toward the fire that it's okay to help themselves. (Simpson, 11/27)
Elizabeth Marcella says when her son turned five years old, she knew something was wrong.聽"He was three and four years old and super confident kid and then something changed." ...聽After COVID hit she is one of many parents who became deeply concerned about her child's mental health.聽That's when she discovered Pinnacle Partnerships in Brockton, a non-profit organization that provides resources, education and empowerment to families who are raising kids with mental health needs.聽(Burton, 11/27)
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., knows talking about loneliness is not the most natural fit for a lawmaker. But he knew he was on to something after receiving an overwhelming response from constituents to an op-ed he wrote for a conservative news website. 鈥淚 got more feedback from that piece in Connecticut than anything else that I鈥檝e written in the last five years,鈥 Murphy said about his op-ed for The Bulwark. 鈥淎nd so back home, I immediately can tell that people really were crying out for somebody in politics to talk about the issue of loneliness.鈥 (Hagen, 11/28)
If you are in need of help 鈥
In related news 鈥
In 2004, Mike Gemignani enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school. A forward observer, he directed artillery units and Apache attack helicopters to their targets during his two tours in Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division. He eventually left the military, went to college and settled into a job. But a slow trickle of anxiety and depression soon followed. (Satter, 11/28)
KFF 国产精品视频 News:
She Once Advised The President On Aging Issues. Now, She鈥檚 Battling Serious Disability And Depression.
The GoFundMe request jumped out at me as I was scrolling through posts on LinkedIn. Nora Super, executive director of the 2015 White House Conference on Aging and former director of the Milken Institute鈥檚 Center for the Future of Aging, was seeking contributions after suffering a severe spinal cord injury. 鈥淩ight now, I have no feeling below the waist. I need lots of equipment to go home from the hospital and live safely and independently,鈥 she wrote in her appeal. (Graham, 11/28)
KFF 国产精品视频 News:
鈥楨verybody In This Community Has A Gun鈥: How Oakland Lost Its Grip On Gun Violence
The red-tipped bullet pierces skin and melts into it, Javier Velasquez Lopez explains. The green-tipped bullet penetrates armored vests. And the hollow-tipped bullet expands as it tears through bodies. At 19, Velasquez Lopez knows a lot about ammunition because many of his friends own guns, he said. They carry to defend themselves in East Oakland, where metal bars protect shop windows and churches stand behind tall, chain-link fences. Some people even hide AR-15-style assault weapons down their pants legs, he said. (Young, 11/28)
New Pennsylvania Law Bans Pelvic Exams On Anesthetized Patients
Beginning in January, medical students are barred from performing pelvic or rectal exams without a patient's verbal and written consent. Also in the news: a biomarker testing bill in New York; pressure on Texas food banks; delayed wheelchair repairs in Massachusetts; and more.
A new Pennsylvania law will require doctors to get a patient's verbal and written consent before medical students can perform pelvic or rectal exams on someone who receives anesthesia. At a press conference Monday, supporters touted the recently enacted legislation, which goes into effect in January. Tracking how often medical students are asked to perform pelvic, rectal or prostate exams on anesthetized patients is difficult, but concern about the procedures has led to a broad national effort to require informed consent for the procedures. (11/27)
A bill on Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk would make insurance companies cover what doctors call life-saving cancer genetic testing. Biomarker testing helps create more targeted treatment plans. However, one-third of health plans don't currently cover it. ... "If a doctor determines that a biomarker test would help them figure out the best course of medicine, it should be covered as standard of care," said Michael Davoli of the American Cancer Society. (Gusoff, 11/27)
Usually, the Town of Navassa鈥檚 Community Center parking lot is empty on Sundays, but that wasn鈥檛 the case the weekend before Thanksgiving. Navassa, a predominantly Black community, is in Brunswick County and gets its drinking water from the Cape Fear River, as does its neighbor Wilmington, which is about six miles southeast. That makes the town鈥檚 residents prime candidates to join the GenX Exposure Study, a multisite study where environmental health researchers are examining the blood of people who鈥檝e been exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which have contaminated waterways throughout the state.聽And that鈥檚 why cars were in the center鈥檚 lot on Sunday. (Atwater, 11/28)
Two pilot programs intended to address chronically delayed wheelchair repairs are themselves taking months longer than planned to launch. Mass国产精品视频, which is responsible for the pilot programs, was supposed to have two vendors in place to run the programs by this fall. The state鈥檚 Medicaid administrator now anticipates both contractors won鈥檛 be in place until August 2024. (Laughlin, 11/27)
Twice a week starting around 6:30 a.m., drivers head to a parking lot in South Austin. Once there, volunteers direct them into orderly rows, where they are ushered forward one-by-one to open their doors and receive a bundle of free food. (Peters, 11/28)
Viewpoints: Too Many People Are Dying From Hepatitis C; It's Time For Novel Mental 国产精品视频 Treatments
Editorial writers tackle hepatitis C, mental health treatments, lung cancer, and more.
Each year, about 15,000 Americans die from hepatitis C, many in their 40s and 50s. Given the safe and effective cure available for the last nine years, the correct number of deaths in 2023 should be zero.Put simply, we are squandering one of the most important medical advances of the 21st century. It鈥檚 time to eliminate this threat to the health of Americans. (Francis Collins, 11/28)
The National Institute of Mental 国产精品视频 reported roughly 1 in 5 American adults live with a mental illness, and yet new therapies for some of the more severe diagnoses have largely been stagnant for several decades, until recently. Take schizophrenia for example鈥攐ur health care system has been reliant on the same treatment options since the early 1950s. (Kyle Rasbach, 11/27)
Only about 1 in 4 cases of lung cancer are diagnosed in early stages. Why? A key reason is that the screening rate is abysmally low. According to a report last year from the American Lung Association, less than 6 percent of eligible Americans receive annual low-dose CT scans. In some states, the screening rates are as low as 1 percent. (Leana S. Wen, 11/28)
Over the past several years, it鈥檚 been hard to miss the famous faces from the 1960s and 鈥70s who are now in their 70s or 80s endorsing Medicare Advantage plans to America鈥檚 seniors. These celebrities鈥攚hether they are renowned former football player Joe Namath or actors known for their roles on prime-time TV (like Jimmy Walker and William Devane)鈥攁re promoting the additional benefits of MA health plans over traditional Medicare, all at no extra cost. Who wouldn鈥檛 be tempted by such an offer? (Chip Kahn, 11/28)
Menopause has really come into its own in 2023. From Microsoft Corp. to the National Basketball Association and British bank Standard Chartered Plc, companies are implementing policies and offering benefits to women managing the symptoms of the natural aging process. (Andreea Papuc, 11/27)
This was supposed to be the year for a new Farm Bill, the five-year legislation that funds farm subsidy programs, conservation efforts and food assistance for low-income Americans. Unsurprisingly, our dysfunctional Congress couldn鈥檛 get its act together for what is usually a bipartisan effort and chose to punt instead, extending by one year the 2018 Farm Bill that expired on Sept. 30. The extension means that agricultural landowners will get government money that otherwise would have dried up at year-end, and 40 million people will continue to receive food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. (11/27)
To be sure, there was once a time when destroying Obamacare, a.k.a. the Affordable Care Act, was a winning issue for Republicans. For the first few years after the marquee health-care law passed in 2010, many voters despised it. The law鈥檚 favorability was underwater in almost every poll for the first six years of its existence. (Catherine Rampell, 11/28)