But the country’s broken health system is failing to achieve its goal of helping people stay healthy and live longer. And we face major policy challenges that will make it difficult to get the country back on track to increasing the average life expectancy of Americans.
Today, the Post’s health science team is publishing the second installment of its coverage of America’s life expectancy crisis. Here are key takeaways from three articles that explore everything from the role primary care can play in increasing life expectancy in the United States, to policies in other countries, to what’s on your school cafeteria tray. To do.
A tale of two countries is actually a tale of two vastly different health care systems.
It starts with two sisters. Both Costa brothers have rheumatoid arthritis, but the treatment Lucilia receives is carefully coordinated through Portugal’s National Health Service, which emphasizes universal access to primary care. But her sister Lourdes has had to manage her U.S. treatment on her own, sometimes paying her doctors out of pocket or showing up at the emergency room when her symptoms worsen. The Post reported that this happened. francis stead sellers and Catalina Fernandez Martins write.
The differences in experience highlight the structural and philosophical contrasts between the two health care systems.
- The United States spends more on health care per capita than any other country. But life expectancy here has fallen to 76.4 years in 2021, the lowest in nearly 20 years.
- Meanwhile, Portugal offers a promising, if imperfect, model for early intervention in chronic diseases that shorten lifespans, experts say. This country spends about one-fifth of the United States on health care per capita. Her average life expectancy has increased to 82 years, and a key factor in this is spending health care dollars on an integrated approach to primary care.
Primary care providers offer the greatest hope for reversing America’s decline in life expectancy. That’s the conclusion drawn by experts who study the American health care system, Francis reports.
nevertheless As this evidence grows, The number of medical students entering this field is decreasing. Small medical practices are being replaced by concierge offices that pay high membership fees. And while the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the problems undermining primary care, that erosion was already occurring.
What’s your reaction? The federal health department has pledged to strengthen primary care and is seeking feedback from providers, unpaid carers and others to sort out how the government can help. sense. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and roger marshall (R-Kan.) 26 billion dollar bill The bill aims to expand primary care, but the bill faces difficulties getting signed into law.
Meanwhile, the primary care business is in turmoil. Investors are looking to integrate the industry with pharmacies and specialty care. Major companies, etc. Amazon, CVS and walmart, They are spending billions of dollars to enter the market. And venture capitalists are focused on value-based care, a model that rewards quality outcomes.
“All of this places a big question mark over the future of primary care,” Francis wrote.
Read the rest of her in-depth content here.
How Lunchables ended up on school trays
For the first time this fall, Lunchables will be available to almost everyone. 30 million The kids After the company redesigned two of its products to meet National School Lunch Program rules, the Post reported Lenny Bernstein, Lauren Weber and Dan Keating report.
Kraft Heinz declined to say how many school districts are purchasing lunchables this year. Our colleagues spoke with more than 40 school districts, many of which said they would not offer this product due to high sodium content or other nutritional reasons.
“American parents are already packing Lunchables into their kids’ lunches, and bringing Lunchables into school cafeterias is on-brand for both parents and kids,” Kraft Heinz spokeswoman Lindsey Erb said in a statement. It makes a lot of sense.”
This comes as the food industry and their allies in Congress have thwarted repeated attempts by the federal government to build on improved diets for children as the nation’s obesity epidemic continues to grow. The latest efforts are Department of Agriculture The group is proposing further limits on sodium in school lunches and added sugar in cereals, flavored milk and other foods starting in 2025, over the objections of Republican lawmakers and industry representatives.
Read the rest of the story here.
More information about life expectancy from The Post:
- Visual of toll plaza Stress affects the human body.
- Post main points Results of a year-long study of life expectancy in the United States.
- Missed the first part of the series? Read about it here.
FDA takes important step toward banning menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars
of food and drug administration formally submitted a proposal to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars to the white house Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is seeking review, one of the last regulatory hurdles before the rule is finalized.
The agency sent a proposal to the White House on Friday.supporters of restrictions american lung association And that Campaign for non-smoking kidsurging OMB to: speed up the review Therefore, the final regulations could be announced by the end of the year. CNN‘s jen christensen.
- Yes, but: This rule will almost certainly face legal backlash.Last year, the tobacco industry aggressive campaign It seeks to prevent California from enforcing its voter-approved ban on flavored tobacco products. died in the Supreme Court.
Key context: This move follows the F.D.A. long-standing vow The aim is to eradicate flavors that authorities believe make smoking less appealing, especially to minors. Health officials also claim that the ban will have the following effects: Reducing tobacco-related health disparitiesafter the industry be aggressively marketed We have been providing products to minority communities for decades.
What we know about the newly elected governor of Louisiana
republican party jeff landry confirmed the governorship of Louisiana On Saturday, he defeated a crowded field of candidates to win one of only three gubernatorial races in this off-season gubernatorial race. Below is a snapshot of his stances on some key health policy issues.
- Landry supports the state’s near-total abortion ban, which does not include exceptions for rape or incest. He was also one of 20 Republican attorneys general who sent the following letter in February: CVS and walgreens It threatened legal action if retail pharmacies in states began selling abortion pills by mail.
- he will continue Medicaid expansion. In 2018 he participated in a federal lawsuit It could not overturn Obamacare, and success would have watered down Medicaid expansion.
- Landry supports new state ban upon Gender-affirming care for minors.
- And in June, he and 18 other state attorneys general signed the letter It opposes a Biden administration rule aimed at expanding health privacy protections for people who seek, receive, and provide abortions.
Teva Pharmaceuticals sues Colorado over epinephrine syringe access program
Teva Pharmaceuticals I’m taking it colorado to court Over a new program aimed at making epinephrine auto-injectors to treat severe allergic reactions more affordable. ed silverman report of status.
Looking more closely, under program, every time an eligible uninsured resident obtains an auto-injector from a Colorado pharmacy, the manufacturer must either send a free replacement or refund the full cost of the device. The law, scheduled to go into effect on January 1, also requires health insurance companies that cover products to set out-of-pocket maximums: $60 For autoinjector 2-pack.
In its legal challenge, Teva argues that Colorado’s plan violates the Fifth Amendment by seizing private property for public use without just compensation. There is. it is same argument Some drug companies have made such arguments in lawsuits seeking to block Medicare’s new authority to negotiate the prices of certain prescription drugs, Ed noted.
- The company asked the court for an injunction to prevent the law from taking effect while the lawsuit progresses in court.
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services accepted Montana’s request The report would extend postpartum Medicaid coverage to the first full year of life for low-income mothers in the state. Approval document The office announced this yesterday.
- Decreased serotonin levels may be an important factor Research behind why some coronavirus patients continue to experience complicated symptoms that linger for months or even years after initial infection was published yesterday in the journal cell suggests.
- Trucks carrying aid were stranded on the Egypt-Gaza border yesterday as hospitals filled with injured people. Begged for water, food, and fuel for generator. Many medical workers have refused to evacuate the tiny Palestinian territory. This is because evacuation may harm seriously ill patients on ventilators. Najib Joban, samiya club and Joseph Claus report of Associated Press.
thank you for reading! See you tomorrow.
