Latest KFF Health News Stories
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.
The Death Toll For Florida’s Decision Not To Expand Medicaid: 2,776 Lives
“What the report shows for the first time is the scale of the impact of that access and just how many lives are truly saved or lost because of the ability to connect to care and maintain that connection to care, particularly for people who have chronic conditions,” said Alison Yager, director of policy advocacy for the Miami-based Florida Health Justice Project. Medicaid news comes out of Wyoming, as well.
Along with legally recognizing the fetus as a person, the legislation would also mean that anyone who performs an abortion would be “subject to already existing murder statutes.” The bill is just one of many strict regulations that state lawmakers have been pushing through the courts this year.
Migrant apprehensions were down for a fifth consecutive month in October, a 31 percent decrease from October 2018 and a 73 percent drop from the year’s high in May, the U.S. Border Patrol reported. Single adult migrants comprised the bulk of those apprehended. News on the border crisis is on federally funded shelter programs and coercive DNA testing, as well.
Dollar Tree Hit With Warning From FDA Over Its Sales Of ‘Potentially Unsafe Drugs’
The FDA issued a warning letter to Dollar Tree for allegedly selling over-the-counter medications from Chinese manufacturing companies that have violated U.S. federal law for not properly testing products and cited an example where “rodent feces (were) found throughout the manufacturing facility.”
Vascepa, which right now is only approved for a relatively narrow group of patients with extremely high levels of triglycerides, costs around $300 a month. The advisory panel unanimously supported the expansion based on recent study results showing the drug can cut rates of life-threatening heart problems in high-risk patients. Other news on the pharmaceuticals and the FDA focuses on a warning against over-the-counter medicine sold at the Dollar Tree, a Chinese cancer drug, and more.
Cases Of Vaping-Related Lung Illness Are Still Climbing But At A Slower Pace
The illness has killed 42 people so far in 24 states and Washington, D.C. The only state left untouched by cases of the epidemic is Alaska. Other news on vaping comes out of New Hampshire, Oregon and Maryland. Meanwhile, a new report finds that cigarette smoking among adults hit an all-time low.
The EPA under the Trump administration originally proposed only assessing the risks of chemicals, like asbestos, that were entering the marketplace, and not concentrate on the products that were already laced with the toxins. A coalition of unions, safety advocates and scientific groups had sued to block the EPA proposal released in 2017.
Through Apple’s various products, researchers have been able to run sweeping studies that would have never been possible before. But doctors wonder if it will really lead to improvements in health outcomes. “This is the big question. Is this ‘so what’? Or are we going to learn something meaningful we don’t know yet?” asked Dr. Ethan Weiss, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California. Meanwhile, details continue to come out about “Project Nightingale,” Google’s initiative to collect patients’ health data.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick served on the boards of American Well Corp., a telemedicine company, and Global Blood Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical firm. His links to the health sector are unlikely to serve him well in an election where the industry often serve as the common enemy. In other news from the 2020 campaign trail: the “Medicare for All” debate, veteran suicides, and emergency preparedness.
Two Students Dead, Three More Victims Wounded At California High School In Latest Mass Shooting
Saugus High School in Los Angeles is the latest site of a mass shooting, where a 16-year-old gunman opened fire on his fellow students and then turned the weapon on himself. There have been a total of 84 incidents of gunfire on school grounds in 2019, according to nonprofit group Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. California has some of the strictest gun laws in the country.
First Edition: November 15, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.