Gregg's Top Three Health Policy Articles

Health policy impacts everyone, but it can be hard to know what is important.  If you can only read three things about health policy this week, I suggest...

The Top Three...

The New York Times: Appeals Court Says Abortion Pill Can Remain Available But Imposes Temporary Restrictions A federal appeals court ruled late Wednesday that the abortion pill mifepristone could remain available, but the judges blocked the drug from being sent to patients through the mail and rolled back other steps the government had taken to ease access in recent years. The three-judge panel said its ruling would hold until the full case is heard on appeal. (Belluck, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Suicide Rates Rose In 2021 After Two Years In Decline Suicide rates rose in 2021 after two years in decline, federal data showed, driven by more deaths among men in nearly every age group. Suicides rates increased 4% in 2021 from a year earlier to 14.1 deaths per 100,000 people, the National Center for Health Statistics said on Thursday, the largest one-year increase in data collected from 2001 to 2021. For men, the rate was 22.8 deaths per 100,000, roughly four times that for women. (Wernau, 4/13)

KHN: No-Cost Preventive Services Are Now In Jeopardy. Here’s What You Need To Know When a federal judge in Texas declared unconstitutional a popular part of the Affordable Care Act that ensures no-cost preventive care for certain services, such as screening exams for conditions such as diabetes, hepatitis, and certain cancers, it left a lot of people with a lot of questions. On the face of it, the March 30 decision could affect ACA and job-based insurance plans nationwide and a host of medical services now free for patients. (Appleby, 4/7)

For a Deeper Dive...

Modern Healthcare: CMS Proposes 2.8% Hospital Inpatient Reimbursement Hike Hospitals complying with quality reporting rules and the electronic health records meaningful-use policy would get a 2.8% net increase in Medicare reimbursements in fiscal 2024 under the hospital inpatient prospective payment system proposed rule published Monday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Turner, 4/10)

The New York Times: Abortion Ruling Could Undermine The F.D.A.’s Drug-Approval Authority A federal judge’s ruling to revoke the Food and Drug Administration’s longstanding approval of the abortion pill mifepristone poses threats to the U.S. government’s regulatory authority that could go far beyond one drug, legal experts say. The decision by a Texas judge appears to be the first time a court has moved toward ordering removal of an approved drug from the market over the objection of the F.D.A. (Jewett and Belluck, 4/10)

AP: States Confront Medical Debt That's Bankrupting Millions Cindy Powers was driven into bankruptcy by 19 life-saving abdominal operations. Medical debt started stacking up for Lindsey Vance after she crashed her skateboard and had to get nine stitches in her chin. And for Misty Castaneda, open heart surgery for a disease she’d had since birth saddled her with $200,000 in bills. ... Now lawmakers in at least a dozen states and the U.S. Congress have pushed legislation to curtail the financial burden that’s pushed many into untenable situations: forgoing needed care for fear of added debt, taking a second mortgage to pay for cancer treatment or slashing grocery budgets to keep up with payments. (Bedayn, 4/13)

The Washington Post: GOP Eyes New Work Requirements For Millions On Medicaid, Food Stamps House Republicans are eyeing new work requirements for millions of low-income Americans who receive health insurance, money to buy food and other financial aid from the federal government, reprising the party’s historic crusade against welfare as some lawmakers seek new ways to slash spending. In recent weeks, the GOP has focused its attention on two anti-poverty programs: Medicaid, which enrolls the poorest families in health insurance, and food stamps, which provide grocery benefits to those in need. Top lawmakers including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have publicly endorsed rules that could force some enrollees to find a job and work longer hours — or risk losing the government’s help entirely. (Romm and Roubein, 4/11)

You Might Also Enjoy...

JAMA:  After a Texas Judge Invalidated the ACA’s No-Cost Mandate for Common Preventive Care Under Private Insurance, What Can Patients Expect?  R Rubin

For the Visual Among Us...

A few years ago I started a weekly e-mail for friends and colleagues who want to keep up on major federal health policy developments but did not have time to plod through all the minutiae--they were busy doing important things like running organizations and taking care of patients!  Much to my surprise, it became pretty popular.  I have now converted to a weekly newsletter format so you can manage your own subscription preferences and forward to others that might be interested.  

These summaries represent my judgement on health policy issues that may not on the front pages, but are relevant to clinicians, administrators, and educators.  I monitor many news sources and clipping services to identify content for this newsletter and I try hard to be as factual, balanced, and non-partisan as possible.  While the articles are written by others (with credit attributed), the choice of what to include is entirely mine.  If you are interested in receiving a daily summary of health policy news, you might consider signing up for the KHN Morning Briefing.  If you enjoy podcasts, I suggest What the Health?

-Gregg S. Margolis, PhD