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Health Care Tag

Posted by Amy Miller on March 06, 2015 34 Comments
Arguments in the case of King v. Burwell helped serve to shine light on just how big of a mess implementing, changing, scuttling, or rebuilding the ACA will be. From Bloomberg:
It wasn’t immediately clear where the court leaned, as Chief Justice John Roberts -- who voted in 2012 to uphold the law as constitutional -- asked few questions during the hearing Wednesday. A ruling is expected by late June. Alito’s suggestion that the court might set an end-of-the-year termination date for subsidies in healthcare.gov states was greeted somewhat favorably by solicitor general Donald Verilli, who represented the Obama administration. “That would reduce the disruption,” he told Alito. Still, he said it was “completely unrealistic” to expect that states that lack their own exchange could build one by the end of the year. Under current regulations, for example, states must win approval from the health department by May for an exchange that would open for business in October. Justice Antonin Scalia, another Republican appointee, said that Congress could act to solve the problem. Republicans in both the Senate and House have said that they would respond to a court ruling against the government with legislation to preserve insurance coverage, but they don’t agree on a solution. “Well, this Congress, your honor?” Verilli said, to laughter. “Theoretically, they could.”
One does not joke before the Supreme Court unless one is absolutely positive that the bench will join in the fun. Everyone laughed.

Posted by Mike LaChance on February 15, 2015 9 Comments
A recent outbreak of Measles at Disneyland is the inspiration for the new edition of Afterburner with Bill Whittle. After addressing the false, media-stoked idea that Republicans are anti-vaccine and therefore anti-science, Bill explores the subject of progressive parenting. He points out that kids who are brought up in the constant safety of the everyone-gets-a-trophy school of child rearing are more vulnerable to disease not only of body but of mind. Watch it all below: Watching this video reminded me of a very funny story.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 14, 2015 39 Comments
A big problem with bureaucrats and politicians is that so many possess degrees in law and social science; therefore, whenever the results of a "scientific study" sound like a platform to generate to rules, they go all in without properly analyzing the data. Our current news cycle is filled with the unintended consequences of these edicts, but today I want to focus on one of the popular mandates. America's War on Cholesterol. About 40 years ago, a group of researchers concluded that cholesterol in the diet increased the risk of heart disease.  Within a relatively short period of time, eggs (an important component of American diets) were defamed.  Subsequently, sales dropped substantially -- hurting thousands of poultry farmers. Then, a few years back, another study asserted the existence of "good cholesterol".

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 13, 2015 4 Comments
Add Wisconsin to the ever expanding list of states impacted by the measles outbreak. The state's public health officials indicate that two patients are now isolated and being tested for the disease. Last week, there were 14 states with 102 infected citizens and public health officials were warning that the outbreak of this formerly eradicated disease was going to spread.  It looks like that prediction is true. I suspect other states will be joining Wisconsin shortly. Meanwhile, the crisis continues apace in California, as news comes of an infected San Francisco man riding the very public BART system to his job at at LinkedIn and then heading out to a local bistro. There is some good news to be found amid the notices of fever and rashes, however. Disneyland, the epicenter for many of these cases, isn't seeing attendance plummet.

Posted by Casey Breznick on February 09, 2015 22 Comments
Due to the alarming outbreak of measles across the country, so-called “anti-vaxxers” are coming under extreme criticism. As well they should be. I won’t delve into the particulars of the measles outbreak--Legal Insurrection’s Leslie Eastman offers more analysis and some solutions. I’m more interested in the narrative surrounding “VaccineGate.” Of course, the mainstream media has been fervently trying to frame the anti-vaccination crowd as a collection of screw-balled libertarian Tea Partiers. It’s a slam-dunk narrative, so they think, because conservatives and libertarians are naturally opposed to big government and, for the most part, are skeptical of government actions, programs, and mandates in general. As the mainstream media tries to make out anti-vaxxers as Ted Kaczynski disciples who so-happen to vote Republican, it is gradually coming to light that the anti-vaccination crowd is actually quite bipartisan, and that the whole movement was started by liberal-progressives in southern California. Comedian, actress, and Playboy model Jenny McCarthy is perhaps the most notable anti-vaxxer. In Ithaca, New York, a bastion of liberalism which some call “ten square miles surrounded by reality,” vaccination rates at elementary schools are well below state averages. Some local schools, both public and private, have measles vaccination rates below 90%, whereas the state average is 95%.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 06, 2015 21 Comments
In my last post on the continuing measles outbreak, I encouraged Americans to consider vaccinations. Imagine my surprise upon discovering that, as the co-founder of a San Diego Tea Party group, I am also labeled one of the dreaded #antivaxxers! Well, then I personally would like to welcome an iconic Democrat, Robert T. Kennedy, to the ranks of the Tea Party! While some "Tea Party" people don't choose to vaccinate themselves or their children, a look at the states where non-medical exemptions from vaccinations are an option shows that many of them went for Obama in the last election. The Obama Administration must be worried that the lack of immunization for childhood diseases is going to blossom into a major healthcare PR crisis of Ebola-like proportions, because its friends in the mainstream media are now smearing those who don't vaccinate with that vile term, "Tea Party." How, then, can these mainstream publishers explain the preponderance of progressive non-takers?

Posted by Leslie Eastman on February 03, 2015 46 Comments
Back in 2000, the Americas were cited as an example of how to effectively eradicate measles infections by prestigious medical journals; who would have thought that 15 years later, the vaccination for this disease is poised to become a topic in our upcoming presidential race?
A rare moment of clarification occurred Monday morning, in different settings and an ocean apart: President Barack Obama instructed parents to vaccinate their children just as New Jersey Governor Chris Christie seemed to cast doubt upon their requirement. “The science is indisputable,” Obama said*. Parents should have a “measure of choice,” Christie said. ...Christie’s remarks were followed by a report that Iowa Freedom Summit speaker Carly Fiorina had made a similar statement last week, an indication that the GOP 2016 field, even its establishment flank, was beginning to see an incentive in expressing vaccination doubts.
Christie later "clarified" his initial statement; and Senator Rand Paul has also weighed in, expressing concerns about mental disorders as a side effect. As "antivaxxers" becomes a new derogatory term, politicians are evolving faster than bacteria in order to appeal to millennial voters, because 1-in-5 of that golden demographic believes vaccines cause autism. I am an environmental health and occupational safety specialist, so I regularly address risks associated with biohazardous materials. I am a strong believer in the need for vaccinations, especially for measles, which can be fatal. But like most reasonable Americans, I also want to make my medical choices based on the most complete set of information available.

Posted by New Neo on January 27, 2015 48 Comments
It is ironic that the success of modern vaccination programs against ancient scourges such as measles has been part of the reason parents today are so ignorant about what these diseases can do. A recent outbreak in California has demonstrated the effects of this lack of knowledge:
Researchers have found that past outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases are more likely in places where there are clusters of parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated... In California, vaccine exemptions have increased from 1.5 percent in 2007 to 3.1 percent in 2013, according to an analysis by the Los Angeles Times.
That's a surprisingly large number---but hey, this is California:
Researchers have found that those who refuse vaccines tend to share similarities. "In general, they’re upper-middle to upper class, well-educated — often graduate school-educated — and in jobs in which they exercise some level of control," Offit said. "They believe that they can google the word vaccine and know as much, if not more, as anyone who’s giving them advice."
An enormous amount of damage was also done by fraudulent science in the guise of an influential 1998 article in Lancet claiming a link between vaccines and autism, that has since been proven to be a fraud and retracted. But the study's author, Andrew Wakefield, couldn't have done it alone:

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 27, 2015 57 Comments
I recently reported on the chikungunya virus that is raging in South America. There are concerns that Florida could be the next epicenter of the epidemic.
Thanks to climate change and globalization, the Keys are also increasingly home to killer tropical diseases such as dengue fever and chikungunya spread by Aedes aegypti, a tiger-striped mosquito that originated in Africa. Just last year, a few dozen people in the Sunshine State were infected with these formerly exotic illness as they made their up the Gulf Coast. “The threat is greater than I’ve seen in my lifetime,” Walter Tabachnick, director of the Florida Medical Entomological Laboratory, said last year. “Sooner or later, our mosquitoes will pick it up and transmit it to us. That is the imminent threat.”
One could quibble as to if the cause of the increase, but the threat is increasingly concerning public health officials no matter the reason. In response, one British research and development firm is trying to obtain approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to run an experiment in the Florida Keys...involving the release of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes:
Enter Oxitec, a British biotech firm launched by Oxford University researchers. They patented a method of breeding Aedes aegypti with fragments of proteins from the herpes simplex virus and E. coli bacteria as well as genes from coral and cabbage. This synthetic DNA has been used in thousands of experiments without harming lab animals, but it is fatal to the bugs, killing mosquito larvae before they can fly or bite. Oxitec's lab workers manually remove modified females, aiming to release only males, which feed on nectar and don't bite for blood like females do. The modified males then mate with wild females whose offspring die, reducing the population. ...Company spokeswoman Chris Creese said the test will be similar in size to Oxitec's 2012 experiment in the Cayman Islands, where 3.3 million modified mosquitoes were released over six months, suppressing 96 percent of the targeted bugs. Oxitec says a later test in Brazil also was successful, and both countries now want larger-scale projects.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 24, 2015 16 Comments
Since I last reported on the Disneyland Measles Outbreak, the number of infected people in California has expanded to 68 and has prompted a warning from a state official.
It’s really difficult to tell now when the last day of exposure might be,” said Dr. Gil Chavez, deputy director of the state’s Center for Infectious Diseases. “For the time being, if you are not vaccinated or if you have an infant who is too young to be vaccinated, you should avoid going to Disneyland.” In all, 59 measles cases have been confirmed statewide, including 13 in San Diego County. Disneyland is associated with 41 of those patients, including five of the park’s employees. Disneyland did not respond directly to the Wednesday recommendation from public-health officials. It referred journalists to a recent statement made by Dr. Pamela Hymel, the park’s chief medical officer, that said Disney was notified of the outbreak on Jan. 7. The company has offered vaccinations and immunity tests to its workers. “Cast members who may have come in contact with those who were positive are being tested for the virus. While awaiting results, they have been put on paid leave until medically cleared,” Hymel said.
I was mulling the idea of taking advantage of the situation, as my family is up-to-date on its vaccinations. However, concerns are increasing about the number of vaccinated individuals becoming ill with the disease. Some medical experts have also expressed concern about the five patients who contracted measles despite being fully vaccinated.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 14, 2015 77 Comments
When the spread of Ebola in this country was of paramount concern, President Obama hired an "Ebola Czar." Now, as more and more school districts are giving Michelle Obama's signature school lunch program a double F minus, she has tapped a new "Food Czar".
First lady Michelle Obama on Thursday announced the new White House senior policy adviser for nutrition policy and director of the “Let’s Move!” campaign, a driving force behind controversial changes to school lunches. Debra Eschmeyer, who founded the FoodCorps service program designed to teach cafeteria workers about nutrition, will fill the role vacated by Sam Kass.
Even better news! Eschmeyer is a self-avowed Food Justice Warrior!
First Lady Michelle Obama named the new Executive Director of Let’s Move on Thursday, Debra Eschmeyer, a self-described “food justice” activist who believes that all aspects of food production and consumption should be “shared fairly.” Eschmeyer, who grew up on a dairy farm in Ohio and is now an organic vegetable farmer, previously campaigned for “school lunch reform” and has been involved in anti-obesity and school gardening initiatives. Eschmeyer was asked in an interview in May 2011 what her definition of “food justice” is. “I was an editor of ‘Food Justice’ (the new book by Robert Gottlieb and Anupama Joshi) so I spent several years thinking about the definition,” she said. “Food justice seeks to ensure that the benefits and risks of where, what, and how food is grown, produced, transported, distributed, accessed, and eaten are shared fairly.” “It represents a transformation of the current food system, including but not limited to eliminating disparities and inequities,” Eschmeyer added.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 11, 2015 8 Comments
Single payer activists disrupted the inauguration of Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin this weekend. Somewhere between November and now, we forgot to tell them that even though a Democrat won the election, they lost. Mike Donoghue of the Burlington Free Press:
Police ID 29 arrested at Statehouse protest The Vermont State Police have identified the 29 protesters arrested on suspicion of unlawful trespass for ignoring orders to leave the Statehouse following a sit-in Thursday in Montpelier. James Haslam, executive director of the Vermont Workers' Center and the organizer of the sit-in protest over single-payer health care on the day of Gov. Peter Shumlin's inauguration, was not among them. "I had some commitments in the morning to deliver two little kids to school. Family comes first," Haslam told the Burlington Free Press. Haslam, who kept his distance, said others were prepared to be arrested. For his part, Shumlin said he was disappointed some protesters tried to interrupt his inaugural address, but was bothered more that the demonstrators disrupted the final benediction by the Rev. Robert Potter of the Peacham Congregational Church. "I found it heartbreaking," he said.
The incident was caught on video, watch it below.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 29, 2014 7 Comments
I thought it would be an excellent time as I recover from my bout with the flu to check in on the state of my state...and it looks like the diagnosis is poor---especially if you own a small business in California, as a leading health insurance provider is hiking rates:
Health insurance giant Aetna Inc. is imposing excessive rate hikes on more than 5,000 small employers, according to California's insurance commissioner. Commissioner Dave Jones lashed out Thursday at the third-largest U.S. health insurer for raising premiums as much as 20% on some small businesses starting Jan. 1. The average increase of 10.7% will cost small employers and their workers $23.5 million in excessive premiums, according to the state. ...Aetna said its rate increase was justified based on the expected medical costs for employers. The Hartford, Conn., insurer rejected the state's request for a lower increase. The state said a 2.6% increase was more appropriate for this group of 64,000 employees and dependents.
While the finger is being pointed at the "evil insurance company", an analysis by Cal Watchdog's James Poulos shows that Obamacare (i.e., Affordable Care Act) is most likely the root cause.
...From a bird’s-eye view, however, some analysts have pointed out that Aetna’s rate increases are a rational result of the market distortions created by the ACA’s regulatory framework. As Scott Gottlieb argued at Forbes, “Obamacare was designed with the goal of commoditizing health insurance. The belief was that competition between plans would turn largely on premiums and cost sharing. This was seen as a way to hold down prices.” What happened instead, Gottlieb explained, was that pushing down on competition in the areas of networks and care delivery discouraged competition between “different benefit packages and plan designs.” In other words, the big, established coverage providers discovered they could create many variations on very similar benefit packages. In a free market for health care, different plans would differ in their benefit packages as well — giving small business owners, for instance, greater options around not just scope of coverage but cost of coverage. Instead, the ACA has dramatically narrowed their available coverage, leaving business owners with little alternative to Aetna’s hiked rates.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 22, 2014 16 Comments
Although the media has recently been less focused on Ebola, the disease is still impacting Africa and the death count now tops 7000. Meanwhile, a new epidemic of a disease that was once thought well-contained by vaccinations may be occurring in my home state of California. The number of cases of whooping cough (pertussis) has skyrocketed this year.
Nearly 10,000 cases have been reported in the state so far this year, and babies are especially prone to hospitalization or even death. ...Whooping cough is cyclical in nature and tends to peak every three to five years. The last outbreak of the disease in California was in 2010. But doctors are discovering that immunity from the current vaccine may be wearing off on a similar timeline. Medical recommendations suggest booster shots after eight years, but doctors are seeing kids who received a booster three years ago getting sick. Public health officials are considering an update to the recommendations to account for the dip in immunity seen after three years. Plus, many kids in some areas aren't getting vaccinated at all. The highest rates of whooping cough are found in the Bay Area counties of Sonoma, Napa and Marin, which also have some of the highest rates of parents who opt out of vaccinating their children. Doctors believe these kids are the root of the current and recent epidemics.
Whooping cough feels like a cold at first, but an intense cough that develops later can produce a "whooping" sound. The disease is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. It can be treated with antibiotics, but the drugs may not be effective when the illness is in the severe coughing stages. Whooping cough can last for weeks and is especially dangerous to infants under 1 year. California isn't the only state seeing jumps in pertussis infections.

Posted by New Neo on December 21, 2014 21 Comments
Vermont appears to have given up on single-payer health insurance, having run out of other people's money before the program even began. If leftist Vermont can't make it work, does that mean the drive for single-payer has been abandoned? One might think so, but not so fast. Perhaps the time just isn't right:
“It is not the right time for Vermont” to pass a single-payer system, [Vermont Governor] Shumlin acknowledged in a public statement ending his signature initiative. He concluded the 11.5 percent payroll assessments on businesses and sliding premiums up to 9.5 percent of individuals’ income “might hurt our economy.”
Will there ever be a "right time"?:
“If cobalt blue Vermont couldn’t find a way to make single-payer happen, then it’s very unlikely that any other state will,” said Jack Mozloom, spokesman for the National Federation of Independent Business. “There will never be a good time for a massive tax increase on employers and consumers in Vermont, so they should abandon that silly idea now and get serious,” Mozloom added.
Mozloom aside, the left will never stop trying. Never:

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 20, 2014 6 Comments
The ultra-liberal state of Vermont never liked Obamacare but not for the reasons most Americans object to the law. Vermont felt it didn't go far enough and was determined to establish its own single payer system. As of this week, that plan is dead. Sarah Wheaton of Politico:
Why single payer died in Vermont Vermont was supposed to be the beacon for a single-payer health care system in America. But now its plans are in ruins, and its onetime champion Gov. Peter Shumlin may have set back the cause. Advocates of a “Medicare for all” approach were largely sidelined during the national Obamacare debate. The health law left a private insurance system in place and didn’t even include a weaker “public option” government plan to run alongside more traditional commercial ones. So single-payer advocates looked instead to make a breakthrough in the states. Bills have been introduced from Hawaii to New York; former Medicare chief Don Berwick made it a key plank of his unsuccessful primary race for Massachusetts governor. Vermont under Shumlin became the most visible trailblazer. Until Wednesday, when the governor admitted what critics had said all along: He couldn’t pay for it.
Advocates of a single payer healthcare system may not realize just how bad this news is for them. Vermont was their best shot. John Fund of National Review noted this:
Health-care experts from outside Vermont point out some of the implications. “It’s a very liberal state, and its leaders spent years trying to design a system that would work,” Grace-Marie Turner of the Galen Institute observes. “If Vermont can’t make it work, single-payer can’t work anywhere in the country where the economy has free and competitive markets. It’s more evidence that centralized government health care is simply not workable in America.”
All is not lost for the Green Mountain state. One of their senators might even run for president.
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