Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: What's Driving The New Covid Vaccine Hesitancy?; Project 2025 Would Outlaw Mifepristone
The response has been almost like clockwork, at nearly every medical visit in the past few weeks. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time for the flu shot,鈥 I鈥檒l say to my patients, 鈥減lus the updated Covid vaccine.鈥 And that鈥檚 when the groans start. (Danielle Ofri, 1/27)
The destruction of Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson Women鈥檚 Health Organization was never going to be the end of the battle over abortion rights in America. Since Dobbs, progressive as well as swing states have passed ballot initiatives protecting or enshrining reproductive rights. Polls demonstrate near record support for legal abortion. (Mary Ziegler, 1/29)
I have written about how abortion bans implicate a broad set of rights tied to our personal and bodily autonomy, including the right to travel between states. And I have analogized this dynamic to the legal and political conflicts over slavery, which were about not just labor but also the right of free citizens to enjoy the privileges and immunities of U.S. citizenship, wherever in the country they happen to live. (Jamelle Bouie, 1/27)
To understand the conservative fervor around abortion, contraception, and LGBTQ rights, we have to understand the impact these relatively new rights have on the labor market. (Elizabeth Gregory, 1/29)
I鈥檓 often called upon to travel to meet with employers who provide BlueCross coverage to their staff. Not too long ago, I鈥檇 traveled to Memphis for just such a meeting. But after arriving at my hotel the night before, I started experiencing upper respiratory symptoms, cough and body aches.聽(Ian Hamlilton, 1/28)
I鈥檝e spent my career studying how different health care systems work. People love to ask me which country has the best care 鈥 and are often disappointed when I don鈥檛 have an easy answer for them. Every health care model involves people doing their best to balance competing priorities in the face of limited resources. In other words, every system involves tradeoffs. (Irene Papanicolas, 1/29)
Should terminally ill people be able to choose how they die? Six years after being diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer, Julie Petrow-Cohen decided to use medical aid in dying 鈥 or MAID, as it is often called 鈥 to end her life. But for many Americans in similar circumstances, this is not an option. (Steven Petrow, 1/27)