Omaha World Herald. September 27, 2019

Improved data exchange is plus for health care in Nebraska

The Nebraska medical community is taking a major step forward by strengthening its statewide health information system. Greater information exchange among medical facilities, practitioners and researchers can be a boon for improved medical care in the state.

Consider Nebraska’s rankings for death rates from specific illnesses:

No. 6 nationally for deaths per 1,000 population due to hypertension. The No. 10 death rate from diabetes. No. 11 death rate from chronic lower respiratory disease. No. 14 death rate from flu and pneumonia. The figures are from the national Centers for Disease Control.

In addition, Nebraska ranks 15th nationally for adult obesity.

The more that Nebraska equips itself for prevention and treatment of these and other conditions, the better.

The Nebraska Health Information Initiative provides a vehicle to do so. As The World-Herald’s Julie Anderson explained, the system allows an ER doctor in Kearney, for example, to check the medications and health history of a visiting Omahan who lands in her hospital. The initiative also will provide work study and fellowships for medical students and health research opportunities for nurses.

“This health care collaborative will be instrumental in closing the gap between data science and clinical care,” says Dr. Ann Polich, vice president of quality and performance with Methodist Health System.

WellCare of Nebraska, one of the companies managing Medicaid services in Nebraska, will provide $5 million for the establishment of the collaborative and an additional $5 million for endowed research chairs at the University of Nebraska and Creighton University. The funds come from reinvestment funds as part of WellCare’s contract with the state.

Nebraska medical professionals need all the tools possible in maximizing care for residents. This strengthened data exchange has the potential for major benefits in prevention, treatment, medical training and research.

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The Grand island Independent. September 27, 2019

Japan trade deal helps Nebraska’s farmers, ranchers

American farmers received some good news Wednesday when President Trump signed an interim trade deal with Japan.

The trade deal gives farmers some relief, just when they need it because of Trump’s trade war with China, which has diminished the market for U.S. ag products.

With the Japan agreement, U.S. farmers will finally have a level playing field into that market.

The agreement lowers Japanese tariffs on U.S. ag products, such as pork and beef.

U.S. farmers have had difficulty in the Japanese market since Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Since then, other countries such as New Zealand and Australia have had preferred access to Japan.

With the trade deal, American farmers will now be able to compete with them.

This will increase of the value of ag products from Nebraska and creates a larger market for them.

Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, praised the interim agreement.

“There’s still more work to do, but this is really great news for Nebraska’s producers,” Sasse said. “We need more trade deals in the Pacific because they are great for business in Nebraska and it helps build allies as we turn up the pressure on China to stop their constant cheating.”

Steve Nelson, president of the Nebraska Farm Bureau, said the trade deal also sends an important message around the world.

“It is time to send a clear message to the rest of the world: The United States is open for business,” Nelson said.

Nelson added that the trade agreement is big news for Nebraska. Japan is the state’s fourth largest trading partner with sales at $552 million in 2017, including $253 million of beef.

“U.S. beef is king in Japan,” Nelson said.

Farmers have had a difficult year with Trump’s tariff battle with China depressing prices for corn, soybeans, beef and pork. In addition, the weather has been stressful with many fields flooded.

But now, American farmers enter the harvest season with some good news on the trade front that should help increase demand and prices for farm products.

Let’s hope that the harvest goes well and any cold weather holds off.

Farmers deserve some good news and perhaps the Japanese agreement will prompt China and the U.S. to also reach a deal and get Congress to approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA).

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Lincoln Journal Star. September 27, 2019

USDA change on pork plants invites more safety worries

More. That’s the underlying word accompanying the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recent rule change eliminating limits on line speed and reducing the number of inspectors at pork-processing plants nationwide.

More speed brings more pigs into the facility. More pigs bring more products to market.

These are good things for the operations’ bottom line, no doubt. But that also means more of the collateral damage associated with such a shift, including more injuries and more worries about safety.

As an employee at a pork plant in Nebraska, speaking anonymously to protect his job, recently told the Journal Star: “More pigs, less hours, more injuries.” The worker’s worries align with a report issued earlier this month by Human Rights Watch detailing the hazardous conditions at meatpacking plants, including interviews with several employees in Nebraska.

No matter how one shakes it, working in facilities where animals are brought to be slaughtered, sliced, deboned and packaged comes with inherent risk of physical harm. It’s the nature of work that involves many knives, blades, saws and other sharp items meant to cut through muscle and bone, with the report noting these jobs often produce more severe injuries than sawmills and industrial construction.

That danger of this important work must be balanced with a baseline of safeguards at plants. Recall then-Gov. Mike Johanns’ efforts in 2000 that spurred the creation of a state meatpacking workers bill of rights that sought to inform employees of their rights and monitor conditions of these demanding jobs.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue - now occupying a position once held by Johanns - said the new rule change would shift more food safety responsibilities to workers. But complicating matters is that a large share of the workforce in meatpacking plants in this state and region consists of immigrants, both legal and undocumented. The latter find themselves in an especially vulnerable place now.

Enforcement of the workplace safety policies Americans expect at any place of business are now intertwined with immigration raids. Potential whistleblowers may weigh fear of reprisal against themselves or their families’ livelihood, with last month’s federal raid in Mississippi that led to 600 arrests - which some bill as the largest such action in U.S. history - fresh in their memory.

Packing plants have largely been positive additions to many rural communities, bringing waves of capital investment, jobs and new residents at a time when the farm economy is struggling and populations are generally declining. That said, these inherently dangerous operations must do their best to cater to workers’ well-being.

More is certainly not a bad thing. But it must be achieved in a manner to ensure more protections for the employees performing vital, though hazardous, work at this particularly tenuous time.

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