One of the few positive provisions of the summer’s Senate “health care” bills was the inclusion of funding to states to “support substance use disorder treatment and recovery support services.” With more than 30,000 people dying from heroin and painkiller overdoses in the United States every year, sufficient funding to address and effectively treat the issue is crucial. Yet the latest version of the “health care” bill has omitted this funding entirely.
Read moreThe Tanning Tax is a Public Health Success Story [from Health Affairs Blog]
Given Congressional Republicans’ failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the elimination of the tanning tax appears to be off the table, at least for now.
Read moreFDA Reboots Tobacco Regulation with Harm Reduction
On Friday, July 28, 2017, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb unveiled a revamped approach to tobacco product regulation in an announcement that surprised tobacco companies, investors, and the public health community in equal measure. The goal, as articulated by Gottlieb, will be to regulate products so as to encourage migrating existing consumers from the most lethal combustible tobacco products (i.e., cigarettes) to non-combustible products lower on the continuum of risk.
Read moreRepublicans Failed Because They Have No Idea What Kind of Health Care They Actually Want
Not so long ago, much of the Republican Party stood united in a vision for health care.
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