Trump’s Proposed Plan To Penalize Immigrants For Using Medicaid Could Be Winning GOP Talking Point On Trail
The rule, as drafted, would authorize federal officials to revoke legal-resident status from legal immigrants who accept government assistance currently available to them. Polling shows that Americans think immigrants are responsible for high health care costs, but research shows otherwise.
The New York Times:
Plan To Punish Immigrants For Using Welfare Could Boost G.O.P. Candidates
The Trump administration is advancing a plan to punish legal immigrants for accepting food stamps, public housing and other government benefits they are entitled to — a strategy that appeals to conservatives and could help to galvanize Republican voters before the midterm elections. The proposed rule first surfaced last year. Last month, the White House Office of Management and Budget published a notice that it was under consideration. A Trump administration official said Tuesday that details of the proposal were still weeks away from being finalized and made public. (Shear and Nixon, 8/7)
WBUR:
Are Immigrants Health Care Moochers? On The Contrary, Boston Researchers Say
The Trump Administration is considering an executive order that would bar new immigrants deemed likely to draw on public benefits and prevent those already here from achieving permanent legal resident status if they do. ...Undocumented immigrants make up five percent of the population, but account for only 1.4 percent of health care spending. (Knox, 8/8)
In other national health care news —
The New York Times:
New York Congressman Chris Collins Is Charged With Insider Trading
Representative Chris Collins, a New York Republican who was one of President Trump’s earliest and most vocal supporters, was charged with insider trading on Wednesday. He was accused of having sold his stock in an Australian pharmaceutical company before the results of one of its failed drug tests became public, federal prosecutors said. The charges against Mr. Collins stem from his involvement with Innate Immunotherapeutics Limited, a drug maker based in Sydney, Australia whose primary business was the research and development of a medication designed to treat a form of multiple sclerosis, according to an indictment. (8/8)
The Hill:
Top Dem Wants Information About ObamaCare Website Removals
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) may have violated federal law by removing a web page that provided information about how Medicare coverage is affected by ObamaCare, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said Tuesday. In a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, Cummings asked HHS to provide documentation about any decisions to remove information from websites it maintains. (Weixel, 8/7)
The Associated Press:
Advocates Condemn Psych Techniques Used To Keep Kids Online
Children's advocates want the American Psychological Association to condemn the tech industry's practice of using persuasive psychological techniques to keep kids glued to their screens. The advocates, citing research that links excessive use of social media and video games with depression and academic troubles, say it's unethical for psychologists to be involved in tactics that risk harming kids' well-being. Skeptics say the research is inconclusive, and they note that psychologists have been involved in other industries' marketing and advertising for decades. (8/8)
The Washington Post:
Beyoncé, Serena Williams Open Up About Potentially Fatal Childbirths, A Problem Especially For Black Mothers
Beyoncé. Serena Williams. While one is a singer and the other is a professional tennis player, there are many similarities between the women’s lives. Both are at the top of their respective fields — Beyoncé has 22 Grammy Awards. Williams has 23 Grand Slam singles titles. Both are African American. Both are mothers. But the women have shared one life experience that has recently attracted widespread attention: Both survived potentially fatal pregnancy complications. (Chiu, 8/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Genetic Test Some Men Don’t Know They Need
Mark Meerschaert learned from a posting in a family Facebook group a few years ago that a close male relative tested positive for an inherited mutation in the BRCA2 gene. The gene mutation is widely associated with female breast and ovarian cancer, but increases risk for other cancers, too. The relative suggested that family members consider getting tested. Dr. Meerschaert, a 62-year-old statistics and probability professor at Michigan State University, ignored the advice at first. He had already been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and as the father of two sons, getting tested didn’t feel urgent or relevant in the same way it might have, he says, if he had daughters. “I was still thinking about it mainly as a problem for the women in the family,” he says. (Marcus, 8/7)