Viewpoints: Congress Needs To Renew Children’s Insurance Funding; Get More Nurse Practitioners
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
The Mercury News:
Renew California Kids' Health Insurance Funding
It’s one thing to hack away at adult Americans’ access to health care. But children? Until now the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known at CHIP, has had bipartisan support. But House Republicans have hit a new low by playing games with it — allowing funding for the program to expire Sept. 30, putting the health coverage for 9 million children at risk. Congress needs to reauthorize CHIP for five years. It’s up to the Republican leaders who’ve been stalwart supporters of care for children to keep their party from using CHIP as a weapon in the war on Obamacare. (10/10)
Los Angeles Times:
11 Days And Counting: Why Hasn't Congress Renewed Health Insurance Program For 9 Million Children?
We know that Congress is just unimaginably busy right now, so perhaps it’s understandable that 11 days after funding for a crucial children’s healthcare program expired, the lawmakers still haven’t gotten around to restoring it. ... What has Congress and the Trump administration been tied up with, while CHIP renewal has languished? (Michael Hiltzik, 10/11)
Los Angeles Times:
The High Price Of The Trump Administration's Waffling On Healthcare
Covered California made it official Thursday: The Trump administration’s waffling will raise health insurance premiums an additional 12.4% for many Californians not covered by large employer plans. In some cases, the Trump-induced surcharge will be 27%. Those increases are on top of an average premium increase of 12.5% due to other factors. In other words, premium increases will be twice as high next year for many Californians, simply because the Trump administration (and Congress) won’t commit to reimbursing insurers for the payments the government requires them to make. (Jon Healey, 10/11)
San Jose Mercury News:
David Chui Bill Will Save Money By Housing Homeless
Gov. Jerry Brown can take an important step in recognizing housing is health care by signing Assembly Bill 74 by Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco. Our emergency department staff at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center can do little to prevent a homeless patient from returning again and again to the hospital for preventable and manageable conditions. (Rene G. Santiago, 10/11)
Los Angeles Times:
Bad Medicine: California Lags Other States In Empowering Nurse Practitioners
Not having enough doctors to meet the healthcare needs of that population is frightening. Not taking steps to address this shortfall with a greater number of nurse practitioners is simply foolish. (David Lazarus, 10/10)
Orange County Register:
Take A Scalpel To $345 Million In California’s Stem-Cell Research Waste
Just as good scientists are drawn to conclusions by solid data, the decision whether to spend another $345 million by California’s state-run stem-cell research project should be based on an objective analysis as to whether it would be cost-effective. A rigorous cost-benefit analysis is not only fiscally prudent, it avoids being drawn into the moral dilemmas posed by stem-cell research, especially with respect to cells from human embryos. (Jon Coupal and John Moorlach, 10/7)
Sacramento Bee:
To Cut Traffic Deaths, Tackle Distracted Driving
There is no such thing as a traffic “accident.” When cars collide, or when a pedestrian or a cyclist gets hit, it’s the result of an action or a choice, not mere happenstance. In other words, it is preventable. That’s the philosophy behind Sacramento’s Vision Zero initiative to eliminate all fatalities and serious injuries caused by car crashes on city streets by 2027. (Steve Hansen, 10/11)
Los Angeles Times:
It's Official: Trump Rolls Back Obamacare's Birth Control Mandate
Finally pulling the trigger on one of the longest-running questions about administration healthcare policy, President Trump on Friday officially rolled back the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate. The action takes effect immediately. The rollback exempts a wide range of employers from the requirement that they offer birth control to their employees without co-pays or deductibles. It’s a sop to religious ideologues in the Republican base, and a flagrant attack on women’s reproductive health rights, and it’s abetted by a clutch of anti-contraception ideologues installed at the Department of Health and Human Services. (Michael Hiltzik, 10/6)
Sacramento Bee:
When Do Consumers Tune Out Warnings Supposedly Intended To Protect Them?
An op-ed by Christopher Gavigan and Avinash Kar painted a rosy picture of California-specific labeling legislation, Senate Bill 258. As they described it, almost no one could object to the bill by Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Bell Gardens. However, SB 258 sitting on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk is fraught with litigation traps, confusion and unnecessary manufacturing costs. It will result in over-labeling, adding even more length to those 10-inch long accordion-like consumer labels. (Dorothy Rothrock, 10/10)