Viewpoints: Drug Price Hearing Reveals Internal Machinations Of Lobbying Game
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
The Los Angeles Times:
Your Drug Lobby At Work: How Did Two Witnesses Come To Submit Identical Testimony To Congress?
The internal mechanisms of the Washington lobbying game were inadvertently placed on public display Tuesday during a House committee hearing on an Obama Administration move to reduce prescription drug costs. Two witnesses opposing the proposal, ostensibly from two different interest groups, somehow submitted statements that contained identical passages. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/18)
The Los Angeles Times:
Rubio's Legacy: How The GOP Aimed Its Guns At Obamacare And Hit Innocent Consumers Instead
There are few more wasteful and counterproductive endeavors on Capitol Hill than the Republican bloc's efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act. Two lawsuits point to how the cost of these efforts is destined to trickle down to innocent consumers. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/18)
The San Jose Mercury News:
Cancer Patient Explains End-Of-Life Decision
Death doesn't scare me because we're spiritual beings. It's just that I'm quite fond of my life and don't want it to end. My biggest fear is losing my ability to care for myself during my last days or weeks with colon cancer. It is good that I have the support of my husband, children and family to soon have the legal option to complete the official paperwork required to obtain aid-in-dying medication. I recently spoke to my oncologist, who is also fully supportive of my end-of-life decision. (Kristy Allan, 5/19)
The Los Angeles Times:
Why Insurers Oppose A Fantastic Proposal To Let California Women Have A Year's Supply Of Birth Control
On Monday, the California Senate is expected to approve a bill that would allow women to pick up a year’s worth of birth control pills at a time, instead of forcing them, as their health insurance companies so often do, to return to the pharmacy every month or every three months for refills. (Robin Abcarian, 5/20)
The Orange County Register:
No End In Sight For Higher Obamacare Premiums
Weren’t health insurance premiums supposed to go down under Obamacare and its California exchange, Covered California? During his 2008 campaign for president, Barack Obama predicted that, in his administration, “we’ll lower premiums by up to $2,500 for a typical family per year.” (5/18)
The Modesto Bee:
Will Modesto Fire Dept. Join Others By Charging For Paramedic/EMT Services?
Earlier this week, Modesto Fire Chief Sean Slamon proposed billing insurance companies for the emergency medical calls handled by city fire paramedics and EMTs. By emergency medical calls, we’re talking about responses to strokes, heart attacks, heat prostration, broken bones from falls or anything else that might require stabilization before an ambulance crew arrives to transport. (Jeff Jardine, 5/18)
The Sacramento Business Journal:
Disclosure Bill Could Benefit Health Care
Senate Bill 1033, offered by Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, would require doctors to disclose probationary sanctions by the Medical Board for gross negligence, sexual misconduct or substance abuse that put patients at risk. New patients would receive the disclosures in the paperwork they receive from their doctor’s office, and they would be required to sign acknowledgment that they have received the disclosures. (Adam Steinhauer, 5/17)
The Modesto Bee:
Modesto Physician Building A Local Specialty Care Empire
Gurpreet Singh, a Modesto physician and investor in long-term care facilities, has not rested since revamping the former City Hospital on 17th Street to create Central Valley Specialty Hospital three years ago. (Ken Carlson, 5/19)
The Runner:
Legal Age To Purchase Cigarettes Should Not Increase
At the age of 18, Americans are finally seen as adults. They are now free to serve in the military, walk into strip clubs, buy a lottery ticket and serve jury duty. Another privilege of turning 18 is the legal right to purchase cigarettes. However, this privilege will now be given only to those 21 years of age and up, at least in California. (Annie Russell, 5/17)
The Los Angeles Times:
Industry Spending To Beat A Pharmaceutical Initiative Could Set A New Standard For 'Drug Money'
Due to California’s penchant for legislating at the ballot box, the state has reigned as the top destination for industry campaign spending since even before the Supreme Court widened the door to corporate political donations with its 2010 Citizens United decision. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/14)
The Sun:
Successful Aging: More Issues That Need Addressing At Election Time
Given that it is election time, this week’s column is a little different. It is a call to action for our presidential candidates to address a compelling 21st century age agenda and for good reasons. America is aging. One out of eight Americans is 65 and older; in 2030, that will be one out of five. Additionally, 11,000 individuals celebrate their 65th birthday each day. (Helen Dennis, 5/16)
The Los Angeles Times:
I Use Pain Medication, But I'm Not An Addict
Not all pain medication users are addicts. That sentence had to be my first because it is a truth that is not well represented. The media have chosen to tell you ever more frightening tales about prescription pill abuse without letting you know about us — the responsible users. Opioids, narcotics, barbiturates, muscle relaxers, corticosteroids, or tricyclics are a part of our daily medication regimen, but we aren’t looking to get high. (Nicole Hussey, 5/16)
The Los Angeles Times:
A Trump Presidency Would Threaten Programs Like Social Security. Here's How We Know.
Donald Trump's supposed commitment to protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid is one of the positions said to set him apart from Republican orthodoxy, which has the knives out for all such programs. ... But as Zaid Jilani of the Intercept points out, the staff appointments of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee point in exactly the opposite direction. (Michael Hiltzik, 5/16)
Bay Area News Group:
Elizabeth Holmes And Theranos, In The Chasm
When I see "Theranos" in a headline, I brace myself. What now? The blood diagnostic company based in Palo Alto has been under intense scrutiny over its lab practices, its technology and most recently, how it represented itself to investors. (Michelle Quinn, 5/13)
Santa Rosa Press Democrat:
Fixing ‘Biggest Mistake' In Modern Medicine
This week, two major health care players — Kaiser Permanente of Southern California and Blue Shield of California — announced efforts to get physicians to prescribe opioids in smaller amounts, which is among the CDC guidelines. That’s a good first step. Others would include physician groups dropping their opposition to mandatory training for doctors who prescribe opioids and a requirement that doctors and pharmacies check a state database of existing prescriptions as a safeguard against abuse. (5/13)