Latest KFF Health News Stories
Experts Debunk Trump’s Claims That He Saved Pre-Existing Conditions Coverage
President Donald Trump defended his administration’s efforts to protect health coverage for Americans in response to presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg’s ads, but fact checkers and other experts were quick to point out that Trump has gone to great lengths to weaken the health law and its popular provisions throughout his presidency. “That tweet is so far inconsistent with the direction of their policy push,” said Linda Blumberg, a health policy analyst at the Urban Institute. “It’s just astounding to me.”
Loopholes Limit New California Law To Guard Against Lofty Air Ambulance Bills
A new state law limits what consumers owe if they’re transported by an air ambulance that’s not part of their insurance network to the amount that they’d be charged if they used an in-network provider. But the law won’t protect millions of consumers whose health plans aren’t regulated by the state.
Team Trump Says Administration’s Action On Health Care ‘Is Working.’ Is It?
The impact of the Trump administration’s health policies is not as clear-cut as the president’s reelection campaign suggests.
Californianos sin hogar se adaptan a redadas en campamentos y a las normas de Caltrans
Las comunidades de personas sin techo están siendo desplazadas, dejando atrás no solo ropa y objetos, sino también medicamentos y dispositivos vitales.
Opinion writers tackle these and other health issues.
Media outlets report on news from Oregon, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, District of Columbia, Georgia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Connecticut, Mississippi, California, Minneapolis and Tennessee.
The strain of virus is related to SARS, which caused an outbreak years ago that still has public health experts waiting for the next one. Officials announced the first death from the current outbreak of the pneumonia-like disease.
Downward Trend In Cancer Deaths Is Great, Experts Say, But Hold Your Horses On Any Big Celebrations
The news is actually more nuanced than it may have seemed last week. And much is riding on how the results are interpreted. In other public health news: “forever chemicals,” race and medicine, genetic sequencing of measles, sickle cell disease, maternal deaths, and more.
Calif. Governor Wants To Make ‘Radical Shift’ In How State Is Addressing Homeless Crisis
As part of his proposed budget, Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to give money aimed at curbing the homeless crisis directly to service providers rather than funneling it through cities and counties. “More money is not going to solve this alone,” Newsom said. “We need real accountability and transparency.” Other news from state legislatures comes out of New Jersey, Virginia, Florida and Washington.
The good news, health experts say, is flu activity dipped slightly last week, but monitoring the week ahead with children returning to school from winter holidays is key. News on the flu is from Iowa, Georgia and Oregon, as well.
Google has long seen health data as a natural extension of its stated mission to organize information, but many people are wary about the company’s efforts. In other health and technology news: Facebook’s preventive health tool, Apple and the CES show, and a probe into Fitbit.
Last week a judge gave Verity Health permission to close the doors of the old St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles. Throughout the decades, the mission of the hospital to serve the most needy remained consistent, and thus it struggled financially. In other hospitals news: out-of-network billing, health care prices, psychiatric care, emergency departments, and more.
Republicans May Be Stuck Between Rock And Hard Place On Voting For Democrats’ Drug Pricing Proposals
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has been hesitant to take up votes on House Democrats’ drug pricing legislation, trying to protect his members from going on record against a bill that could help lower costs. But doing nothing is politically fraught with the issue at the front of many voters’ minds.
The attorneys also argue that the guardians of these kids need to be grouped together in a class action lawsuit against drugmakers and distributors. “The urgency of this is, the longer we wait, the more difficult it is to help these children,” said Cleveland attorney Marc Dann, who filed the motion along with attorneys from Texas and Louisiana. In other news on the opioid crisis: chronic pain, benzodiazepines and overdose deaths.
Within the abortion debate, there’s a lot of talk over whether a person will regret their decision later on. But new research looks at the long-term emotions following that choice and finds that at the five-year mark, 84 percent reported either primarily positive emotions or none at all, while 6 percent had primarily negative feelings.
Pharmacy benefits managers, the controversial middlemen in the drug pipeline, are a favorite target to blame for higher prescription drug costs. A Supreme Court decision on how much oversight states can place on PMBs could send shock waves through the debate over health care costs. In other pharmaceutical news: genetic testing and proprietary data, lax oversight of the 340B drug program, a startup with the possible answer to high drug costs, and more.
The Trump administration says the plan aims at addressing changing social factors, such as the fact that people are living longer in better health and fewer people are engaged in physically draining jobs like coal mining. And new technology allows those with disabilities to work in ways that weren’t available in the past. Other news on the Trump administration’s policies focuses on food stamps and Medicaid eligibility.
Research counters a popular conservative talking point that Medicaid expansion exacerbated the opioid crisis, in the latest study to show that the expanded program has improved health and saved lives.
The Air Force had determined that the two airmen could no longer perform their duties because their career fields required them to deploy frequently and because their condition prevented them from deploying to the U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility, where most airmen are expected to go.
In the lawsuit, the men also say their children, who were separated from them at the border, were abused by other kids while in U.S. custody. In other news, a different suit filed in 2015 over the conditions of detention facilities is getting its day in court.