Latest KFF Health News Stories
First Edition: October 28, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Farmworkers Face Daunting Health Risks In California’s Wildfires
October marks not only fire season in California, but also the peak of the grape harvest. In areas not imminently threatened by the explosive Kincade Fire in Sonoma County’s fabled vineyards, workers labored through heat and smoke, or faced lost wages.
Snooze You Can Use: California Legislates More Sleep For Better Health
Other states may follow California’s new law requiring later start times for middle and high school students. The new law highlights the importance of better sleep, which will once again be on people’s minds as most of America — but not all — sets the clock back an hour early next month.
States Try A Gentler Approach To Getting Medicaid Enrollees To Work
Facing GOP pressure to install work requirements for adults getting Medicaid coverage, some states seek instead to offer more opportunities for job training.
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.
Vape District en Los Angeles, una puerta de entrada al mercado negro
Una sección de cinco cuadras del centro de Los Ángeles que solía ser parte del Toy District se ha convertido en la zona cero del país para el comercio de cannabis falsificado.
Editorial writers weigh in on these health topics and others.
Media outlets report on news from Illinois, California, Idaho, Iowa, Alaska, Ohio, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Florida and Texas.
Each week, KHN finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Factors driving down America’s score include the risks of social unrest and terrorism, as well as low-public confidence in government. The report grades the efforts of 195 countries. Public health news is on the declining number of children in foster care, ”auto-brewery syndrome,” portable MRI, autism screenings, suicidal police officers, dementia, pros and cons of non-monogamy, and high fives for eating yogurt and fiber.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning has a proposal that he hopes appeals to Republicans and Democrats. The blueprint toward expansion contains ideas to draw lawmakers from both sides of the aisle but it also includes things that could be dealbreakers for either party. Medicaid news comes out of Oklahoma, Tennessee and Minnesota, as well.
Section 6(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which the FTC cited in its information demands, gives the agency broad investigative authority to demand information from companies for use in research, legal experts point out. Other health system and hospital news comes out of Florida, Illinois, New York, Oregon and Wisconsin.
Health systems use the algorithm — from Optum — for 100 million people across the country to find patients with diabetes, heart disease and other chronic ailments. “What the algorithm is doing is letting healthier white patients cut in line ahead of sicker black patients,” said Dr. Ziad Obermeyer, the study’s lead author.
The Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection was supposed to help eliminate wrongdoing in the VA. Instead Peter O’Rourke and his successor, Kirk Nicholas, ended investigations into allies of senior officials, failed to consistently report to Congress and refused to honor whistleblowers’ demands for anonymity, a new report finds.
The insurers’ lawsuit against the federal government revolves around cost-sharing reduction subsidies that were intended to lower healthcare costs for certain people who bought coverage on the Affordable Care Act exchanges. While the judge’s decision is likely to be appealed, it could foretell an expensive outcome for the administration.
Pharma Sells States On ‘Netflix Model’ To Wipe Out Hep C. But At What Price?
Manufacturers of lucrative drugs say they’re offering discounts off the high sticker prices ― but taxpayers footing the big bills might never know what the state is paying or if it’s getting a good deal.
The New Normal: How Humans Are Going To Have To Adjust To A World On Fire
As California continues to burn for the third record year in a row, some experts warn that we need to reconcile the fact that fires aren’t going away. “I think the perception is that we’re supposed to control them. But in a lot of cases we cannot,” said John Abatzoglou, an associate professor at the University of Idaho. “And that may allow us to think a little bit differently about how we live with fire. We call it wildfire for reason — it’s not domesticated fire.”
Major Retailers Yank 22-Ounce Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder To Avoid Confusion Following Recall
J&J, which is facing thousands of lawsuits over a variety of products, said last week it was recalling around 33,000 bottles of baby powder in the United States after U.S. health regulators found trace amounts of asbestos in samples taken from a bottle purchased online. Walmart, CVS and Rite Aid are taking steps to remove all 22-ounce bottles from their stores as well.
Pelosi’s Drug Pricing Plan Could Violate Three Parts Of Constitution, Congress’ Legal Experts Warn
And the potential constitutional issues with the bill can’t be fixed with a few tweaks — they relate to the central crux of the bill, according to a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. Meanwhile, a watchdog report flags safety and reliability concerns over drug imports from China. And in other pharmaceutical news: patents legislation, the roller coaster of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug, and an investigation into carcinogens.
HHS had vowed to ban all vaping products except tobacco flavor, but that decision sparked political backlash for the administration. Meanwhile, the number of vaping-related illnesses continues to climb, but at a slower rate. Officials warned that could be because of reporting delays rather than progress being made in the outbreak, though.