Latest KFF Health News Stories
Trump Administration Rule Would Make Hospitals Reveal Secretly Negotiated Prices With Insurers
Hospitals are already gearing up for a legal battle against the “radical proposal.” Some experts say the rule would be a game-changer if it survives. The Trump administration is also proposing to require most health plans that Americans get through their employers to disclose rates, as well.
Warren Presents Detailed ‘Medicare For All’ Road Map With Three-Year Transition Period
The plan may blunt moderates’ criticism that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) would strip people of their private insurance immediately. The plan still sets ambitious health goals for the first 100 days of Warren’s presidency, where she would use a budgetary maneuver in Congress to create a generous “Medicare for All option.”
Researchers Bank On ‘Smart Bomb’ Phage Therapy As A Hero In The Antibiotic-Resistant Era
The phages can be programmed to blow up a single harmful bacterium without blowing up other, helpful strains that occur naturally in a person’s body, as antibiotics do. In other pharmaceutical news, Novartis nabs U.S. approval for its experimental sickle cell drug.
White House Tries to Quash Questions Over Trump’s Health After President’s Surprise Check-Up
After a surprise two-hour doctor’s appointment on Saturday, the White House said President Donald Trump, anticipating a busy 2020, wanted to “begin portions of his routine annual physical exam” and that any worries about his health are unfounded.
President Donald Trump has been under intense lobbying pressure from the industry and faced warnings that there could be 2020 election backlash from voters. Whatever policy emerges, it’s expected to be far less strict than the one he was all but ready to make in September. Media outlets peel back the curtain on the administration’s delay and shift on a flavor ban.
California Mass Shooting Leaves Four Dead, More Wounded Only Days After Santa Clarita Attack
A gunman walked into a backyard and started shooting at a south Fresno home, where a gathering of about 35 family and friends was watching a football game. Earlier in the week, a 16-year-old gunmen in California opened fire on his fellow students before turning the gun on himself.
White House Puts Heft Behind Bipartisan Compromise Drug Bill In Senate
White House adviser Joe Grogan said the administration is working to line up Republican support for the Senate bill, which would cap what Medicare beneficiaries pay out of pocket for medicines and require drugmakers to pay rebates to Medicare if they hike prices above the inflation rate.
First Edition: November 18, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Despite Supreme Court Win, Texas Abortion Clinics Still Shuttered
Three years after winning a big legal battle, abortion providers still find themselves losing the war when it comes to keeping clinics open across the huge, populous state.
Startup Seeks To Hold Doctors, Hospitals Accountable On Patient Record Requests
Despite laws requiring that health care providers hand over copies of patient records in a timely fashion, many people have trouble getting theirs. Ciitizen, a Palo Alto, Calif., company that helps cancer patients with the task, recently published a scorecard that rates hospitals, doctors and clinics on their compliance with records requests.
La Casa Blanca revela norma final sobre transparencia de precios en salud
La norma establece que, a partir de 2021, los hospitales deben publicar los precios de todos sus servicios en internet, para que los consumidores tengan información.
White House Unveils Finalized Health Care Price Transparency Rule
The final directive drew swift responses from the hospital and insurance industries. The Trump administration also released a proposed rule that would require health insurers to spell out for all services beforehand just how much patients may owe for their out-of-pocket costs.
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.
Listen: How A Wisconsin Senator Is Trying to Prevent A Vape Flavor Ban
KHN Correspondent Lauren Weber joined Wisconsin Public Radio’s news magazine “Central Time” to discuss Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson’s role in the politics of vaping.
Opinion writers weigh in on these public health topics and others important health issues.
Longer Looks: Abortion Wars; Self-Harm And Social Media; A Cancer Story; And More
Each week, KHN finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Editorial pages focus on ways to reduce health care costs and other health care issues.
Experts say that watching pornography can rewire a child’s brain. But even though it’s unlikely adults will succeed in blocking them from watching it, there’s little help being offered to the young people to help them navigate it more safely. In other public health news: the flu, sugar intake for infants, hibernation, mental health, sleep, exercise and more.
Media outlets report on news from New York, Maryland, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Florida, Connecticut, Tennessee, South Dakota, and Arizona.
Philadelphia has become the epicenter for overdose deaths as the epidemic shifts from rural areas to urban ones. City leaders hope to follow practices in other countries that allow tens of thousands of illicit drug users to consume heroin and other drugs in supervised facilities instead of in back alleys and parks. The Department of Justice says injection sites violate the law. News on the opioid epidemic is from Michigan, as well.