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[blogyadiraherrera]

Will people stop getting insurance if there is no mandate?

In this article by the NY Times, they zoomed in on a young women woman that said she got insurance not because of the mandate but because of the fear of getting a huge hospital bill that she would not be able to afford. Many people think like this because they know that emergencies may happen. All while Republicans think that people would stop getting insurance if they delete the mandate and in turn save "billions".

[blogyadiraherrera]

Who is paying the most penalties for not having insurance?

A New York Times article evaluated all of the states where people were paying the most penalties for not having insurance. They split them up into the income people make, finding that the group who pay it the most are between 25,000-50,000 a year. This can be because their inability to get Medicaid and not meeting the bracket. They are also less likely to get insurance from their job, It kind of makes sense that they would chose to pay about 500 instead of paying hundreds and make in the low thousands monthly, especially if they have children. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/28/us/politics/obamacare-individual-mandate-penalty-maps.html

[blogyadiraherrera]

Even though this isn't necessarily policy, pressuring schools and workplaces to offer more meatless options can create better health outcomes and possible decrease obesity. A lot of health problems stem from food with a lot of oil and artery clogging factors. This can ween many people off prescription medicines, and surgery tables that temporarily fix the problems. A policy that could come out of this is more education for doctors on how to incorporate nutrition in healing patients and preventing disease

[blogyadiraherrera]

Under the ACA, there was a mandate to label calories in food in menus. This is done as an attempt to decrease the extremely high obesity rates in the United States

[blogyadiraherrera]

Study: ACA reduces emergency room visits

This study found that emergency visits are reduced because of more young adults being covered by their insurance. The preventive visits and visits when the problem is emerging helps people catch diseases and other problems early on. This can help people and the government save a lot of money. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4453768/

[blogyadiraherrera]

Is a Single Payer System right for the U.S.?

In this Op-Ed, the writer evaluates "the good, the bad and the ugly" of a single payer system. For the good, he states that people will be covered for services either preventive or surgical. The "bad" is that people are going to have to pay more taxes (he does not use a source) and for the ugly, he states that the government will decide what services will be provided, which, also seems like there is no validity. Hmmm. He fails to mention the other factors like less emergency room visits because of more preventive services, and less people being in debt because of a broken foot, or people being able to detect cancers earlier, therefore being able to get treatment quicker and increase their chances of living. Of course, it will be a heavily polarized topic as it is a "socialist" ideal. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-single-payer-healthcare-system-is-it-right-for_us_59ea4caee4b034105edd4e64

[blogyadiraherrera]

Pharm Company is Denied Protective Order

A Pharmaceutical company in Oklahoma is trying to dodge having to answer questions and paperwork so they attempted to file a motion for protection and it was denied by the courts. This was triggered by class action lawsuit that is attempting to hold them accountable for underselling the risks of opioids, and the death and addictions of many people. http://www.normantranscript.com/news/oklahoma/county-judge-denies-pharmaceutical-companies-request-in-opioid-case/article_d75db7f9-3be1-5dae-8591-1d9e96b369b2.html

[blogyadiraherrera]

A new study buy Reuters found that low-income children in the U.S. Whose parents qualify for Medicaid are more likely to get preventive care. This could be from the incentives that parents get to get their children vaccinated or to get check-ups for little to no cost to them. source: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-poor-children-benefit-when-parents-have-access-to-healthcare-2017-11

[blogyadiraherrera]

IRS enforcing ACA Mandate

Many businesses are going to start getting reminders to insure their employees. The IRS is enforcing this federal mandate for the businesses that have 50 or more employees. This is good news for employees because they will not have to pay thousands in coverage, and even if only for a few months, will get subsidized help in paying insurance. Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/business/irs-health-insurance-mandate.html

[blogyadiraherrera]

Trump is illegally trying to sabotage Obamacare

By cutting the commercials and advertising, Trump is purposely attempting to keep Americans in the dark about the deadlines. The states had to ask the US court to keep monthly subsidies that cover the cost-sharing that allows low-income citizens to afford co-pays and reach deductibles. 

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/states-us-court-health-subsidies-cut-trump-50573016

[blogyadiraherrera]

First major changes to federal nutrition policy

https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/nutrition-standards-school-meals

The USDA has made some substantial changes to nutrition standards to reflect healthier and more science-based guidelines. These changes will affect daycares and schools who benefit from the NSLP. The new guidelines eliminate foods with added sugar, high fat foods and prompt for more fresh fruits and vegetables 

[blogyadiraherrera]

USA [has the] “the highest obesity rates for girls and boys.”

Fortune, http://fortune.com/2017/10/11/childhood-obesity-who-healthcare/

[blogyadiraherrera]

“If we look at violence like a chronic condition, the first thing we must examine are the underlying factors that may lead to violent behavior in the first place”

https://qz.com/1100310/violence-in-the-us-isnt-just-tragic-its-a-public-health-crisis/ 

This article looks at violence as a public health issue. There has been studies that seemingly unimportant things such as street lamps, crosswalks and public transportation are all indicators of how much violence is in a neighborhood. Yet, there could be confounding factors that work together to create this. For example, the neighborhoods that are more invested in through income tax and resources probably see lower rates of violence.

[blogyadiraherrera]

Employers not required to provide birth control benefits for women

A rule proposed by the Trump administration is attacking working women’s rights to birth control. This rule implies that employers are not required to provide birth control benefits. Since there could be many conservative business owners trying to cut costs, it may affect many places and women around the United States. The “studies” cited to support this rule claim that birth control provokes risky behavior and that there isn’t a correlation between birth control and lower rates of unintended pregnancies. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-06/trump-officials-dispute-birth-control-benefits-to-justify-rules

[blogyadiraherrera]

CHIP Expired

The insurance that covers millions of kids in the United States has expired and the initial response was very passive. Now, legislators are attempting to bring the program back. Some states are running out of money and others, like Minnesota have already run out. This can have implications for public health and preventive services that help keep children healthy and ready for greatness. 

[blogyadiraherrera]

Health insurance has a long history of being expensive and complicated in the United States. The lack of intersection between care providers and insurance companies is causing people to pay so much more if they have not met extremely high deductibles and do not understand their policies as much as they should. Obamacare arguably could have been a catalyst for a wider understanding of insurance and the need to have it for emergencies and also the risk pool. 

[blogyadiraherrera]

41 states to investigate Pharmaceutical companies over opioids

NPR

The investigation on pharmaceutical companies comes as there are millions of cases of overdose through overprescribed opioids. The majority of the United States decided that it was time to confront the companies to see if they had misled doctors and patients since the spike of pharmaceutical companies since the 1990′s. With the proper lawyers and policymakers, this can create new policies for how frequently doctors can prescribe drugs to manage pain and possibly more direct instructions on labels on how to take the opioids.