What We’re Reading and Listening To

• Net Neutrality: Did you stop to think that the repeal of net neutrality rules could impact health disparities? Neither did we, until we read this op-ed suggesting that the repeal of neutrality will stifle health care innovations such as telemedicine, online appointment scheduling and mobile health apps – putting them further out of reach for low-income and people of color, and further favoring the “haves” at the expense of the “have-nots”.
• Maternal Morbidity: There have been many stories in the past year about maternal mortality, but ProPublica dove deep on maternal morbidity right before the holidays. The rate of life-threatening complications for new mothers in the U.S. has more than doubled in two decades due to pre-existing conditions, medical errors and unequal access to care. The article includes this staggering statistic – for every U.S. woman who dies as a consequence of pregnancy or childbirth, up to 70 suffer hemorrhages, organ failure or other significant complications, amounting to more than 1 percent of all births. This puts a tremendous emotional and financial toll on women, families, taxpayers and the health system.
• ‘What the Health’ 2017: A Year in Health Policy: 2017 was a roller coaster for health policy – more than any year since the ACA was being debated in 2009. Learn more or take a short walk down memory lane…