Gregg's Top Three Health Policy Articles

Well, a pretty exciting week in Washington DC. Health policy took a bit of a back seat to the twin dramas of averting a shut down and removing the Speaker of the House. Everybody in town is asking “what is next?” Still lots of health policy going on, and if you can only read three things about health policy this week, I suggest...

The Top Three...

The Washington Post: More Than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente Workers Begin Multistate Strike The work action, concentrated in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington state, was billed by labor organizers as the largest health-care strike in U.S. history. Representatives of hundreds of medical support staff positions — from front-line licensed vocational nurses and respiratory therapists to dietary services workers and housekeepers — picketed from coast to coast, saying they are overworked and underappreciated. Many expressed frustration that staffing problems prevent them from giving patients the best possible care. (Portnoy, Kaori Gurley and Gregg, 10/4)

AP: Biden Says That All 10 Drugs Targeted For The First Medicare Price Negotiations Will Participate “For decades, drug companies in America made record profits while big pharma worked to block Medicare from being able to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors. In fact, Americans now pay two to three times more than people in other countries for the exact same prescription drug made by the exact same company,” Biden said in an online video from the Oval Office. “So, my administration finally took a step to change that.” (Weissert, 10/3)

Politico: What The Funding Deal Means For Health Care Congress came together Saturday to secure a last-minute deal to continue government funding for 45 days and avoid a government shutdown, bucking the overwhelming consensus that a shutdown was inevitable. The “clean” stopgap measure — known as a continuing resolution — will keep government agencies like HHS running at current levels through Nov. 17. More than 200 House Democrats agreed to the patch, bailing out Republicans and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who were unable to unite on a deal to fund the government. (Leonard and Cirruzzo, 10/2)

For a Deeper Dive...

The Washington Post: Republican State Policies On Cigarettes, Seat Belts Shorten Life Spans Mike Czup unspooled the hose to wash his hearse. It was time to pick up the body of yet another neighbor who had died in the prime of life. Since he started working at 15 in the funeral business, Czup has seen plenty of tragedies. But the 52-year-old said he’s still coming to grips with a disturbing fact about the bodies he washes, embalms and entombs: About a quarter of the people he buries are younger than him, as residents in this once-thriving coal town are dying earlier and earlier. (Weber, Diamond and Keating, 10/3)

Modern Healthcare: Government Funding Bill Stalls Hospital, Health Program Cuts Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments, funding for federally qualified health centers, money for graduate medical education and the budget for the National Health Service Corps will continue to flow until Nov. 17 under the measure, which President Joe Biden signed soon after the House and Senate approved it on Saturday. preventing a government shutdown due to commence just hours later. (McAuliff, 10/2)

USA Today: Abortion: New Doctors Avoid Conservative States, Survey Shows A survey found new doctors are changing their plans to practice in states with abortion restrictions after the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. ... Residents who had intended to practice in abortion-restrictive states before the decision were eight times more likely to change their plans after the decision than new doctors who wanted to practice in states that protected abortion, according to the report published Thursday in Obstetrics & Gynecology, the official journal of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (Rodriguez, 9/29)

The Hill: Federal Judge Denies Request To Block Medicare Negotiation Along with denying the Chamber’s request for an injunction, Newman also denied a request from the federal government to dismiss the case entirely. The government is arguing the Chamber has no standing to sue over Medicare negotiation since it’s not a pharmaceutical company itself. (Choi, 9/29)

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? and Tradeoffs.

-Gregg S. Margolis, PhD