Viewpoints: Forget All Those Bumper Sticker Messages About Health Care; Every Woman In The U.S. Deserves Good Maternity Care

Opinion writers weigh in on these health issues and others.

The New York Times: Four Key Things You Should Know About Health Care

Health care, so far perhaps the biggest issue in the Democratic primary, is also the most complicated issue facing government and the public. Unfortunately the debate is filled with persistent misconceptions, from the role insurance company profits play in health care costs to who is actually paying for workers’ health coverage. Clarifying four fundamental health care fallacies could make it easier for voters to square some of the Democratic proposals — and their critiques — with reality. (Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Victor R. Fuchs, 9/12)

Stat: Childbirth-Related Deaths Can Be Prevented. Here Are 5 Ways To Do It

It is safer to fly by plane anywhere in the world than it is to give birth in the United States. Last year, 589 people died worldwide because of an airline accident. Compare that with about 700 deaths each year among women in the U.S. as a result of pregnancy or complications during or after childbirth. Worldwide, more than 800 women die every day because of these complications.In the United States, women of color bear the brunt of these problems. Data released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that black, American Indian, and Alaska Native women are significantly more likely to die because of childbirth than white women, regardless of age group, education level, and other factors. (Amy Compton-Phillips, 9/13)

Stat: 2020 Candidates Weigh In On Our Country's Mental Health, Addiction Crises

As the current candidates for president discuss hot-button issues with each news cycle, and the 10 Democrats debate on Thursday, one issue that isn’t getting the attention it deserves is the mental health crisis that is claiming more than 150,000 lives a year through suicides and overdoses and creating a vast ripple effect of suffering among their survivors. This crisis is fueled by a health care system that is ill-equipped to handle mental health and substance use disorders, and magnified by leaders who lack the political will to turn words into action. (Patrick J. Kennedy and Gordon H. Smith, 9/12)

The New York Times: Elizabeth Warren’s Plan For Social Security Looks Smart

When I was a teenager, my mom showed me a statement that she had received in the mail from the Social Security Administration. It included an annual history of her earnings, which showed a big string of zero’s covering the years when she was in her late 20s and early 30s. “That’s you and your sister,” she explained, laughing. My mom is doing just fine these days, but anyone who spends years as a stay-at-home parent — or an unpaid caregiver of any kind — faces a financial penalty when it comes time to retire. Our Social Security system doesn’t recognize parenting as the socially and economically valuable job that it is. (David Leonhardt, 9/12)

JAMA: Gene Editing Using CRISPR: Why The Excitement?

The gene-editing technique known as CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) is only 5 years old, yet it has galvanized biomedical research and raised important ethical questions. What is it, how does it work, and how could it change medical practice?Biomedical scientists have been “editing” (or, at least, altering) genes for many years. Recombinant DNA technology allowed particular genes to be inserted into a plasmid (a circle of DNA) or into a virus: bacterial and yeast cells now could produce therapeutically useful human proteins, and viral vectors could perform gene therapy in humans. Gene targeting and RNA interference allowed the knockout of particular genes and the insertion of a healthy gene at the site of a defective gene. Zinc finger proteins and transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) precisely altered specific genes. Then came CRISPR. Compared with these previous technologies, CRISPR is easier, faster, less expensive, and more powerful. (Anthony L. Komaroff, 9/12)

New England Journal of Medicine: Emerging Use Of CRISPR Technology — Chasing The Elusive HIV Cure

A new form of gene therapy termed genetic editing or gene targeting has become possible owing to advances in genetic engineering technology. The intent of genetic editing is to alter the DNA code in cells with single base-pair specificity, and thus it can be considered to be an ultimate form of precision therapy. For the past two decades, genome editing has been a powerful tool for basic science research. (Carl H. June, 9/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Take Two Aspirin And Call Me By My Pronouns

The American College of Physicians says its mission is to promote the “quality and effectiveness of health care,” but it’s stepped out of its lane recently with sweeping statements on gun control. And that isn’t the only recent foray into politics by medical professionals. During my term as associate dean of curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania’s medical school, I was chastised by a faculty member for not including a program on climate change in the course of study. As the Journal reported last month, such programs are spreading across medical schools nationwide. (Stanley Goldfarb, 9/12)

The New York Times: What Lies In Suicide’s Wake

When I lost my husband in 2008, I learned that the shocking cause of his death wasn’t as rare as I had thought. More than 45,000 Americans died last year from suicide, in a staggering but seemingly silent epidemic. All this week mental health professionals are sounding the alarm about this crisis, drawing attention to the warning signs that someone you love may be at risk. I missed those signs until it was too late. Once he was gone, my life was unimaginably altered, both by his deadly decision and the stigma it left in its wake. (Peggy Wehmeyer, 9/12)

The New York Times: You Call It The Gig Economy. California Calls It ‘Feudalism.’

Labor leaders cheered in the balcony and lawmakers embraced on the floor of the California Senate on Tuesday as it passed a landmark measure that defines employees, a move that could increase wages and benefits for hundreds of thousands of struggling workers. But the bill is as much a starting point as an endgame: It will drive a national debate over how to reshape labor laws fashioned in the industrial era of the 1930s to fit a 21st-century service and knowledge economy. (Miriam Pawel, 9/12)

Houston Chronicle: There’s A Fair, Simpler Solution To Surprise Medical Bills

Surprise medical bills are a major problem nationally, and almost everyone agrees patients must be protected from receiving them. Surprise billing typically occurs in situations where patients receive care from a provider they did not specifically choose, such as when they are treated by an out-of-network ER doctor during an emergency. (Jamie Dudensing, 9/13)

Los Angeles Times: A Stem Cell Clinic Under Fire By The FDA And Ex-Patients Files For Bankruptcy

StemGenex, the operator of a La Jolla clinic that drew a warning from the Food and Drug Administration that its purported stem cell treatments were illegal, has filed for bankruptcy. The clinic also is facing a class-action lawsuit in San Diego federal court brought by several former customers who say they were misled by its advertising and marketing. The firm’s bankruptcy filing, made on Sept. 5, lists more than $1 million in liabilities and $155,788 in assets — including a Tesla Model X electric car on which it still owes $54,000. (Michael Hiltzik, 9/12)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Team Working On Cuyahoga County Jail Problems Is Impressive, But Has Much Work To Do

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish has finally assembled an impressive team of professionals who are tackling the many problems at the county’s downtown jail, including crowding and issues with security, health care and food. ...All of this is good to hear, but much work remains to be done. Perhaps most troubling, the elimination of red-zoning remains on the to-do list 10 months after the U.S. Marshals Service identified the practice as an example of “inhumane” conditions at the jail. (9/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Has To Replace — And Fill — Long-Term Mental Health Care Beds

When the San Francisco Department of Public Health announced it would transform a long-term mental health care facility at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital into one that offered only short-term care, it walked into a public firestorm. The public was right to be concerned. There’s a serious shortage of long-term mental health care beds in San Francisco. The results can be seen in the suffering on our streets. (9/12)

This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription