Latest KFF Health News Stories
“Under this plan, I have concern that access to CAR T won’t be universal,” said Jayson Slotnik, a partner at Health Policy Strategies. Some argue Medicare should pay for 80 to 100 percent of the pricey cancer treatment. In other Medicare news, CMS finalizes a long-requested wage index boost.
Unlike other treatment facilities, it doesn’t require training or any kind of license to open a sober home. In that unregulated environment, bad actors have been taking advantage of a population of vulnerable recovering addicts. In other news on the crisis: the legal cases against drugmakers, a look at the areas where opioids flooded in the most, and more.
Advocates Fear That DHS Civil Rights Watchdog Has Little Authority To Act On Mistreatment Complaints
In response to one complaint to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, an attorney received the response: “Please be advised that our complaint process does not provide individuals with legal rights or remedies.” The letter bolstered fears among advocates that the office can do little to protect young detained immigrants.
The American Kidney Fund is supposed to help patients pay for health insurance premiums and other costs for treatment based solely on a patient’s financial need, and not favor companies that donate to it. But a new whistleblower lawsuit claims the charity created a so-called blocked list of dialysis clinics whose patients would not get financial assistance while it made sure patients at clinics operated by DaVita and Fresenius would.
In 1949, then-President Harry Truman promised that under his plan for a national health system “patients will remain free to choose their own doctors,” and it “will not require doctors to become employees of the government.” The decades-old vows echo campaign arguments from today’s presidential candidates, in a sign of just how hard it is to rework such a complex and important part of American life. Meanwhile, the candidates tout their health plans at a labor forum in Nevada.
Saturday’s attack in majority-Hispanic El Paso, Texas, which left at least 20 people dead, was allegedly committed by a 21-year-old white man who is believed to have posted online a manifesto of sorts espousing espousing anti-immigrant and white-nationalist ideology not long before the shooting. Critics of President Donald Trump point to his anti-immigration rhetoric as a contributing factor to the culture that breeds such violence. Meanwhile, the FBI is running a threat assessment to try to stave off any more shootings, following three incidents in the span of one week.
Back-To-Back Mass Shootings Stun Americans Even In Era Rife With Such Deadly Incidents
Two separate gunmen left 29 dead and more injured in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, within 24 hours of each other. In El Paso, the shooter opened fire in a Walmart, in what authorities believe was an attack on Hispanic people. Meanwhile, in Ohio, the motive is still unclear — the gunman was killed by police about 30 seconds after he fired his first shot.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Drugmakers Master Rolling Out Their Own Generics To Stifle Competition
Known as “authorized generics,” in-house spinoffs of brand-name drugs quietly undermine the competition.
Kathy Brandt, A Hospice Expert Who Invited The World Into Her Own Last Days With Cancer, Dies
Kathy Brandt and her wife, Kim Acquaviva, national experts in hospice and palliative care, shared intimate details of Brandt’s experience with terminal cancer before her death Sunday.
The Real-Life Conversion Of A Former Anti-Vaxxer
Kelley Watson Snyder, a mother who for years opposed mandatory childhood vaccinations and joined with like-minded parents who espoused similar views, today runs a pro-vaccination Facebook page. What changed?
Superstar Athletes Popularize Unproven Stem Cell Procedures
Treatments for baseball pitcher Max Scherzer and other pros may mislead fans about costly, controversial, unapproved stem cell shots.
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.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health care topics and others.
Each week, KHN finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from North Carolina, Florida, New Jersey, California, Louisiana and Massachusetts.
Editorial writers weigh in on the debate about the future of health care.
Younger patients were also more likely than older people to have advanced cases. Awareness and testing, which has attributed to decreasing rates among older adults, needs to improve among people under age 50. Persistent constipation, cramps, bloating, blood in stool, unexplained weight loss and fatigue can all be symptoms. Other public health news focuses on disparities in post-cancer care for LGBTQ survivors, Ebola, mosquito-borne viruses, options for cows milk, vegetarian burgers, fighting obesity, and challenges for athletic moms.
In the school department’s first-of-a-kind report, it listed online which of the 5,408 pre-school and kindergarten classrooms it inspected had lead problems. Administrators stressed the 938 classrooms are safe, but parents who want to get free blood tests for their children were informed how to go about it. Lead exposure is a serious health risk for young children. News on environmental health hazards comes from Ohio, California and Georgia, as well.
Studies have shown that community doctors are only 50 to 60 percent accurate in diagnosing Alzheimer’s. A new test could help increase those rates.