Latest KFF Health News Stories
El gobierno dará medicamentos para prevenir el VIH gratis. ¿Calificas?
La administración Trump lanza plan para ofrecer gratis medicamentos preventivos contra el VIH a las personas que no tienen seguro de salud.
Read about the biggest pharmaceutical development and pricing stories from the past week in KHN’s Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Opinion writers focusing on expanding health care to more Americans and other issues.
Boys Can Suffer From Unrealistic Beauty Expectations Too, Experts Caution
Experts also say that one of the earliest features of boys’ puberty is a swing toward silence, retreating from conversation so it can be hard to get them to talk about how these expectations are hurting their mental health. In other public health news: diet, cholesterol, exercise and more.
Media outlets report on news from New York City, Texas, Missouri, Georgia, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Texas, and North Carolina.
The survey by NORC at the University Of Chicago also reported people said they don’t intend to get the flu. The CDC says the vaccine is the best prevention. News on the flu comes from Louisiana, Georgia, and Minnesota, as well.
It wasn’t the first time either, according to the lawsuit filed on behalf of Edward Patterson. The family of Jamal Crawford also sued the jail over his February 2017 cocaine overdose. Other news on the opioid epidemic is on a guilty plea for oversubscribing, a machine that detects fentanyl, dangerous substitutes, one state’s reliance on Narcan, and early deception about OxyContin, as well.
Government’s Decision To Cut Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments Paid Off For Rural Consumers
A new study found that states that used “silver-loading” or “silver-switching” strategies to compensate for the cost-sharing reduction payment cuts offered lower premiums for subsidized enrollees. The Trump administration has solicited feedback on potentially banning silver-loading in 2021. In other insurance and costs news: bundled payments, penalties, health care sharing ministries and more.
Tennessee, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina and Idaho could all quickly approve bills next year that would in effect ban abortion. But the push has opened a rift in anti-abortion rights circles, with some saying that incremental restrictions are more likely to hold up under inevitable court challenges.
Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) in their letter to CMS Chief Seema Verma cited a recent study that revealed how an algorithm widely used by hospitals to determine who needs follow-up care misclassified black patients as being less sick than their equally ill white counterparts.
A coalition that includes major drugmakers like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson is running ads featuring workers in hard hats and hiring former labor officials and well-known union lobbyists to deliver their message. Many see the pairing between pharma and the unions as an odd one, because members often struggle with the high costs of drugs. Meanwhile, the White House contends that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s drug plan will hurt innovation.
A Look At The Role Consulting Powerhouse McKinsey Played In Shaping Immigration Detention Policies
A ProPublica investigation reveals that the money-saving recommendations the consultants came up with–including proposed cuts in spending on food for migrants, as well as on medical care and supervision of detainees–made some career ICE staff uncomfortable. Other news on the administration focuses on Agent Orange and food stamps.
Government To Provide PrEP To Uninsured Americans To Further Its Goal Of Eradicating HIV Epidemic
Some American cities with high HIV rates already have programs that pay the costs of PrEP for the uninsured, but the new program — called Ready, Set, PrEP — marks the first time the government is supplying the drug to patients not enrolled in Medicaid, the Veterans Health Administration or any other federal health program.
FDA Nominee Advances Through Committee, But Concerns Over How He’d Handle Vaping Epidemic Linger
Dr. Stephen Hahn is a noted oncologist from Texas and was nominated by President Donald Trump to replace former FDA Chief Scott Gottlieb. He would be stepping into the job as the F.D.A. is confronting several crises, among them, the continuing outbreak of vaping-related lung diseases. Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) both aired concerns during the vote about Hahn’s commitment to tackling e-cigarettes.
Since At Least 1970s FDA Downplayed Health Concerns About Talc, Investigation Finds
An investigation from Reuters reveals that over the past 50 years, the FDA has relied upon–and often deferred to–industry even as outside experts and consumers repeatedly raised serious health concerns about talc powders and cosmetics.
Biden Uses Health Care To Take Jabs At Rivals Warren, Buttigieg In Iowa
Former Vice President Joe Biden says that Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s “Medicare for All” plan is out of step with what Democrats want and that South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg is riding the coattails of Biden’s public option proposal. Buttigieg pushed back on the accusations.
First Edition: December 4, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Built For Counterterrorism, This High-Tech Machine Is Now Used To Detect Fentanyl
Public health officials are adopting a law enforcement tool, the mass spectrometer, to instantly identify potentially deadly levels of opioids in local drug supplies.
HHS Hands Out Free HIV Prevention Drugs. Do You Qualify?
Called “Ready, Set, PrEP,” the federal program will provide medication that can reduce the chances of getting AIDS to at-risk patients who don’t have insurance.