Latest KFF Health News Stories
Former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) exchange started out with some teasing, but escalated into shouting and interruptions as they touched on well-worn arguments about the status quo versus the costs of “Medicare for All.” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) jumped in to redirect Sanders’ anger toward congressional Republicans instead of his rival candidates. But overall, health care played a much smaller role at the final debate of the year as “Medicare for All” sinks in popularity.
First Edition: December 20, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Cómo cuidar a los padres mayores cuando no quieren ayuda
Desafortunadamente, ni la paciencia, ni la compasión, ni la tolerancia dan resultado en algunas circunstancias conflictivas, pero hay formas de generar buena comunicación.
California Attempts To Revive Compassionate Cannabis Programs
After the state legalized recreational marijuana in 2016, new taxes and regulations decimated an ad hoc network that had donated cannabis for medical purposes to patients who could not afford it. A recent law seeks to revive the network, but hurdles remain.
A Veteran Started Vaping THC To Cope With Chronic Pain. Then He Got Very Sick.
A Navy veteran from Cleveland tried vaping marijuana to deal with his chronic pain. He landed in the hospital, becoming one of over 2,400 Americans who have suffered serious lung injury from vaping.
Yang And Sanders Use Maternal Mortality Stats To Talk About Race
These numbers are stark.
Warren’s Argument That Millions Can’t Afford Their Rx Drugs Holds Up
‘Medication insecurity’ is a thing.
Democrats Debate Whether ‘Medicare For All’ Is ‘Realistic’
Candidates again sparred over “Medicare for All” and other approaches to health reform — but this time they waited more than two hours before wading into health policy issues.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: ACA Still Under A Cloud After Court Ruling
A federal appeals court in New Orleans has agreed with a lower court that a key piece of the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional. But it is sending the case back to the lower-court judge to decide how much of the rest of the law can stand. Also, Congress is leaving town after finishing work on a major spending bill that includes many changes to health policy. Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss this and more.
Una luchadora por la salud inmigrante, en las clínicas y en las cortes
Jane García, directora ejecutiva de la Clínica de La Raza, que opera una red de 30 centros comunitarios de salud, ha sido testigo activo de la lucha por la salud de los inmigrantes.
Loophole Averted After Surprise-Bill Brouhaha In Texas
The Texas Medical Board bowed out of the rule-making process for a new law protecting consumers from surprise medical bills. Advocates hailed the new rules written by the state insurance regulators.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health care issues and others.
Research Roundup: Measles Antibodies; The Primary Care System; Ultraprocessed Food; And More
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Media outlets report on news from Illinois, California, Colorado, Texas, Washington, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Kansas, Wyoming, Louisiana, Georgia and Missouri.
Strict State Abortion Laws Drawing National Attention As City-Level Rules Skate Under Radar
Several cities have used zoning restrictions to create prohibitive hurdles for abortion clinics in recent years. The most recent one, in a city in Tennessee, would effectively ban abortions within the city’s borders.
New Rites Of Passage: Death-Care Guides Allow Families More Time To Deal With Bodies Of Loved Ones
In some ways, it’s a return to earlier times when family members had to bathe the body and dig the grave rather than have them whisked off by a funeral home right after they pass away. Public health news is on abuse charges that went untried, organ donations, spinal cord injuries, minority physicians, taking holiday breaks, mental health resources for Muslims, addiction risk factors for Native Americans, and dealing with aging parents, as well.
Despite the fact that buprenorphine has changed the lives of those struggling with addiction, it still doesn’t have widespread support. Some worry that the medication, an opiate itself, is just replacing one addiction with another. But as the opioid continues to devastate the country, more and more are embracing the recovery method.
The study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 29 states, mostly in the South and Midwest, will be hit the hardest, with more than 50% of their residents considered obese. Other food news is on diabetes and healthier eating for 2020, as well.
ProPublica investigates how much a New Jersey plan that covers teachers paid out for specialists because it doesn’t have limits on out-of-network bills. More than 70 acupuncturists and physical therapists earned more than $200,000 in 2018 from their teacher clients alone, and one brought in more than $1 million.
In Surprising Turn, Grassley Accuses McConnell Of Sabotaging Senate’s Bipartisan Drug Pricing Bill
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has outsized power in deciding the Senate’s schedule, has not slated the Senate Finance Committee’s drug pricing bill for a vote, largely because the package does not have widespread Republican support. In other pharmaceutical news: “one-and-done” therapies, generics lawsuits, and insulin costs.