Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
The reason for the affordability crisis is clear: rising prices for health care services and prescription drugs. Simply stated, rising costs result in higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs. According to the Health Care Cost Institute, health care prices increased at roughly double the rate of general inflation between 2016 and 2020. (Kim Keck, 2/14)
The loneliness epidemic may be a societal issue, but it can be solved, at least partly, at the level of individual bedrooms. Those of us in a position to be having more sex ought to be doing so. (Magdalene J. Taylor, 2/13)
The war over abortion rights has moved from the sidewalks in front of medical clinics to pharmacies and mailboxes. (2/13)
On Jan. 22, 1973, seven Supreme Court justices paved the way for legal abortions. That day we danced in the streets, so thrilled by our new freedom. Roe v. Wade almost made it to 50 years, but the high court shut it down on June 24, 2022. This recent court ruling negated our right to choose. (Susyn Almond, 2/11)
Minnesota lawmakers have moved with astonishing speed to pass abortion rights and other important legislation early in the 2023 session. The same sense of urgency is vital in handling a massive health care challenge looming in the months ahead — preventing coverage gaps or loss of coverage altogether for the 1.5 million Minnesotans reliant on medical assistance programs. (2/12)
Better mental health care has become a bipartisan rallying point in recent years, yet a crisis in Texas county jails persists. Backlogs in state psychiatric hospitals and in criminal courts are leaving hundreds of defendants with mental illness in the care of county jails, where their mental state often deteriorates. (2/14)
