Latest KFF Health News Stories
Tackling surprise medical bills was touted as an issue that might actually make it through the severely divided Congress, but then talks broke down earlier in the year when it came time to choose a strategy to move forward with. Now a proposal from key House and Senate leaders, built on the idea of a dispute resolution system, could be gaining traction.
First Edition: December 9, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Obamacare Back At The High Court — With Billions For Insurers On The Line
The case revolves around a health law provision designed to help insurers recover some losses because they had an unusually high number of sick and expensive customers. Insurers complain that when Republican lawmakers discontinued funding the program, it was like “Lucy Van Pelt pulling the football away from Charlie Brown.”
It’s Not Just You: Picking Health Insurance Is Hard. Here’s How To Be Smart About It.
It’s open enrollment season for health insurance. And choosing the best plan is tricky whether you have to buy insurance on your own or just figure out which plan to sign up for at work. Here’s what you need to know.
‘Warm’ Hotlines Deliver Help Before Mental Health Crisis Heats Up
“Warmlines” are phone lines or electronic chat options for people who are not having a full-blown mental health crisis but who could use support to stave off one. They are a growing trend in mental health outreach to supplement existing hotlines, with one successful warmline in the Bay Area recently expanding to cover all of California.
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.
Violencia en hospitales: buscan reducir ataques de pacientes a profesionales de salud
Los pacientes representan aproximadamente el 80% de los incidentes violentos graves denunciados, pero a veces los agresores son familiares y amigos frustrados o estresados.
Opinion writers weigh in on curbing the costs of pharmaceuticals and other issues.
Longer Looks: The Psychology Of Voting; Overexcited Neurons And Artificial Intelligence; And More
Each week, KHN finds interesting reads from around the Web.
A task force assembled by Gov. Ralph Northam several months after a racist photo of him was found in his medical school yearbook recommended removing nearly 100 overtly discriminatory and racist laws still on the books.
Media outlets report on news from Texas, North Carolina, Connecticut, California, Minnesota, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, and Missouri.
Public health officials are concerned that despite wide-scale publicity intended to deter vaping, especially in the wake of recent illnesses and deaths, not only did the practice continue to surge, but students also did not seem to be particularly alarmed about e-cigarettes. What’s more is that students also reported using other nicotine products, revealing a widespread problem with addiction not limited to just vaping. Meanwhile, a tale of two states shows the effects of what happens when there’s a vaping ban in one.
Army-funded studies report there is a significant and growing proportion of soldiers entering the military with psychiatric disorders, requiring wider availability of mental health care for troops, even those who have never experienced combat. Public health news is on studies on dangers of PFAS, aging, face injuries from cellphones, time-restricted eating, postpartum depression among women of color, measles’ steady comeback, raising boys these days, diabetes risks for preemies, and traumas brought on by patients, as well.
Medicare Advisory Commission Deems Payments To Ambulatory Surgical Centers As Already High Enough
Eliminating the increase would produce cost savings for Medicare without hurting access to care or the willingness of ambulatory surgical centers to deliver services to Medicare beneficiaries, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission ruled. In other news, Saturday is the deadline for Medicare enrollment, but some advocates are calling for flexibility because of the difficulties some beneficiaries have encountered while trying to sign up.
The ruling from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals says so long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors on public property. But dissenters say the decision shackles the hands of law enforcement who are trying to deal with an escalating homeless crisis.
“Our students find it objectionable to walk into a building that says Sackler on it when they come in here to get their medical education,” said Dr. Harris A. Berman, the dean of the Tufts University School of Medicine. Tufts won’t return the money Sackler has donated over the years, but will instead set up an endowment to help combat the epidemic.
“Becoming a first-generation professional would have been impossible without access to safe and legal abortion services,” one signer wrote. The Supreme Court is set to hold oral arguments on the case, which centers around hospital admitting privileges, in March.
Giants like 23andMe continue to dominate, but smaller firms like Veritas have had to pare back expectations. Veritas was known as one of the few companies providing whole-genome sequencing.
Gilead suspended development of the safer drug for five years, in what advocates claim was a tactic to extend its monopoly on the profits from the older treatment. In other pharmaceutical news: Biogen tries to make a case for its Alzheimer’s drug but some remain unpersuaded; Sage Therapuetics’ shares plummet after bad news on depression treatment; biotech investors say they’re not worried about Congress; and more.
Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg is calling for a ban on all assault weapons, mandatory permits for gun purchasers and a new position in the White House to coordinate gun violence prevention. Bloomberg revealed the plan in Aurora, Colo., the site of a 2012 massacre at a movie theater.