Latest KFF Health News Content

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Virus Behind Pneumonia-Like Illness In China Identified As Researchers Warily Watch For Signs Of An Outbreak

Morning Briefing

Researchers in China have “initially identified” the new virus, a coronavirus, as the pathogen behind a mysterious, pneumonia-like illness that has sickened 59 people in the city of Wuhan. It doesn’t appear to be spreading within humans rapidly, but scientists in the region are cautious even 17 years after the SARS outbreak.

Appeals Court Rejects Trump Administration’s Bid To Implement ‘Public Charge’ Immigration Policy

Morning Briefing

The “public charge” rule would potentially deny green cards to immigrants over their use of public benefits including Medicaid. Two other injunctions against the rule have been lifted by other courts, leaving this decision by a federal appeals court in New York as the only nationwide bar to the Trump administration putting the new rule into practice.

Strategy Of Targeting Hard-To-Treat Patients Held Incredible Promise For Cutting Costs. Then Came The Data.

Morning Briefing

The method of finding the most expensive, hard-to-treat patients and better coordinating their care was touted as a popular idea for containing health care costs. A new study offers a harsh reality check on the benefits of such a strategy though. The surprising lack of results offers a cautionary tale about how difficult it is to improve patients’ care and reduce costs.

‘An Arm And A Leg’: Watch Your Back — And Your Wallet

KFF Health News Original

Cathryn Jakobson Ramin, author of the book “Crooked,” says chronic low back pain is not a medical condition. Nonetheless, that complaint sends millions of Americans down a path of expensive imaging tests, ongoing therapies and invasive surgery — all with limited effectiveness for many patients. In a conversation with “An Arm and a Leg” podcast host Dan Weissmann, Ramin shares her journey of back pain and recovery.

Reduce Health Costs By Nurturing The Sickest? A Much-Touted Idea Disappoints

KFF Health News Original

Nearly a decade ago, Dr. Jeffrey Brenner and his Camden Coalition appeared to have an answer to remake American health care: Treat the sickest and most expensive patients. But a rigorous study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows the approach doesn’t save money. “We built a brilliant intervention to navigate people to nowhere,” Brenner tells the “Tradeoffs” podcast.

State Highlights: Illinois Bills Focus On Ending Overuse Of Isolation, Restraints In Schools; Lawmakers Neglected To Improve Finances At Miss. Jails Where Deaths Occurred, Report Says

Morning Briefing

Media outlets report on news from Illinois, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Indiana, California, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Florida, Texas and Iowa.

Sweeping ‘Reassuring’ Study Concludes There’s No Strong Link Between Baby Powder And Ovarian Cancer

Morning Briefing

These kinds of observational studies cannot determine cause and effect, but a more rigorous study isn’t likely to be done. “This represents the best data we have on the topic,” said the study’s lead author Katie O’Brien. The researchers did find hints of a potentially small increased risk for cancer for women who had never had a hysterectomy or fallopian tube-tying surgery.

Can Darwin’s Theory Of Evolution Better Help Scientists Battle Ever-Mutating Cancer Cells?

Morning Briefing

The cutting-edge strategy seeks to reduce the treatable cancer cells, stop treatment, and wait for those cells to grow back before treating them again, recognizing that cancer cells are always evolving to fit their environment. In other public health news: a cancer moonshot, the emerging virus in China, how to pack for hospital stays, male infertility, processed food and obesity, dementia, and more.

Major Pharmacy Chains Claim Doctors, Other Providers Are Responsible For Opioid Crisis In New Lawsuit

Morning Briefing

“The pharmacist is not supposed to be second guessing the medical necessity of the doctor’s prescription,” said Timothy Johnson, an attorney for Discount Drug Mart. Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Walmart and others who have found themselves in the cross hairs over who was responsible for curbing the opioid crisis filed their own suit against providers.

Local Officials Across Country Push Back Against Federal Policy Barring Pre-Trial Inmates From Medicaid Benefits

Morning Briefing

“Just because you’ve been in jail for a short period of time, that shouldn’t automatically knock you off the [Medicaid] rolls,” said David Davis, the Democratic sheriff of Bibb County, Georgia. “You then have to go through enrollment all over again.” The disruption in enrollment can often negatively effect an already vulnerable population of people. Other Medicaid news comes from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Georgia, California and the South.