Latest KFF Health News Stories
The government promised to cushion the blow for some insurers if they entered the health law marketplace, but then Congress stripped the money out of the budget. The insurers say they are owed $12 billion. From the questions during the oral arguments it seems like the Supreme Court justices may agree, though both Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito were skeptical of some of the insurers’ points.
First Edition: December 11, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Drug Giants’ Big Bets On Cancer Treatments Reflect Industry’s Intense Interest In Lucrative Market
Read about the biggest pharmaceutical development and pricing stories from the past week in KHN’s Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
When Teens Abuse Parents, Shame And Secrecy Make It Hard To Seek Help
Most domestic assault offenders are adults, but about 1 in 12 who come to the attention of law enforcement are minors, according to a 2008 study by the U.S. Justice Department. In half of those cases, the victim was a parent, most often the mother.
Among U.S. States, New York’s Suicide Rate Is The Lowest. How’s That?
Suicide rates across the country have been rising for 20 years. That’s true in New York, too, but even so, its rate is about half that of the country as a whole.
Books, Binders, Bleed-Control Kits: How School Shootings Are Changing Classroom Basics
School districts around the country, including in Texas, Indiana, Illinois and Arkansas, now require bleeding-control kits and training at their public schools in this era of mass shootings.
Supreme Court Seems Sympathetic To Insurers In Obamacare Case
Justices from the right and left ask whether Congress needs to keep its promises.
Estados buscan frenar el vapeo adolescente con un clásico: más impuestos
El debate llega cuando los estados enfrentan el aumento del consumo adolescente. Casi el 28% de los estudiantes de secundaria reportaron haber vapeado en 2019.
Opinion writers express views on these health issues and others.
For those who use a wheelchair, the struggle that comes with flying can be disheartening. “You’re basically giving disabled people yet another reason to feel like society wants us shut into our homes and doesn’t want us going anywhere,” says Emily Ladau, a disability rights activist. In other public health news: Huntington’s disease, the HIV epidemic, salad and E. coli, obesity, mental health and more.
Media outlets report on news from Virginia, New York, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, Georgia, Connecticut, California, and Massachusetts.
Primary Care Doctors Who Are Fed Up With Industry Are More And More Cutting Out The Middleman
Instead of playing by the rules of the traditional health system, primary care doctors are charging patients a set fee per month to cover a range of basic services. This lets them spend more time with patients and avoid the headache of dealing with insurers.
UnitedHealth To Acquire Specialty Drug Provider Diplomat Pharmacy At A Steep Discount
“This combination will expand the innovative specialty pharmacy and infusion solutions OptumRx can offer to the consumers and clients we serve,” said John Prince, the chief executive of OptumRx, a division under UnitedHealth. In other health industry news: cigarette stocks rebrand, a former executive pleads guilty to fraud, Banner Health agrees to a settlement over a data breach.
Warren Pivots When Asked By Worried Union Workers If Their Negotiated Coverage Will Be Protected
Union workers, which can be a powerful voting bloc for Democrats, are concerned that a “Medicare for All” plan will upend the hard-won coverage they’ve negotiated for themselves. “What you’ve got is something I want to see replicated all across America,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said. But she didn’t answer how she would protect their coverage.
Without explanation or notable dissent, the justices declined to take up the case, which argued that the law violated physicians’ First Amendment right of free speech. Lower courts have been divided over “display-and-describe” ultrasound laws. Two federal courts upheld the Kentucky law, but in a similar case out of North Carolina, a separate federal judge struck down the law. The case is just one of many abortion challenges destined for the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Declines To Hear Unusual Case Brought By Arizona Against Embattled Sackler Family
Arizona argued that the Supreme Court had “original jurisdiction” because one of the parties involved was a state. It was an unusual step to take because most cases work their way up through the lower courts. The Supreme Court didn’t bite, though. Meanwhile, new documents show that Purdue Pharma’s decision to cut its sales force in 2018 wasn’t quite the sacrifice it may have looked like. The opioid-maker had already calculated that its past marketing would cushion any fallout from the decision.
The “risk corridor” program was the financial carrot to get insurers to participate in the marketplaces. But Republicans stripped most of the money from the program in 2014. Now insurers say the government owes them $12 billion. “At its core, this isn’t really a case about health policy,” said Christen Linke Young, a fellow at the Brookings Institution. “It’s a case about whether or not the government keeps its word.”
CMS Administrator Seema Verma filed a claim with the government after $47,000 worth of jewelry and other property was stolen during a work trip. According to White House aides, President Donald Trump is standing by Verma, despite the fact that she’s embroiled in another controversy over spending millions on communications contracts as well as an increasingly hostile and public feud with HHS Secretary Alex Azar. Meanwhile, HHS says it was “perfectly appropriate” for Verma to file the claim.
Efforts to address surprise medical bills had stalled until a bipartisan agreement emerged over this past weekend. The White House praised lawmakers’ “delicate work” to reach a deal, which is a compromise between two other strategies for dealing with the costs. But even with the White House’s support, question marks remain about whether the deal can be pushed through both chambers and sent to President Donald Trump by the end of the year.