Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Why Do We Know So Little About Long Covid?; Biden Was Right About Obamacare
In America today, about 16 million people throughout our country have long COVID-19. It affects people of all ages and from all backgrounds. And we don鈥檛 know why. (Bernie Sanders, 1/26)
In 2010, at the signing of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, Joe Biden, the vice president at the time, was caught on a hot mic telling President Barack Obama that the bill was a 鈥渂ig deal.鈥 OK, there was actually another word in the middle. Anyway, Biden was right. (Paul Krugman, 1/25)
Affordability is on the mind of every American in 2024. From groceries to gas, Americans are spending more. Health care is no different, especially for those with costly medical conditions and high deductibles who started back at $0 of their "deductible met" on January 1. (Bobby Jindal, 1/25)
The crisis in U.S. maternal health outcomes, persistent racial inequities and rural and urban maternity deserts are the equivalent of a five alarm fire. Since 2017, there has been increasing public outcry as even the United Nations has highlighted this tragedy in the nation that spends more on health care per capita than any other. (Joia Crear Perry and Steve Calvin, 1/25)
When I enter, 鈥渨hat is pediatrics?鈥 into an image search engine, I get back dozens of stock photos with smiling physicians listening to beaming children鈥檚 hearts or looking in their ears. I love those images. They reflect the routine joy and trust that encompass many days in the life of a pediatrician. Increasingly, though, the answer to that question doesn鈥檛 quite match the happy imagery. (Ben Hoffman, 1/26)
Whether benign or malignant, prostate issues are common in men especially as they get older. (Austin is 70, Charles is 75.) According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is the second most common cancer among men nationwide. And when detected and treated early, the five-year survival rate is nearly 100 percent, according to the American Cancer Society. (Renee Graham, 1/26)