Viewpoints: Trump, GOP Are Succeeding In Undermining Obamacare, But Blame Will Be On Their Shoulders
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
Los Angeles Times:
The Costs Of Trump's Sabotage Of Obamacare Already Are Showing Up In Rate Hikes
The easiest prediction to make about the healthcare business was that the efforts by Congress and the Trump administration to sabotage the Affordable Care Act would produce a flood of rate hikes by insurers for 2018. We are now standing on the edge of the water. Early rate requests have come in from insurers in five states, according to ace ACA-tracker Charles Gaba, who calculates the weighted average rate request increase in those states at about 30% (that is, weighted for the enrollment of each insurer). (Michael Hiltzik, 5/16)
Los Angeles Times:
Trump And Congress Are About To Take An Ax To Children's Healthcare
Republican lawmakers seldom target children’s health programs with the fervid hostility they aim at Obamacare or Medicaid, but there are pockets of opposition. As a Georgia state legislator, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price voted twice, in 2007 and 2008, against expanding CHIP in his state to cover millions more kids. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/15)
Los Angeles Times:
Miss USA Spoke For Many Americans When She Said Healthcare Isn't A Right
[W]e probably shouldn’t be surprised that the person who has most clearly articulated America’s core philosophical belief when it comes to healthcare is our newly crowned Miss USA, Kara McCullough. She was asked at this week’s celebration of swimsuits, evening gowns and womanhood whether she thought “affordable healthcare for all U.S. citizens is a right or a privilege.” "I'm definitely going to say it's a privilege," the 25-year-old answered without hesitation. ... Miss USA initially was voicing a position common to many Americans, mostly conservatives — a stance that has prevented the United States from joining all other developed countries in providing its citizens with universal coverage. (David Lazarus, 5/19)
Ventura County Star:
Mental Health Cuts That Make Sense
The American Health Care Act, the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare, included a late amendment that allows states to opt out of the requirement that insurers provide Essential Health Benefits. One of those benefits is mental health and addiction treatment. Trumpcare also would scale back Medicaid, and “patients with mental health and addiction disorders will be especially hurt as they disproportionately rely on traditional Medicaid,” the National Council for Behavioral Health says. We find this and many other aspects of Trumpcare deplorable, and we hope the Senate devises a more compassionate plan. In the meantime, however, given the drift of our federal government, it would behoove local governments to review the effectiveness of their health programs and shift funding to the greatest needs, which is what Ventura County is doing. (5/15)
Sacramento Bee:
California Must House Its Mentally Ill
A report by the nonpartisan Stanford Justice Advocacy Project finds that 30 percent of California state inmates receive treatment for serious mental disorders, a 150 percent increase since 2000. At least in prison they receive care, though no one truly believes prison is the appropriate setting for severely mentally ill people. (5/15)
Orange County Register:
Ending Mental Health Stigma
We need to have a frank discussion about mental health in our community. ... Red flags indicating issues in children and adolescents’ mental health are often overlooked and dismissed. The unfortunate reality is that 50 percent of mental health conditions begin by age 14 and 75 percents begin before age 24 according to a report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. (Andrew Do, 5/13)
The San Diego Union-Tribune:
Is San Diego County Doing Enough To Prevent Suicides In Its Jails?
Over the past 12 years, 46 people have committed suicide in San Diego County jails, according to a report released this month by the county grand jury. The report cites data from the Sheriff’s Department, which runs the county’s seven detention facilities. The May 4 report also says the suicide rate in San Diego County’s jails is the highest in all of California’s large county jail systems. Something’s wrong with that as well. (Dana Littlefield, 5/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Make Good On A Tobacco Tax Promise To Pay Higher Rates To Medi-Cal Doctors
The $183.4-billion revised spending plan [Gov. Jerry] Brown unveiled Thursday restores some things that were on the chopping block in January and even finds a little more money to hand out. There’s $1.4 billion more for education above the amount required by Proposition 98. There’s $500 million more to pay child care providers. There’s about $400 million more to help counties pay for in-home health services and $6.5 million more for the California attorney general to fight President Trump. But no more for Medi-Cal providers? (5/12)
Los Angeles Times:
Another Way The Rich Get Richer: Study Shows A Widening Gap In Life Expectancy Between Rich And Poor
The United States can take pride in one indisputable marker of racial equality: The gap in life expectancy between the white and black populations has narrowed over time. What was a disparity of more than eight years for Americans born in 1950 has closed to just over three years for those born in 2014, according to actuarial estimates. But let’s not pat ourselves on the back. A different disparity has opened up: The gap in life expectancy between wealthy and low-income Americans is wide and growing wider. And that has implications not only for lifetime health and wealth, but for Social Security. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/16)
Orange County Register:
Community Effort Needed On Homelessness
For far too long, our society has dropped its social ills at government’s doorstep and, after nearly 53 years of the federal “war on poverty,” it has little to show for it. But government has a strange way of measuring success, where increases in the welfare rolls are seen as a success, rather than focusing on boosting the numbers of those who no longer need a handout. In speaking with Supervisor Todd Spitzer, County Executive Officer Frank Kim, Director of Care Coordinator Susan Price and other representatives of the county health agencies recently, they are keenly aware of the issues. (5/19)
Orange County Register:
Change Needed To Help Preschoolers With Mental Health Issues
What do you picture when you hear that a child has been kicked out of school following a series of disruptive behaviors? My guess is that you’re imagining a troubled teenager. But that expelled student is three times more likely to be a toddler. While that statistic might be startling to many, those of us who work in the early childhood education and health sectors have long been familiar with the challenges young children face in systems that were not designed to recognize or treat their unique emotional and mental health needs. (Sandra Pierce, 5/19)
Los Angeles Times:
Republican Couple Who Lost A Son Want Their GOP Back, Fewer Guns, And A Return Of Statesmanship
These pitchfork rallies have been happening all over the country, with ticked-off voters speaking up about immigration and environmental policy too. On healthcare, Trump recently took bows for a half-baked House bill that bulldozed some of his oft-repeated promises about better and cheaper healthcare for all. And Democrats — who happen to be having their own nationally televised identity crisis — see that as an opportunity to bounce Republicans in next year’s midterm elections. (Steve Lopez, 5/17)
Los Angeles Times:
Texas Wants To Use Federal Money To Attack Planned Parenthood — And Trump Just Might Provide It
Five years ago, Texas voluntarily gave up $30 million a year in federal funding for women’s health programs, just so it could exclude Planned Parenthood from the roster of approved providers. Instead, the state established its own so-called Healthy Texas Women program in which it could set its own rules. Now, staggering under the cost of the program and hopeful that the Trump administration will see things its way, Texas is applying for a restoration of the federal subsidy under the same terms. Signals from the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services suggest the state might succeed. If so, some other states may follow, and the cause of women’s reproductive health will suffer a major blow. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/18)
Los Angeles Times:
No Sanctuary For Marijuana In California
When Californians approved Proposition 64 to legalize marijuana in California last November, it was no secret that the drug would remain illegal under federal law. But that fundamental contradiction seemed manageable at the moment .... Now, however, we have President Trump, who seems to have forgotten his laissez faire stance on marijuana, and Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, who comes from the “Reefer Madness” school of law enforcement. Proponents of Proposition 64 ... rightly worry that the federal government may decide to crack down on cannabis operators even if they fully comply with state rules. It’s understandable that state lawmakers want to resist potential federal intervention. But a proposal to make California a so-called sanctuary state for marijuana is not the way to go. (5/16)