Healthcare
FLASHBACK: WHO Senior Official Said ‘If I had COVID-19, I want to be treated in China’
Senior Advisor to the World Health Organization’s Director-General Dr. Bruce Aylward said in February that if he was diagnosed with COVID-19, he would want to be treated in China.
“The first thing in the response is there has to be a shift in mindsets. Again, around the world, people are thinking oh gosh how do we live with this and manage this disaster instead of gosh this virus is gonna show up in our country, we’re gonna find it within the first week,” he said at the time.
Dr. Aylward led the WHO’s mission to China in February and praised the Chinese government’s response to the emerging epidemic and described their efforts to contain the virus as “ambitious, agile and aggressive” after he and his team returned.
“We’re going to find every case. We’re going to go after every contact. We are going to make sure that we isolate them and keep these people alive.” Dr. Aylward explained, “So they survive in the case. The rest of the world would access the expertise of China. They’ve done this at scale. They know what they’re doing and they’re really really good at it. And they’re really keen to help.”
He added, “If I had COVID-19, I would want to be treated in China.”
Dr. Aylward and the WHO are under intense scrutiny by the Trump administration after President Donald Trump announced this week that he’s pausing U.S. funding to the organization over its alleged “China-centric” nature.
If you ever had any doubt about the Chinese communist party's influence over the @WHO, this short, crazy clip, an @rthk_news (#HongKong) interview on #CCPvirus with WHO official Dr. Bruce Aylward will clear that up. Deeply troubling.pic.twitter.com/itf9RNV7yl
— Jan Jekielek (@JanJekielek) March 28, 2020
Some of what the President was referring to comes from Dr. Aylward’s response to the pandemic. During a recent interview with a Hong Kong based-reporter Taiwan’s status with the WHO (it’s currently banned from membership), however, he responded that she had “already talked about China” and then hung up when pressed again to comment.
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, a longtime supporter of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare, is now acknowledging the unintended consequences of the healthcare legislation, particularly its impact on industry consolidation and rising healthcare prices.
Warren, who has been a vocal proponent of Obamacare, has recently had what the Wall Street Journal reported as an “epiphany” regarding the consequences of the healthcare law. In a letter addressed to the Health and Human Services Department inspector general, Warren, along with Senator Mike Braun of Indiana, expressed concerns about vertically-integrated healthcare companies potentially increasing prescription drug costs and evading federal regulations.
According to reports from Fox News, the bipartisan letter highlighted issues with the nation’s largest health insurers allegedly bypassing Obamacare’s medical loss ratio (MLR). According to Warren, these insurers, through vertical integration, have manipulated the system, leading to “sky-high prescription drug costs and excessive corporate profits.”
The senators detailed how conglomerates, like UnitedHealth Group, with ownership across various healthcare sectors, could inflate medical payments to pharmacies and, by realizing those payments on the pharmacy side, appear to comply with MLR requirements while retaining more profits.
Moreover, despite the Democrats’ argument that the MLR would benefit patients, it has incentivized insurers to merge with or acquire pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), retail and specialty pharmacies, and healthcare providers. This, in turn, has made healthcare spending less transparent, as insurers can allegedly shift profits to their affiliates by increasing reimbursements.
Warren, who has consistently voted against Obamacare repeal efforts, notably advocated for a “Medicare for All” proposal during her 2020 presidential campaign. Despite her prior support for the healthcare law, Warren’s recent concerns about its unintended consequences have raised questions about the long-term effects of Obamacare and its impact on the healthcare industry.
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