PI's Weekly Media Digest: Pastors sue Big Soda over deceptive marketing, Senate to take up revised healthcare bill, tobacco industry finds an opening with Trump admin
A new version of the ACA repeal bill is out from Senate Republicans, who hope to vote on it next week, Politico reports. This version maintains the repeal of the Prevention and Public Health Fund to take effect October 1st, 2017; maintains Medicaid cuts of over $700 billion; retains more of the ACA’s taxes on the wealthy; gives an additional $100 billion towards the opioid epidemic and helping lower-income Americans afford coverage; includes an amendment by Senators Cruz (TX) and Lee (UT) that allows insurers to sell inexpensive plans that don’t meet the ACA’s essential coverage requirement if they also offer separate plans that do meet these coverage requirements. The CBO will release scores of the revised bill on July 17- one score will include the Cruz-Lee amendment, one will not.
Medi-Cal patients are suing the state of California over denial of care and delays in access to medical care. According to KQED, because the majority of Medi-Cal patients are Latino, the plaintiffs are making the case that these denials constitute civil rights violations.
The Guardian reported two tobacco-related stories this week, the first regarding the tobacco industry’s approach to low-income US regions as “growth markets,” even as the overall smoking rate continues to decline. The second story concerns the close ties between members of the Trump administration – including Trump, Vice President Pence, and Health & Human Services Secretary Price – to the tobacco industry. That has advocates worried about tobacco regulations, as the Trump administration delays e-cigarette regulations: ‘“With the new Trump administration and Congress trying to roll back health and safety regulations, generally the tobacco industry is seizing the opportunity to mount its own assault on the programs and policies that have reduced smoking in this country,” said Vince Willmore, a spokesperson for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.’
The House Appropriations Committee’s Labor Health and Human Services 2018 budget proposal includes a $1.1 billion increase in funding to NIH, which is $8.6 billion more than the president’s budget request; $7 billion for CDC; keeping PPHF for the upcoming fiscal year; and keeping the ban on the use of federal dollars to advocate for gun research, Medscape reports.
The Congressional Budget Office scored the Trump administration’s proposed budget and found that, contrary to the administration’s claims that the budget would eliminate deficits within 10 years, the budget would increase the deficit to $720 billion, while sharply cutting Medicaid, Social Security Disability Insurance, health, education, environmental protection, and social safety net programs like food assistance.
Two DC-area pastors are partnering with a public health group to sue Coca-Cola and the American Beverage Association for deceiving their customers about the health risks of their products. The Washington Post reports that the “lawsuit marks a break with tradition for African American and Latino community groups who have been reliable allies of Big Soda for years in policy fights across the country -- despite overwhelming evidence that the harms of drinking soda impact their communities disproportionately. Obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and lower-extremity amputations are all far higher among people of color than among whites. These communities also drink more soda -- and are exposed to more soda advertising. “It’s become really clear to me that we’re losing more people to the sweets than to the streets,” said Coates, who said he has seen members of his congregation give their infants bottles filled with sugary drinks. “There’s a great deal of misinformation in our communities, and I think that’s largely a function of these deceptive marketing campaigns.””
As with the previous version, the latest Senate revision of the health care bill promises significant cuts to Medicaid that would reduce access to prevention and treatment for opioid misuse. The revised bill still caps funding to states, and reduces reimbursement rates for people eligible for coverage under the expanded provisions of the ACA. Debate on the bill is expected to include proposals to address the cuts to Medicaid, according to the New York Times. The revised bill, like previous versions, includes $45 billion to address opioid use, but the New York Times and others have reported that experts believe that amount falls well short of what is needed. An NPR report explores how the potential cutbacks could affect the health and economic wellbeing of people who currently receive mental health services covered by Medicaid.
One in three people receiving the Medicare prescription drug benefit Part D received a prescription opioid in 2016, and 400 health professionals “had questionable opioid prescribing patterns for beneficiaries at serious risk,” according to a report by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The report by the HHS Inspector General is part of its ongoing efforts to prevent the misuse of prescription drugs. As part of its “2017 National Health Care Fraud Takedown,” HHS issued 295 notices to doctors, nurses, and pharmacy technicians suspected of contributing to opioid diversion and misuse, including operating pill mills, or prescribing drugs for non-medical use; and stealing pills from patients.
In a related development, the Associated Press reports that a Texas doctor has been charged with contributing to the overdose deaths of at least seven people over four years by writing unnecessary prescriptions for drugs such as fentanyl, hydrocodone and morphine.
The Military Veteran Peer Network in North Texas is one of a growing number of programs in which community mental health clinics and state hospitals are training and certifying peer support specialists to join mental health teams, particularly in areas with shortages of mental health providers, NPR reports. The peer specialists often have common backgrounds and concerns with those they’re supporting, including facing similar mental health challenges.
Black Lives Matter marked its fourth anniversary with a 55-page report on the movement’s actions, principles, and future plans, including drawing attention to state violence against black people, bailing out black mothers for Mother’s Day, and participating in solidarity actions like Standing Rock protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline.
A tobacco industry front group, Let’s Be Real San Francisco, is collecting signatures to challenge SF’s new ban on flavored tobacco products, including mentholated products.