Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: No Surprises Act A Win Against Unexpected Medical Bills; How To Tackle The Physician Shortage
The No Surprises Act, a bipartisan effort to reduce the number of surprise medical bills, went into effect on January 1. As significant as this legislation is鈥攕urprise bills are one of the biggest drivers of medical bankruptcy in America鈥攖he act is still being overlooked. (Sen. William Cassidy and Jonathan Kaplan, 3/16)
The pandemic has laid bare a crisis we鈥檝e ignored for far too long 鈥 our chronic doctor shortage. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the United States faces a shortfall of up to 124,000 physicians over the next decade. This is a supply problem, as the demand for care will only go up. So we must create more doctors 鈥 by expanding medical school capacity and increasing the number of residency slots where budding doctors can complete their training. (Sally C. Pipes, 3/15)
When Missouri state Rep. Brian Seitz was running for office two years ago, the Baptist pastor and business manager for Splash Car Wash in Branson spoke out against the 鈥済rievous鈥 prospect of a local ordinance that would 鈥渞estrict individual liberties and freedoms鈥 and 鈥渕ake criminals out of individuals and businesses that refuse to comply.鈥 (Melinda Henneberger, 3/16)
When Texas imposed strict limits on abortion last fall, the number of abortions performed by clinics in that state fell by half. But the actual decline in abortions was much smaller because many women traveled to clinics in other states or used readily available drugs to end their pregnancies at home. (Sullum, 3/14)