All Eyes Are On ACA Lawsuit Slated For Arguments Next Week, As Midterms Inch Ever Closer
The lawsuit will be heard starting next Wednesday. The case is providing Democrats with talking points on the campaign trail over a potential threat to preexisting conditions protections.
The Hill:
Washington's Fall Agenda: Pre-Existing Conditions Fight Takes Center Stage In Midterms
Health care is one of the issues taking center stage in this November’s midterm elections as Democrats press Republicans on preserving protections for pre-existing conditions under ObamaCare. But there is also plenty of unfinished work for Congress and the administration this fall, from passing opioid legislation to tackling drug costs. (Hellmann and Sullivan, 8/30)
In other national health care news —
The New York Times:
How Modern Medicine Has Changed The Supreme Court
Two related health trends mean that each Supreme Court nomination now has the potential to shape the nation’s highest court for far longer than in the past. One is that Americans live decades longer than they did when the country was founded. At the same time, medical and public health advances have changed the dominant causes of death from infectious to chronic diseases. Infectious diseases typically kill fast, while chronic ones have a longer course. This shift toward a longer and slower decline, as opposed to more rapid death, means that justices are more able to select the administrations and political environments in which to end their terms — to, in effect, pass the baton. (Khullar and Jena, 8/31)
CNN:
Technology Is Changing The Way You See A Doctor, But Is That Good For Your Health?
One morning, Charlie Latuske woke up feverish and somewhat delirious in his home in Surrey in the UK, leaving him unable to function and in need of a doctor. He'd endured a sore throat and general malaise for a few days, believing it would get better, but that morning in August 2017, he knew that he had to do something about it."I was quite out of it," said 27-year old Latuske, who was also due to go on vacation with his wife in just three days. (Senthilingam, 8/30)
The Wall Street Journal:
Crispr Used To Repair Gene Mutation In Dogs With Muscular Dystrophy
Researchers used a gene-editing tool to repair a gene mutation in dogs with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, an important step in efforts to someday use the tool to edit DNA in people with the same fatal disease. In a study published Thursday in the journal Science, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and the Royal Veterinary College in London reported that they used the Crispr gene-editing system in four dogs to restore production of dystrophin, a protein crucial for healthy muscle function. (Marcus, 8/30)
Modern Healthcare:
Medicare ACOs Saved CMS $314 Million In 2017
The CMS made a profit from the Medicare Shared Savings Program last year as more accountable care organizations moved to risk-based contracts and gained experience, new federal data show. About 60% of the 472 Medicare ACOs generated a total of $1.1 billion in savings in 2017, according to the CMS data set released Thursday. The CMS paid $780 million in bonuses to the ACOs, but the agency still scored a $313.7 million gain from the program. (Castellucci and Dickson, 8/30)
The New York Times:
A Fertility Doctor Used His Sperm On Unwitting Women. Their Children Want Answers.
To couples at the end of their ropes who wanted children but could not conceive them for medical reasons, Dr. Donald Cline was a savior of sorts, offering to match the women with sperm from anonymous men resembling their partners. Many couples sought Dr. Cline out at his Indianapolis-area fertility clinic during the 1970s and ’80s. They had children, who grew up and had children of their own. (Zaveri, 8/30)
The New York Times:
The Bugs Are Coming, And They’ll Want More Of Our Food
Ever since humans learned to wrest food from soil, creatures like the corn earworm, the grain weevil and the bean fly have dined on our agricultural bounty. Worldwide, insect pests consume up to 20 percent of the plants that humans grow for food, and that amount will increase as global warming makes bugs hungrier, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science. That could encourage farmers to use more pesticides, which could cause further environmental harm, scientists said. (Pierre-Louis, 8/30)