The short week certainly didn鈥檛 mean a shortage of health care news, and even a particular anonymous op-ed couldn鈥檛 completely overshadow our bounty. So let鈥檚 get into it!
Washington鈥檚 political theatrics were out in full force for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh鈥檚 hearings. We saw potential 2020 contenders giving what amounted to campaign speeches, protesters in 鈥淭he Handmaid鈥檚 Tale鈥� garb, an almost-鈥淚 am Spartacus鈥� moment, and just all-around political bickering and posturing. But what it all comes down to is best summed up by this quote from the聽:聽聽鈥淵ou鈥檙e gonna get confirmed,鈥� Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said to Kavanaugh. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e gonna make it.鈥�
Parsing out the health care: On the second day of his hearings, Kavanaugh ducked and dodged on abortion, focusing on respect for precedent and the importance people place on Roe v. Wade so as not to be pinned down on the contentious issue. Then yesterday, emails came out that seemed to undercut his assurances. Kavanaugh maintains that what he said in the messages wasn鈥檛 his personal position, and that he was simply presenting a common thought from legal scholars at the time.
Kavanaugh also set off alarm bells for some over his use of the phrase 鈥渁bortion-inducing drugs鈥� to describe contraception, terminology that advocates say is used by anti-abortion activists.
And although the hearings focused on Roe, it鈥檚 actually more likely that Kavanaugh鈥檚 impact on abortion will come through one of the 13 cases working up through the courts right now.
(Side note: A truth bomb from the hearings came once again from Graham, where he told the Democrats:聽鈥淚f you want to pick judges for your way of thinking, then you better win an election.鈥�)
The health law got another day in court this week, and this time it could actually be a nice little gift to Democrats in the final stretch before midterms.
Texas is challenging the constitutionality of the law now that the individual mandate has been zeroed out by Congress, and 鈥渂lue state鈥� attorneys general have been left to defend it. The latter got the tougher, more pointed questions from the judge, so an injunction doesn鈥檛 seem too far-fetched.
That scenario, however, would mean all the extremely popular provisions in the law (like protections on preexisting conditions) could be nulled 鈥� right before Election Day.
Fed up with not only high drug costs but also drug shortages, hospitals are taking the problem into their own hands by launching a company to make drugs. Hospitals that join the effort will have to commit to long-term contracts even if pharma competitors drop their prices. The initiative鈥檚 leaders, though, think the promise of stability and a reliable supply of medication will outweigh that risk.
Chatter over health industry innovation might drift toward the Amazon, Berkshire and JPMorgan initiative these days, but it鈥檚 actually Comcast that鈥檚 making experts sit up and pay attention. The cable behemoth鈥檚 health care costs have stayed nearly flat over the past five years 鈥� which sometimes seems like a near miracle in this landscape.
Oh, and guess who just tapped one of the company鈥檚 executives for a COO spot?
Also, a heads-up: Two major health deals look as if they鈥檙e about to be approved by the Justice Department in the next few weeks.
And Theranos, the company that provided much schadenfreude to many in the past year, is officially dissolving. .
On deck for next week: The Senate is set to vote on an opioids package after Democrats dropped their concerns over a provision they criticized as an earmark.
If that鈥檚 not enough news for you, my must-read file for the week is living up to its name: The sickness of a river that once sustained these California tribes is echoed in their struggle with the heroin epidemic; residents of a rural stretch of Florida that had fewer hospital beds than Afghanistan tried to build their own facility and were thwarted by a big hospital (鈥淚t鈥檚 just horribly mean,鈥� one doctor said); how do you live a day-to-day life when the promise of your cancer returning is defined by 鈥渨hen鈥� and not 鈥渋f鈥�?; and companies that monitor social media sell the promise of safety from school shootings, but there鈥檚 little to back up those vows.
I was happily burying my head in the sand on this, but since I can no longer live in denial, I鈥檓 dragging you guys down with me (from The New York Times):聽
Have a great, hopefully germ-free weekend!
P.S. If you want a dose of must-read stories through the week, feel free to follow me over at @KHNBreeze.