Latest KFF Health News Stories
Editorial pages focus on ways to reform health care.
As Virginia Democrats Race To Pass Gun Laws, Out-Of-State Militia Groups Gear Up For A Fight
Law enforcement and public safety officials say they are monitoring the situation, including several instances of threats toward Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. Meanwhile, Democrats who are newly in power are eager to make good on campaign promises.
“I know my choices might look different but thank God or whomever you pray to that we live in a country founded on the principle that I am free to live by my faith and you are free to live by yours,” the actress Michelle Williams said at the Golden Globes event. “Women, 18 to 118, when it is time to vote, please do so in your own self-interest. It’s what men have been doing for years.”
Severe Flu Season Can Be A Windfall For Hospitals
But for insurers who have to pick up the tab it’s nothing but bad news. The current flu season is shaping up to be one of the worst in decades.
Getting coverage can be just the first hurdle when it comes to navigating the high costs in the health industry. Many patients are delaying or even skipping care completely because they can’t afford it. In other news on health care costs and the industry: uninsured children, Medicaid payments, Oscar Health, the senior care-home industry, another Johnson & Johnson lawsuit, and more.
In an Eastern Kentucky region where opioid overdoses are twice the national average, a form of therapy comes from focusing on making and repairing dulcimers and guitars with skilled artisans. News on the crisis is from Georgia, as well.
Organizations are more and more teaching health care systems to identify potential victims and respond to their needs, especially since doctors and other medical personnel are the ones who are likely to come into contact with such people. In other public health news: the hydration craze, smoke from wildfires, autism, care for the aging, migraine treatments, and more.
Doctors are prescribing the drugs sparingly and patients only need to take them a week or two at a time. In a world where pricey million-dollar cancer drugs are king, drugmakers producing modest antibiotics are crashing just when the country needs them the most. In other pharmaceutical news: pay-to-delay deals, blockbuster treatments and a failed promise.
The vaping industry has been making the argument all long: a crackdown on e-cigarettes will be detrimental to adults who are trying to quit smoking. But taxes work to combat the crisis facing the country’s youth. So is there a way to walk the tightrope between the two concerns? Meanwhile, public health groups are angry over President Donald Trump’s decision to leave menthol and tobacco flavors on the market.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said that big changes in health care, a “deeply personal” issue, can make people “uneasy.” Warren has been hammered over her “Medicare for All” plans and has begun to emphasize a 3-year grace transition period into the new system. Meanwhile, KHN takes a look at how other countries pay for health care.
An appeals court ruling kicked the case back down to the lower court for further work, which means it wouldn’t make its way to the Supreme Court until after the 2020 elections — during which health care is expected to be a major concern for many voters. By keeping the case front of mind for the public, the Democrats are trying to own what has proven to be a winning issue for them in the past.
First Edition: January 6, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Hospital Known For Glamorous Patients Opens New Doors To Its Neediest
For years, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, one of California’s largest nonprofit hospitals, has been spending less on charity care than other nonprofit hospitals in the state. Now it is expanding eligibility for free and discounted medical care.
Effort To Control Opioids In An ER Leaves Some Sickle Cell Patients In Pain
People with sickle cell disease aren’t fueling the opioid crisis, research shows. Yet some ER doctors still treat patients seeking relief for agonizing sickle cell crises as potential addicts.
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don’t have to.
Opinion writers focus on these health topics and others.
Longer Looks: The Root Of The Opioid Crisis; Mind Control Startups; Transgender Soldiers; And More
Each week, KHN finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from Texas, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Kentucky, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida, Massachusetts, Illinois and California.
Editorial pages focus on these health topics and others.
The Texas hospital says doctors have done everything they can for the 11-month-old girl, but that she is suffering from severe sepsis, and is heavily medicated with painkillers, sedatives and paralytics.