Latest KFF Health News Stories
At a confirmation hearing, several senators pressed President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the FDA, Dr. Stephen Hahn, about whether he would push for a ban on flavored vaping products. Hahn said he was not part of discussions on the policy and hadn’t talked to Trump about it but supported “aggressive action to protect our children.”
The government alleged that various drugmakers use charities like Florida-based The Assistance Fund as a means to improperly pay the co-pay obligations of Medicare patients using their drugs. In other pharmaceutical news: a transparency push from President Donald Trump and lawmakers, and an approval for a pricey drug that treats an ultra-rare metabolic disorder.
First Edition: November 21, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
‘An Arm And A Leg’: A Medical Bill Ninja Shares Her Secrets
On Season 3, Episode 2 of the podcast “An Arm and a Leg,” an Illinois woman harnesses a lifetime of experience — and frustration — with health care finances to help other people solve their medical bill problems.
No Safety Switch: How Lax Oversight Of Electronic Health Records Puts Patients At Risk
Special interests and congressional inaction blocked efforts to track the safety of electronic medical records, leaving patients at risk.
Efforts To Move The Needle On Flu Shot Rates Get Stuck
In the past decade, federal and state governments have removed cost and access obstacles, but immunization rates remained flat. That worries public health officials.
Medi-Cal To Expand Eligibility To Young Undocumented Adults. But Will They Enroll?
California will become the first state to allow unauthorized immigrant adults to receive full Medicaid coverage when it expands eligibility to people ages 19 to 25 in January. But health officials and immigrant rights advocates wonder whether fear of federal immigration policy combined with a youthful sense of not needing health insurance will keep those young adults from joining.
In This Democratic Debate, Health Care Issues Took A Back Seat
The latest Democratic debate did not dwell on “Medicare for All,” despite strong divisions among the presidential candidates.
Do 160 Million Americans Really Like Their Health Plans? Kind Of
Former Vice President Joe Biden’s claim during the latest Democratic presidential debate relies on a squishy number, and the context matters.
Facebook Live: Intimate Lessons From The Front Lines Of Family Caregiving
Family caregivers are the backbone of our nation’s system of long-term care for older adults. Every year, more than 34 million unpaid caregivers — mostly family members — provide essential aid to adults age 50 and older, helping with tasks such as bathing or dressing and, increasingly, performing complex medical tasks such as managing medications, dressing wounds and operating medical equipment.
Affordable Mental Health Care? It’s Getting Even Tougher to Access
More than a decade after Congress passed a law mandating equal access for mental and physical health care, Americans struggle to find affordable, in-network mental health providers.
¿Cuidado de salud mental asequible? El acceso es cada vez más difícil
En 2017, 70,237 estadounidenses murieron por sobredosis de drogas y 47,173 por suicidio, según los CDC. En 2018, casi el 20% de los adultos sufrieron una enfermedad mental.
Editorial pages focus on these health topics and others.
Opinion writers weigh in on efforts to curb teen vaping.
Media outlets report on news from Maryland, Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, Florida, Minnesota, Arizona, New York, Rhode Island, Georgia, Texas, Oregon, Massachusetts, California, and Kansas.
U.S. Territories On Path Toward ‘Medicaid Cliff’ As Congress Drags Its Feet Over Funding
If Congress doesn’t increase the amount of designated money by the end of the year, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam say they would need to cut their Medicaid rolls in half, while Puerto Rico says it would need to cut back dental and prescription drug services. Medicaid news comes out of Kansas and North Carolina, as well.
Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa says that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is blocking the legislation because he wants to hurt her reelection chances. Meanwhile, Schumer says Ernst’s version of the bill shows she “is simply afraid of the NRA.”
The entire night security cameras showed that nobody entered the wing where Jeffrey Epstein had been left alone in his cell, the indictment said, despite requirements to make rounds to check on prisoners every 30 minutes. Epstein’s suicide has put a spotlight on issues with quality and safety measures within the federal prison system.
Two patients taking part in the trials have been free of transfusions to treat their diseases for months, showing the ”revolutionary” technology is working and the new cells are engrafting in bone marrow, researchers say. But they caution about celebrating too early. Public health news is on unwelcome changes in psychiatric wards, pledges to eradicate polio, harsh discipline of black girls, anal cancer, illiteracy’s impact on dementia, functioning with brain malformations, an app for recovery from addiction, and exercise’s benefits for older, sedentary people.
On Transgender Day of Remembrance, Many Victims’ Loved Ones Left Without Closure, Justice
Vigils will be held Wednesday to remember transgender people killed over the past year. For many, the day marks just how far there is left to go when it comes to securing a safe future for transgender people.