Viewpoints: Work Requirements Promote Healthy Attitude; Connect Dental Care With Health Care

Editorial pages highlight these and other health issues.

The Hill: Americans Can Be Entitled Or Free — But Not Both

No matter the headlines about tax cuts, immigration controversies, or foreign threats, the top priority for Americans remains health care. People can’t get care when they need it and most struggle to afford health care costs, both insurance premiums and out-of-pocket copayments. The latest so-called crisis in health care is about work requirements for Medicaid recipients. Supporters say these obligations are good for the health of enrollees. Detractors claim that work requirements violate the spirit and intent of Medicaid law. Both sides avoid the real issue. As a physician I cannot ignore the real problem, which is this question: are Americans entitled or are they free? They can’t be both. Work requirements in Medicaid are not about money or health as much as they are about entitlements, personal responsibility, and the meaning of freedom. (Deane Waldman, 2/18)

The New York Times: How Dental Inequality Hurts Americans

Even before any proposed cuts take effect, Medicaid is already lean in one key area: Many state programs lack coverage for dental care. That can be bad news not only for people’s overall well-being, but also for their ability to find and keep a job. Not being able to see a dentist is related to a range of health problems. Periodontal disease (gum infection) is associated with an increased risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. (Austin Frakt, 2/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Battlefield Medicine At Parkland

As we mourn the 17 people murdered in last week’s Parkland, Fla., massacre, let’s take time to celebrate the heroic—and successful—effort to save the 16 wounded survivors. The emergency medical response to catastrophic shootings is very different than when I worked in an emergency room a quarter-century ago. Lessons learned on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq are now saving civilian lives back home. (Marc Siegel, 2/19)

The Washington Post: Advocates Say Blaming Florida Shooting On Mental Illness Will Lead To More Discrimination

It often doesn't take long after a mass shooting for people to conclude that mental illness contributed to the horrific violence. In one of his first tweets after a shooting at a Florida high school killed 17 people, President Trump did essentially that. “So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!” (Eugene Scott, 2/16)

The Hill: We Need Federal Limits On Prescribing Opioids

The United States has long been plagued by drug addiction, but our current epidemic of opioid abuse, with its growing toll of overdose deaths, is starkly different. It is partially driven by soaring rates of opioid prescribing, rather than by illegal street drugs. Deaths from prescription opioids have climbed in parallel with opioid prescribing in the U.S., which quadrupled from 1999 to 2010.Retail pharmacies dispensed 215 million opioid prescriptions in 2016 — enough to provide a bottle of narcotics to two-thirds of all Americans. This epidemic calls for federal action to limit the quantity of opioids prescribed. This starts with acknowledging that the medical establishment helped create the crisis in the first place by over-prescribing opioids to treat chronic non-cancer pain. (Richard S. Larson, 2/18)

USA Today: 'America's Harvest Boxes': Socialist Food Stamps

Who knew that President Trump and some in his Cabinet were closet Socialists. How else to explain their plan to slash a partnership between government and private industry that provides food for the poorest Americans and partially replace it with a program fresh from Cold War Bulgaria. Since the 1960s, low-income Americans have received benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), popularly known as food stamps, and used them to buy food at about 260,000 retailers from Wal-Mart to corner groceries to farmers' markets. Now, the Trump administration has a bright idea: Eliminate much of the freedom to shop in private markets, add a dose of bureaucracy, and instead give the 42 million poor Americans using the program all the convenience of a Depression-era soup line. (2/19)

USA Today: USDA: America's Harvest Boxes Deliver Innovation

The proposal will provide nutritious food for people in need and reduce costs to taxpayers at a time when the national debt exceeds $20.5 trillion. America’s Harvest Boxes will be just what they sound like: containers of 100% American-grown products to encourage nutritious diets. Using the Department of Agriculture’s massive purchasing power, it will save about $129 billion over 10 years, and still provide the same food value recipients get now through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). (Brandon Lipps, 2/19)

Los Angeles Times: 500-Pound Man's Doctor Says He'll Die Without Surgery. His Insurer Shrugs It Off

Norwalk resident Shawn Alvarado started packing on the pounds as a teenager, gradually becoming one of millions of Americans whose sedentary lifestyle made him a statistic in the country's obesity epidemic. By the age of 24, Alvarado weighed 300 pounds. By the age of 31, he weighed 400 pounds.Today he tips the scale at almost 500 pounds. (David Lazarus, 2/16)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Sen. Ryan McDougle: Republicans Focus On Lower Health-Care Costs And Help For Those Most In Need

This year, for the fifth session in a row, Virginia’s governor is advocating we adopt Obamacare’s optional Medicaid expansion scheme. Senate Republicans, however, are focusing our efforts on solutions that will lower the cost of insurance and health care for Virginia’s families, while ensuring those with the greatest need receive quality care. (Ryan McDougle, 2/17)

Los Angeles Times: Will Coffee In California Come With A Cancer Warning?

How do you like your cup of cancer in the morning? I take mine with fake sugar and skim milk. Lame, I know. But there's no accounting for taste in carcinogens. Or, in this case, coffee. You've probably seen the bemused headlines: "Coffee in California may soon come with a spoonful of cancer warnings." There's wacky California, doing its liberalism-through-regulation schtick again. (Alexander Nazaryan, 2/18)

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