Administration Unveils Plans For Push To Enroll Young Adults In Health Plans
Social media and other digital strategies are at the center of the effort.
The Wall Street Journal:
Health-Insurance Push Targets Young Adults
The Obama administration will use targeted, digital messages and online networks such as Twitter in a sweeping campaign to get young adults to sign up for health insurance during the Affordable Care Act’s fall open enrollment, appealing to a group seen as critical to the law’s success. The administration, which announced the new push on Tuesday, is betting the aggressive campaign will resonate with uninsured consumers age 35 and under. (Armour, 9/27)
In other national health care news —
The Washington Post:
CDC Whistleblower Claims Agency Has Been Using Wrong Zika Test
In the midst of the fight to control Zika, the top public health agency in the United States has been engaged in an intense internal debate about the best way to test whether someone has been infected with the mosquito-borne virus. At the center of the debate at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is one of the leading experts on Zika virus. Robert Lanciotti is chief of the CDC lab responsible for developing tests to diagnose viral diseases such as Zika that are transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks and fleas. Lanciotti was demoted in May after he raised concerns inside and outside the agency about the CDC’s decision in the spring to recommend a new test for Zika. (Sun, 9/27)
The Washington Post:
House Leaders Reach Deal On Flint Aid, Potentially Averting Shutdown
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi struck a deal late Tuesday to deliver federal aid to address the water crisis in Flint, Mich., potentially removing a major flashpoint in negotiations to keep the government fully operating past Friday. Under the deal, the House will vote Wednesday on an amendment to a pending water projects bill that would authorize up to $170 million in infrastructure funds for communities like Flint whose water systems are blighted by “chemical, physical, or biological” contaminants. (DeBonis, 9/27)
Modern Healthcare:
Aetna Makes Large Bet On Wellness With Apple Watches
Apple Watches are becoming near-ubiquitous in healthcare and the corporate world, and health insurer Aetna is now investing heavily in the wellness promises of the device. However, companies that have offered an Apple Watch with the hope of getting people to be more active and healthy have to prove wearable devices and wellness programs meaningfully change consumer behavior, which has often worked better in theory than in practice. “These types of technologies can really help to facilitate behavior change, but the devices themselves are not what drive behavior change,” said Dr. Mitesh Patel, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. (Herman, 9/27)
The New York Times:
More Than 9 In 10 People Breathe Bad Air, W.H.O. Study Says
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that 92 percent of people breathe what it classifies as unhealthy air, in another sign that atmospheric pollution is a significant threat to global public health. A new report, the W.H.O.’s most comprehensive analysis so far of outdoor air quality worldwide, also said about three million deaths a year — mostly from cardiovascular, pulmonary and other noncommunicable diseases — were linked to outdoor air pollution. (Ives, 9/27)