Relatively early in America’s adventures in coronavirus, on March 18, the US government approved legislation that made coronavirus testing, as well as the visit to administer it, free for all Americans, whether or not they have health care insurance (although if the visit doesn’t result in a coronavirus test, it is not covered).
It was an essential policy: The fear of medical bills acts as a deterrent for many Americans, pushing them to delay, or avoid, tests or medical tr...
Quartz
RBG says women are being “tossed to the wind” in Supreme Court birth control case
The US Supreme Court today heard oral arguments in controversial cases about religious and moral objections to contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The Trump administration expanded existing “conscience exemptions” dramatically but a nationwide injunction has so far blocked the new rules from going into place.
The justices’ phone debate was long and sometimes painfully technical. However, distilled, the issue at the heart of these matters is relatively simp...
Why US businesses are opining on a Supreme Court case about contraception
On May 6, the US Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases about the Trump administration’s expansion of the “conscience” exemptions to contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The changes allow institutions providing health insurance to avoid paying for birth control, for religious or moral reasons, without notice.
A nationwide injunction has blocked implementation of the changes so far. Now the justices are faced with three very technical legal que...
Covid-19 expanded telemedicine measures that we’ve needed for years
This week, the US federal government said it would lift restrictions on telemedicine services for seniors under Medicare. The new measures facilitate radical changes in the way medicine is delivered, enabling patients to access hospital-level medical care outside of hospitals—in schools, hotels, and homes.
The way medicine works today has changed significantly since most regulations were put in place, and with it, the business of medicine. The above is an unprecedented move...
Telemedicine struggles to be an option for everyone in the wake of coronavirus
Telehealth services are being met with a flood of patients in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
As hospitals and public officials urge patients with symptoms of Covid-19 to avoid emergency rooms, online-only services that allow patients to consult with doctors over the phone, video, or direct message are a natural fit. But as demand increases, telehealth providers will confront two challenges: capacity and access.
For those with private insurance, many pr...
Biden is wrong: A single-payer healthcare system is not the problem in Italy
The whole of Italy has been on lockdown to control the spread of Covid-19 for more than 10 days now.
The regions of Lombardia and Veneto are at the epicenter of the crisis and have been dealing with the epidemic for much longer than that. Hospitals there are overrun. There is not enough space in intensive care units (ICUs), which are necessary to treat about 10% of those infected with the disease. The situation has been compared to a war.
During the latest Demo...
As an American, I felt safer from coronavirus in the UK until herd immunity came along
On Jan. 24, I got a text from the UK’s National Health Service telling me if I had returned from Wuhan and felt ill, to call a number to arrange a phone consultation. The request to stay away from my local NHS facility was polite but firm: “Please do not attend.” One month later I got another text, with a longer list of countries (China, Hong Kong, Italy’s Lombardy region, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Taiwan). If ill, self-isolate and call 111.
I...
Coronavirus is revealing ugly truths about social structure in the US
The coronavirus pandemic is affecting every possible aspect of life—and thus confronting Americans with ugly truths about the way US society functions.
Any crisis or emergency throws into sharp relief the lack of a social safety net in the US. This virus outbreak, the most widespread in decades, is exposing the country’s social vulnerabilities all at the same time. Some of them will be addressed in a comprehensive relief package that Congress and the White House agreed upon...
Bill Gates’s plan to tackle a possible pandemic only works if governments handle health care
The Covid-19 epidemic has yet to go global, yet there are fears among public health professionals it could be our century’s Spanish flu.
The 1918 pandemic circled the world three times over two years, infecting a third of the popul...
