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Today, the merger of Luxottica and Essilor threatens to create a vision care monopoly and you don’t need a corrected prescription to clearly see it will harm consumers with higher prices and less choice. The question remains: When will we be tough enough to prevent harmful consolidation? It’s easy to see why the merger of Essilor and Luxottica should be denied. The merger would combine the world’s largest eyewear company with the world’s largest manufacturer of optical lenses. But that is an oversimplification. The merger also involves the U.S.’s second largest vision insurance company, owned by Luxottica, and the U.S.’s largest optical retailer, composed of many companies all owned by Luxottica. (David Balto, 11/28)

The Department of Defense has long sought to make free-dried blood plasma available to treat seriously wounded military personnel on the battlefield, to increase the likelihood that they survive to reach more suitable medical care. Freeze-dried plasma was used in World War II and the Korean War, but was abandoned because of concern over transmission of blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis, which at that time could not be detected in donated blood. Since then, French and German companies have developed safer freeze-dried plasma products. They have been available in Europe since 1991, but have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). ... Even 10 years after the application for the French product was filed, the FDA still has not approved it, which limits military use to a restricted set of circumstances. The more recent product developed by the U.S. Army is even farther behind in the approval process. (Robert Book, 11/28)

Why would Christian conservatives in good conscience go to the polls Dec. 12 and vote for Judge Roy Moore, despite the charges of sexual misconduct with teenagers leveled against him? Answer: That Alabama Senate race could determine whether Roe v. Wade is overturned. The lives of millions of unborn may be the stakes. Republicans now hold 52 Senate seats. If Democrats pick up the Alabama seat, they need only two more to recapture the Senate, and with it the power to kill any conservative court nominee, as they killed Robert Bork. (Patrick Buchanan, 11/28)

In September, House Speaker Paul Ryan let the Community Health Center Fund lapse. Now, unless Congress acts to renew this funding, our health centers are bracing for a 70 percent budget cut. (Barbara Lee, 11/28)

The Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) usually flies under the radar, but this year it’s about to blow a massive hole in California’s budget. ... This year, Congress blew its Oct. 1 deadline to renew CHIP funding, mostly because it was focused on a lamentable effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act. (11/28)

There is a signature issue to guide the Democrats forward in 2018, 2020, and beyond. It is an issue that Americans are passionate about — one that has clear, distinct policy proposals. And, as we have seen in recent weeks, it is a winning issue: gun violence prevention. ... The NRA has lost ground largely because the “passion gap” between pro-gun voters and gun violence prevention voters has all but evaporated. Voters — both Democrats and Republicans — are tired of the NRA’s extreme, dangerous agenda, they are voicing their outrage, and leaders are listening. (Josh Horwitz, 11/28)

Missourians enjoy the right to own and carry firearms though the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Missouri Constitution, and state statutes, but firearms safety should be an important part of firearms ownership for the armed citizen. (Aaron Evans, 11/28)

It’s official. The for-profit insurers contracted to manage Iowa's Medicaid program can do anything. They are calling the shots while the Iowa Department of Human Services appears to have lost control over the $4 billion program it is supposed to oversee. Isn’t DHS director Jerry Foxhoven tired of scrambling to cobble together "fixes" in response to the demands and whims of private insurers? Iowans are sure tired of it. (11/28)

This week, the Bipartisan Policy Center will release a report summarizing research linking affordable housing, the majority of which is financed through [the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit], to improvements in health behaviors and outcomes. The evidence is building that housing affordability, the neighborhood’s environment and conditions within the home are all important determinants of health. This has stimulated states and affordable housing development agencies to begin looking at ways LIHTC may be used to improve health. Therefore, we strongly support greater federal investment in this important program. (Anand Parekh and Caitlin Krutsick, 11/27)

This return to the criminalization of drug users will set back efforts to solve this epidemic. I know this not only because of what almost every measurement shows us about the failure of the war on drugs, but because of my own life. When I was addicted to heroin, I avoided treatment for years in fear of being labeled an addict or treated like a criminal, the way I saw my friends were--most of whom eventually relapsed due to the pressure of that stigma. Kids (and adults) can say no to drugs all they want—but that’s not going to help us solve the addiction problem we already have on our hands. (Elizabeth Brico, 11/28)

For thousands of Californians suffering from chronic and persistent illnesses, access to quality, affordable medical care is essential to their overall health. Yet, these patients have a one-in-four chance of being denied coverage by their insurance provider, according to a recent poll. (Seth Ginsberg, 11/28)

Early-career health professionals may feel like a cog in a gargantuan unchangeable machine. That feeling, if left untreated, can devolve into cynicism and disillusionment. It can lead to higher rates of job turnover, and subsequently poorer care coordination and patient outcomes. With the Health Activist Network, we want to show young professionals that they control the lever. We want to harness the passion that guided them toward the medical field in the first place and use it for real-world improvements in the communities where they work and live. If you say you want a health care revolution, we don’t want to “change your head”—we want to help you make it happen. (Karen Wolk Feinstein, 11/28)