Health Policy News Roundup Curated by Jane M Orient, MD
Remember how ObamaCare was supposed to be about keeping your insurance? The irony is that more health insurance policies have been canceled under Obamacare than ever before, writes Merrill Matthews. While trying to stop health insurers from canceling policies that couldn’t be canceled anyway because of a provision in HIPAA, Obamacare initiated widespread policy cancellations. http://www.forbes.com/sites/merrillmatthews/2014/10/10/remember-when-obamacare-would-stop-health-insurers-from-canceling-policies/
The reach of the regulatory state keeps growing at an accelerated pace. Recent notes on what the FDA “protects” us from:
- Adult stem cells. A man paralyzed after a clean cut to his spinal cord in a knife attack is walking again, using a frame. He had olfactory cells from his nose placed into his spinal cord—in Poland. But it will probably take years to figure out what kind of clinical experiments must be done to prove to the FDA that it works. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-10-21/paralyzed-man-walks-again-after-nose-cells-are-placed-in-spine
- Have Ebola test; can’t use it. At Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, an Ebola screening system that our military is using in Africa has been sitting on the shelf for two years. But since it is only FDA-approved for research, it cannot be used in diagnostics. Is that why our new Ebola czar is a lawyer?” asks Barbara Duck. http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2014/10/dallas-hospital-had-ebola-screening.html
- Low-cost prosthetics. An FDA-approved prosthetic hand costs upwards of $50,000. A 3-D printer can make a non-approved one for $50. John Goodman suggests a way around the barrier: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngoodman/2014/10/07/save-the-children-from-the-fda
Does the public perceive a flaw in the Obama Administration’s handling of the Ebola crisis? The new “czar,” Ron Klain, is a brilliant political operative. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ebola-czar-appointment-politicizes-life-and-death-issue-states-association-of-american-physicians-and-surgeons-aaps-381064984.html
Seen on Social Media:
Delays in #Obamacare enrollments hide insurance cost hikes until after #Election2014 http://t.co/Onk3H46EaA @JGWithrow
— FreedomWorks (@FreedomWorks) October 21, 2014
Is CDC Hiding Enterovirus Link To Illegal Alien Kids? http://t.co/uGUnaK7vMY #IBDEditorials via @IBDinvestors
— Thomas Del Beccaro (@tomdelbeccaro) October 21, 2014
“once you compile a biometrics database, it’s hard to put limits on how that’s used” http://t.co/eD1RKTjePG #privacy
— Frank Pasquale (@FrankPasquale) October 21, 2014
Live updates on Ebola from international sources: http://t.co/AvCSjnBYlr
— Jane Orient, MD (@jorient) October 21, 2014
