STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE FORMER GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE DON BERWICK, who once held a top health post in the Obama administration, will join the state’s Health Policy Commission next year as an appointee of Attorney General Maura Healey. Healey’s office confirmed the appointment Wednesday in response to an inquiry after Berwick listed himself as a commissioner […]
Health Care
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
Sounds of health-care silence in GOP debate
I HAD ONE mission last night watching the Republican debate among the party’s top 10 presidential contenders: What, if anything, could we learn about the state of play regarding the Affordable Care Act and US health policy? What I observed: The impassioned debate about the Affordable Care Act/ACA/Obamacare is over, even among Republicans. Here is […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics, State House News Service
MassHealth OKs postpartum depression screening
Beginning next spring, MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program, will reimburse health care providers for the costs of screening women for postpartum depression. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito made the announcement at a State House event on Monday to increase awareness of postpartum depression. The event targeted state lawmakers, health care providers, and community advocates working with […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
CBO: Obamacare repeal would be costly
MY FAVORED DEFINITION of “health policy wonk” is someone who reads health reports from the Congressional Budget Office — and enjoys it. Guilty as charged. Last Friday’s new report, “Budgetary and Economic Effects of Repealing the Affordable Care Act,” was enlightening and fascinating. It will be a benchmark document during the coming two years of debates […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion
A grand bargain on medical device tax
ONE PROPOSAL TO CHANGE the Affordable Care Act would repeal the law’s 2.3 percent tax on sales of medical devices. On June 2, the House Ways and Means Committee voted, once again, to rescind the tax and a vote in the full House is expected soon. Even progressive Democrats such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and […]
Posted inHealth Care, Opinion, Politics
Don’t cut lifeline for pregnant women, new mothers
AS AN OBSTETRICIAN/GYNECOLOGIST, I regularly see women suffering from depression in pregnancy and during the year following delivery. The reality is that many women are not caressing their growing bellies or cooing contentedly over their newborns after they give birth. They struggle to varying degrees to take care of themselves and their babies. Sometimes mothers […]