Latest KFF Health News Stories
Many Of The Migrant Children Being Held In U.S. Custody Have Been Detained Beyond Legal Time Limits
The Washington Post spoke to officials on the condition of anonymity who painted a grim picture of how long children are being kept in custody. The safety and care for the migrant children in U.S. custody has been called into question as the death toll of detainees continues to climb. In other news, civil rights groups are filing a suit against a Trump administration policy that they say makes it easier for taxpayer-funded adoption centers to discriminate against same-sex couples.
Years of piecemeal state laws have left their mark. Mandatory waiting periods, travel, missed work and lost wages all make getting an abortion more expensive and more difficult, particularly for low-income women. Doctors and clinic staff have to face protesters, threats, proliferating regulations and draining legal challenges; and some clinics have closed. In remote parts of the midwest and south, women may have to travel more than 300 miles to end a pregnancy. Meanwhile, in other news on abortion: Hollywood slowly reacts to Georgia’s heartbeat bill, a look back at an abortion doctor’s murder, and more.
The clinic’s license is set to expire, but the state won’t reissue it because it says it has safety concerns it wants to continue to investigate. If the judge does not rule in favor of the clinic, Planned Parenthood officials said Missouri would become the first state without a functioning abortion clinic since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.
The legislation, which can ban abortion as early as six weeks, won’t go into effect immediately, and similar bills from neighboring conservative states already face court challenges.
Each week, KHN highlights interesting reads, graphics or videos from around the web.
When reporting the new cases, the CDC said on Thursday that if the current outbreak continues into the summer and fall, the United States could lose its “measles elimination status,” meaning the disease would be considered endemic in the country for the first time in a generation.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Mired In Medical Debt? Federal Plan Would Update Overdue-Bill Collection Methods
More than half of Americans contacted about an overdue bill said it related to medical debt. A federal agency has proposed new guidance for what debt collectors are allowed to do when pursuing many types of overdue consumer bills, including medical debt. But some consumer advocates have panned the effort.
Hospitals Accused Of Paying Doctors Large Kickbacks In Quest For Patients
Hospitals are eager to get particular specialists on staff because they bring in business that can be highly profitable. But those efforts, if they involve unusually high salaries or other enticements, can violate federal anti-kickback laws.
More Than Half Of Surgical Stapler Malfunctions Went To Hidden FDA Database
The FDA reveals that 56,000 malfunctions associated with surgical staplers weren’t reported through its traditional public reporting system.
Un despertar: las camas y aplicaciones para dormir recolectan datos personales
El objetivo de la recopilación de datos, según Sleep Number y otras compañías, es ayudar a los estadounidenses a dormir mejor. Qué opinan los defensores de los consumidores.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ The State Of The Abortion Debate — A Deep Dive
For our 100th episode, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jen Haberkorn of the Los Angeles Times and Sandhya Ramen of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to take a deep dive into the abortion debate, discussing everything from the latest news to the history of the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence as well as how states are trying to further expand or restrict abortion rights and access. Also, Rovner interviews KHN’s Lauren Weber about the latest “Bill of the Month” installment.
Editorial writers express views about these health issues and others.
Opinion writers weigh in on abortion issues.
Research Roundup: The Public Charge Rule; Youth Suicide; Mental Health Stigma
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Media outlets report on news from New York, New Hampshire, Hawaii, North Carolina, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, Kansas, California and Arizona.
Melissa Thomas is a veteran who also lost her husband unexpectedly. Neither trauma set led to PTSD for her. Now as she studies medicine, she realizes it’s important to know how to help those who do struggle with it. In other public health news: medical ethics, Ebola, dexterity in surgeons, microbes, bullying, and more.
California Measure Would Allow People To Receive Their First 30-Days Of PReP Without A Prescription
The bill faces opposition from the California Medical Association, which represents doctors and major insurance companies, because it says Truvada has potential side effects, including impaired kidney function, and that people who take it need to be closely monitored by doctors. In other pharmaceutical news, the weekend kicks off the annual meeting of the world’s biggest gathering of cancer doctors; a pharmaceutical company settles claims of kickbacks; and a look at the medications that have been linked to thousands of deaths.
Durbin Does ‘Not Have Confidence’ New FDA Head Will Satisfactorily Address Teen Vaping Epidemic
Former Commissioner Scott Gottlieb had deemed the issue a public health epidemic, but Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) accused acting chief Ned Sharpless of not taking it as seriously.
Scott Lloyd served as director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement during the tumultuous time period when the government was separating children from their families at the border. Lloyd testified in February that he failed to alert HHS leaders about the health risks of separating migrant children, and HHS leaders previously concluded that Lloyd mismanaged efforts to reunite families.