Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: RFK Jr. Is Dragging Public Health Backward; HHS Overhaul Would Make Health Care Affordable
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is steering public health far off course. This diversion becomes more dangerous and difficult to correct each passing week. (Lisa Jarvis, 5/6)
In 鈥淲e鈥檝e Got You Covered,鈥 Liran Einav and Amy Finkelstein describe America鈥檚 existing patchwork of health care payment arrangements as a 鈥渢eardown.鈥 I agree. I support downsizing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), eliminating many programs, rolling back regulations, and creating a new system modeled on Social Security that will be simpler, less administratively burdensome, more affordable, and more effective at improving Americans鈥 health. (Charles M. Silver, 5/6)
Five years ago, U.S. pharmaceutical companies didn鈥檛 license any new drugs from China. By 2024, one-third of their new compounds were coming from Chinese biotechnology firms. Why are U.S. drugmakers sending their business to China? As in many other industries, it鈥檚 so much cheaper to synthesize new compounds inside Chinese biotechnology firms once a novel biological target has been discovered in American laboratories. (Scott Gottlieb, 5/6)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently claimed he doesn鈥檛 see older adults with what he calls 鈥渇ull-blown autism鈥 鈥 and that this somehow supports his long-debunked theory about vaccines. As two Bay Area moms raising autistic children, we鈥檝e heard this line before. It鈥檚 not just wrong. It鈥檚 dangerous. (Kelley Jensen and Julianna Scott, 5/4)
Having grown up in rural Arkansas, I have an acute awareness of the challenges many in our country face when it comes to health care. Quality care wasn鈥檛 always accessible, and the decision of whether to pay medical or utility bills was a real dilemma for my family and others in our community. (Christopher Boerner, 5/5)