Latest KFF Health News Stories
Trump Zeroes In On Democrats’ Support For Providing Health Care For Immigrants In Country Illegally
At a rally, President Donald Trump responded to the Democratic debates, focusing on some of the more progressive ideas that emerged. ““They put foreign citizens before American citizens,” Trump claimed. “We’re not going to do that.” Meanwhile, Republican advisers are having similar thoughts. “The idea they’re going to provide illegal immigrants free health care, that’s not going to go down in union households in Michigan,” said Karl Rove, the former top political adviser to President George W. Bush.
In the past couple of years, Democrats have found health care to be a winning issue for them politically. But as the candidates edge toward “Medicare for All” and public option plans, the issue could once again become a weak spot. And outlets take a look at which issues were missing from this week’s debates.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
If You Smoke Pot, Your Anesthesiologist Needs To Know
Colorado is on the front lines in dealing with how marijuana use affects surgery. Lessons learned on operating tables and in recovery rooms have prompted calls for more research on marijuana nationwide.
Infusion Treatments — Needed or Not — Can Deplete Patients’ Wallets
When it comes to physician-administered infusion drugs, doctors sometimes have a financial reason for their choice and patients often aren’t aware of cheaper options.
KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Deciphering The Democrats’ Health Debate
Health care was a major topic at the Democratic presidential candidate debates in Detroit on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the focus on plan minutiae may have left viewers more confused than edified. Alice Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Caitlin Owens of Axios join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the points made by the candidates plus a series of Trump administration health initiatives on drug prices and hospital shopping.
Proyecto en California combatiría acuerdos que atrasan salida al mercado de genéricos
La FTC ha estimado que los acuerdos de pago por retraso le cuestan a los consumidores y contribuyentes estadounidenses $3.5 mil millones, en costos más altos de medicamentos cada año.
La charla que tienen que tener los adultos mayores con sus médicos antes de una cirugía
Muchas veces los médicos no hablan con sus pacientes y familiares sobre los riesgos potenciales y las complicaciones que se pueden presentar durante o después de una intervención.
Editorial pages focus on health issues raised in the Democratic debates.
Opinion writers weigh in on these public health topics and other health issues.
Research Roundup: Telemedicine; Nurses With Bachelor Of Science Degrees; And Employer Coverage
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Media outlets report on news from Arizona, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, California, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, Missouri, Kansas, Michigan, Florida, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Iowa, North Carolina and Georgia.
Chipping Away At The Mystery Of Alzheimer’s: Anemia Increases Risk For Dementia, Study Finds
“Given the other beneficial effects of treating anemia, this study provides an extra incentive,” said the lead author, Frank J. Wolters, a researcher at Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam. In other public health news: standing versus running, OCD, foodborne illnesses, breast milk and surgeries for the elderly.
Acute kidney injury is caused by serious health conditions, including sepsis, and affects one in five people admitted to hospital. Quick diagnosis can save lives. While the machine learning system can reduce the time between when the condition is diagnosed and treatment begins within hours, researchers say it was far from perfect and more testing needs to be done.
The research from a drug court program shows that 75% of the participants suffered adverse childhood experiences. A psychologist with Greater Nashua Mental Health noted while this finding is “kind of an obvious thing,” she hopes drug courts around the country will respond by adjusting the services they offer to better address ACEs. News on substance abuse and the opioid epidemic comes from Ohio and Minnesota, as well.
Senate Democrats unveiled plans to force a vote on a Trump administration guidance that could make it easier for states to get waivers from the health law’s requirements. The vote is mostly political, as the legislation is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Senate.
Patients say a month’s supply of a drug called clomipramine suddenly jumped from $16 to $348. Taro Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Novartis AG’s generics arm, Sandoz, are facing a court challenge over accusations that they conspired to raise the drug’s price in unison. The allegation is part of a sweeping lawsuit that names 20 generic drugmakers and subsidiaries in all. In other pharmaceutical news: fish-oil drugs, chemo-free medication, and insulin.
Georgia’s Hopes For Generous Federal Funding To Expand Medicaid Dim Following Utah Rejection
A main component of Georgia’s plan had been to request that the federal government fund 90% of the cost to expand Medicaid in the state. But the big federal funding bump looks unlikely: the Trump administration this past weekend rejected a conservative proposal for Utah with limits similar to Georgia’s. Medicaid news comes out of New Hampshire, Louisiana, Florida and Utah, as well.
It’s “the same problem that we had over a year ago prior to the injunction that we hoped against hope would be stayed by the court,” said Anthony Enriquez, director of the unaccompanied minors program for the Archdiocese of New York’s Catholic Charities Community Services. “But the government seems to not care about the court’s order, frankly.” New court data revealed that family separations aren’t as rare as officials purported.
Trump’s Plan To Allow Americans To Import Drugs From Canada Blasted By Critics As A ‘Band-Aid’
In an about-face, HHS Secretary Alex Azar touted the administration’s openness to the idea that importing drugs from Canada can help make them more affordable to Americans. The plan would allow state governments, pharmacies and drug manufacturers to come up with proposals for safe importation and submit them for federal approval. Some lawmakers and experts welcome the proposal as a first step, but others were disappointed. “This is kind of a distraction from the real issue, and the real problem,” said Elizabeth Rowley, the founder and director of T1International, a diabetes advocacy group. “Which is pharmaceutical companies are setting costs at exorbitant rates and patients are suffering and dying.”