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The GOP-crafted tax changes are about as popular as a root canal with Americans. A recent poll found the vast majority of voters do not believe their own taxes would be reduced. But Congress can’t move fast enough to deliver more “reform” to the people. Next on the agenda: health insurance programs covering 100 million Americans. (12/13)

You could almost hear healthcare industry stakeholders sigh with relief when Democrat Doug Jones was projected the winner of the special Senate election in Alabama Tuesday night. That's because Jones' narrow victory over Republican Roy Moore dims GOP hopes of successfully reviving their drive to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and cutting and block-granting Medicaid in 2018. Providers, insurers, and consumer advocacy groups almost universally opposed the GOP effort, fearing massive insurance coverage losses and healthcare spending cuts. (Harris Meyer, 12/13)

It’s not just sleigh bells ringing we hear this time of year, it’s snuffle, moan and cough. And here’s the bad news: Even if you got your flu jab, your chances of avoiding the misery-inducing bug aren’t so good this year; the dominant strain of influenza that is here is less vulnerable to vaccines. (12/13)

[T]he opioid crisis and the frightening rate at which it has accelerated doesn’t allow for the outright dismissal of this idea — or any others — that could have prevented even one of the more than 60,000 deaths caused by drug overdoses in the United States last year. As a health care professional, I can’t stand idly by with the knowledge that a better way exists for reaching and caring for those suffering from the disease of addiction. We can’t allow individuals to die cruel deaths alone in alleyways or under the cover of darkness in public parks. (Henry L. Dorkin, 12/13)

A patient who doesn't speak English lies in bed, looking up at doctors who don't speak Spanish, who point their fingers at the patient’s body, chest, belly, and ask the only question they can: “¿tienes dolor?” We’ve all seen this, more or less. Yes or no—that's the entire story this patient is allowed to tell. No, lo siento, I’m not here to argue for the use of medical interpreters—hopefully your moral compass argues for that on its own. I'm arguing for something else. (Anna DeForest,12/12)

How should we measure quality in meaningful and efficient ways? The answer could either smooth the transformation to a value-based delivery and payment system or continue to allow performance measurement to impose a significant roadblock to this transition to value. I say “we” because physicians and other health care providers share ownership of this issue with patients, payers, and purchasers. (Jerry Penso, 12/13)

Josephine "Joey" Gay should have celebrated her 12th birthday this week. She should have been surrounded by friends and family in a place festooned with purple, her favorite color. Chase Kowalski should have been working toward a Boy Scout merit badge and training for a triathlon. Avielle Richman should have been where her parents said she was happiest, on a horse. (12/13)

Five years ago today, Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother in Newtown, Conn., then took two semiautomatic handguns and a semiautomatic rifle from her cache of firearms to massacre 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Of course, people declared at the time, such a tragic, senseless event would be a turning point. Surely a slaughter of innocent children would be too much even for the National Rifle Assn. and its adherents, and finally Congress would act to ban civilian possession of the guns of war. Nope. (12/14)

While most of Congress and K Street is preoccupied with tax reform, keeping the government funded and deciding which holiday parties to attend, other issues in Congress are moving ahead under the radar. If the American people are not vigilant, Congress is going to get away with supporting some fairly anti-free market policies that will have real, negative effects on millions of people. (Easton Randall, 12/13)