Latest KFF Health News Stories
The federal government is arguing that insurers received increased subsidies when they raised premiums, which more than compensated their losses. Judges in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims have so far sided with insurers and ruled that their strategies to mitigate losses from CSR payments do not affect their eligibility for repayment. Meanwhile, states report their health law enrollment numbers.
Under federal law, legal immigrants are eligible for government-funded health care. During arguments the three-judge panel questioned why President Donald Trump was allowed to overrule that legislation with his ban.
Lawsuit Against Opioid Drugmakers Seeks Additional Settlement For Babies Exposed During Pregnancy
The brief filed in Cleveland adds to an already existing lawsuit for several thousands clients and states: “This generation of children is not yet lost, but without intervention by this Court, they will be.” News on the opioid crisis is from New Hampshire and Michigan, as well.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) wants to direct his state to sell its own brand of certain generic prescription drugs, with the theory that increased competition will drive down prices. Experts, however, say that while the strategy is a good step, generics aren’t the primary problem.
15-Year-Old In Texas Becomes Youngest Person To Die In Outbreak Of Vaping-Related Lung Disease
The teenager had an underlying chronic health problem, doctors said. There have been 2,602 reported lung injury cases that required hospitalization and 57 deaths linked to vaping. In other vaping and tobacco news; lawsuits over youth vaping, viral social media posts, nicotine use and job prospects, and a menthol ban.
After President Donald Trump seemed to take credit for the dropping rates, advocates and political rivals fired back. “The largest drop in overall cancer mortality ever recorded from 2016 to 2017, reflects prevention, early detection, and treatment advances that occurred in prior years,” said Gary M. Reedy, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.
Gov. Laura Kelly (D-Kansas) campaigned on Medicaid expansion and has been pushing the Republican-controlled Legislature to do so since taking office. She has been wrangling with Kansas Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning on the deal, which would cover as many as 150,000 additional people.
First Edition: January 10, 2020
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Some Disability Advocates Delighted With Warren’s Outreach Efforts And The Scope Of Her Plan
“Candidates are actually listening to disabled people,” said Rebecca Cokley, director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. “This is how policy should be made. It matters who’s at the table.” Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s plan is sprawling, touching on education, employment, Social Security, technology, housing, incarceration, and more, in addition to focusing on health care.
High-Deductible Plans Jeopardize Financial Health Of Patients And Rural Hospitals
Small hospitals and patients in rural areas have been hit hard by the boom in high-deductible health plans. Often when a patient arrives at a rural hospital needing critical care, the person is stabilized and transferred to a larger facility. But bills from the first site of care generally get applied to the patient’s deductible. When patients can’t afford their deductible, the smaller hospital winds up eating the costs.
Family Doctors In Rural America Tackle Crisis Of Addiction And Pain
For rural physicians, the burden of responding to the opioid epidemic falls squarely on their already loaded shoulders. For one doctor in a small Wisconsin village, there was no question that she wanted to rise to the challenge.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Democrats Roll Dice On SCOTUS And The ACA
A group of Democratic state attorneys general are betting the Supreme Court will take up the case and overturn a federal appeals court ruling in time for the 2020 elections. In other high-court news, most Republicans in Congress are asking the justices to use a Louisiana law to overturn the landmark abortion-rights ruling, Roe v. Wade. Joanne Kenen of Politico, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more. Rovner also interviews NPR’s Richard Harris, who wrote the latest KHN-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature.
Editorial pages focus on these and other health issues.
Media outlets focus on news from Mississippi, Florida, Nebraska, Georgia, Kansas, Washington, Wisconsin, California, Georgia, and Massachusetts.
Research Roundup: Sudden Infant Death, Health Care Spending, Pelvic Exams And More
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Hospital Roundup: Closures, New Leaders, Class-Action Lawsuits, Unions And More
Media outlets report on hospital news out of California, Maryland, Louisiana, Washington, Texas and Tennessee.
“We want to help people feel safe participating in the conversation on Twitter by giving them more control over the conversations they start,” the San Francisco-based company said in a tweet.
As part of a growing interest in the link between mental health and the minimum wage, the new study finds that the wage hikes lower the suicide rates more when it is harder to find a job like in 2009. Public health news is on a new CDC flu forecast and a new outbreak, chronic fatigue syndrome, individualized medicine, more recalls of Zantac, 5 risk factors for longevity, rising numbers of electric scooter injuries, as well.
New documents support growing evidence that concerns about misuse raised even in the early days of the epidemic were countered time and again by Purdue Pharma sales reps. Other news on the opioid epidemic looks at needle exchanges, addiction treatment providers, HIV infections, and more.
Biggest Ever One-Year Drop In Cancer Death Rates Attributed To Strides Made In Lung Tumor Treatments
Even patients with late-stage cancers are surviving for several years — rather than months — after treatment starts. The overall cancer death rate fell by nearly 30% from 1991 through 2017. The study wasn’t all positive: declines in the death rates from prostate, breast and colon cancer are slowing, despite those cancers being easy to scan for.