Viewpoints: Insurers Aren’t Actually In Death Spiral Under Health Law; The Abortion Front Line
A selection of opinions on health care developments from around the state.
The Los Angeles Times:
Healthcare Shocker: These Insurers Are Making Money On Obamacare
The pending departure of the big insurance company UnitedHealth from most of the Affordable Care Act exchanges that it serves has prompted critics of Obamacare proclaiming the coming "death spiral" of the insurance reform. The critics aren't talking so much about the insurers who are reporting profits from the program. Their experience shows how the ACA can be made to work for customers and insurers alike. (Michael Hiltzik, 4/27)
The Sacramento Bee:
A Soldier, Home From The Abortion Wars
“It started out a day like any other,” David Daleiden was telling the crowd outside the Sacramento Planned Parenthood clinic. “I was making lunch.” The gathering wasn’t large, maybe 75 people. Most were too old to personally ever have to deal again with the topic of Daleiden’s speech, abortion. Still, as the 27-year-old activist behind the Planned Parenthood video sting discussed his crusade to shut down the abortion provider, they listened with the rapt deference of elderly civilians greeting a war hero. (Shawn Hubler, 4/25)
The Los Angeles Times:
Paul Ryan's Idea To Cover Preexisting Conditions Via High-Risk Pools Is A Scam. Here's Why.
First, [House Speaker Paul D. Ryan's (R-Wis.)] estimate of the population with preexisting conditions is wildly low. Second, high-risk pools aren't a new idea. They're an old idea that was tried by 35 states before the enactment of Obamacare made them unnecessary. And they were massive failures. Put these facts together, and what you have is a scam. (Michael Hiltzik, 4/28)
The Los Angeles Times:
Is Single-Payer Healthcare Dead In The U.S., Or Only Sleeping?
The dream of bringing single-payer healthcare to the United States is a hardy one. It's still with us despite years of disrespect by the general public, intense opposition from powerful stakeholders in the healthcare economic status quo, and the enactment of the very non-single payer system known as Obamacare. (Michael Hiltzik, 4/23)
KQED:
Analysis: Why Medical Lab Experts Were Always Skeptical Of Theranos
Theranos’ revolutionary claim that won over investors was that it could accurately run tests using a small amount of blood taken from a poke in the patient’s finger, instead of a syringe full from a needle stuck in a vein. The idea was that dozens of tests, such as cholesterol and thyroid hormone levels, could be run on a single, tiny blood sample. Theranos has had medical laboratory experts – including me – scratching their heads for some time. Having worked quite a bit in development of innovative medical tests, I knew what the company was promising just didn’t make a lot of sense. (Norman A. Paradis, 4/25)
The Ventura County Star:
Hospitals Need To Be At Top Of Their Game To Prevent Hacking
A couple of months ago, it was announced that Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles had its health care IT system essentially taken over and knocked offline by some hackers who inserted malware into the hospital servers. (Irving Loh, 4/24)
Orange County Register:
Help For Victims Of ADA-Based Extortion
The Americans with Disabilities Act was intended to prohibit discrimination against people with physical or mental impairments and to improve access for the disabled to public accommodations. Too often, however, it has been used to shake down businesses for minor violations, such as a door sign affixed an inch too high or too low or a disabled parking logo that is a little too faded or painted in the wrong shade of blue. (4/26)
The Sacramento Bee:
Smoking, Diet May Help Explain Health Gap
Researchers have long noted the connection between health and wealth. People with higher incomes tend to be healthier and live longer than poor people. But why this is so has puzzled experts for as long as the connection has been known. Evidence has been thin to nonexistent to support the most intuitive reasons: access to health care, income inequality and environmental factors. (Daniel Weintraub, 4/25)
The Desert Sun:
Why Are So Many People Overdosing On Painkillers?
What’s being done to address the painkiller epidemic? Why are so many people overdosing and so few getting help? You are right—the non-medical use of painkillers has become an epidemic, and a very serious one. Before I answer your question, though, let’s look briefly at how the use of painkillers spiraled so quickly out of control. (Harry Haroutunian, 4/27)
The Ventura County Star:
Revised Autopsy Bill Provides Clarity In Law
The California Senate Health Committee approved some excellent amendments last week in passing a bill to define autopsies and clarify who is permitted to conduct them. The legislation eliminates the ambiguity that exists in current law by stating, "A forensic autopsy may only be conducted by a licensed physician or surgeon." (4/23)
Orange County Register:
Costa Mesa Waits To Inhale
The purple haze is clearing over medical marijuana in Costa Mesa. Last week the City Council voted unanimously to put a measure on the November 8 ballot to regularize medical marijuana dispensaries. It would compete with two other measures submitted by citizens, one limiting the number of dispensaries to four, the other to eight. If all three remain on the ballot and pass, according to California law, the one with the most votes would be enacted. The city’s measure does not limit the number of dispensaries, but would confine them by geography. As the Register reported, the measure “allows manufacturing and includes location restrictions (above South Coast Plaza and west of Harbor Boulevard) and a tax component.” (4/28)