Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
How Rival Opioid Makers Sought To Cash In On Alarm Over OxyContin’s Dangers
Fentanyl and other painkillers marketed as safer than Purdue Pharma’s blockbuster drug left their own trail of overdose deaths.
Listen: Why Red States Challenging ACA Tread Precariously On A Popular Protection
Many of the GOP-led states seeking to overturn the Affordable Care Act could end up jeopardizing the health of their own residents, who suffer from preexisting conditions at rates higher than the national average. The ACA requires insurers to cover people with histories of illness and not charge them more for it. If the law is overturned, that protection could be lost, as California Healthline reporter Harriet Rowan explains on “The VICE Guide to Right Now” podcast.
La administración Trump facilita aún más la venta de planes de salud de corto plazo
Estos planes son más económicos pero su cobertura es mínima, y no cumplen con las protecciones establecidas por la Ley de Cuidado de Salud Asequible (ACA).
Pacientes con dolor crónico se sienten atrapados en el debate sobre opioides
Los pacientes que necesitan esta medicación se sienten afectados injustamente por la tendencia a recetarlos cada vez menos, como una estrategia para frenar la creciente epidemia de abuso de opioides.
Opinion writers about these and other health care issues.
Perspectives: We’re Already Seeing Results From Trump’s Drug Blueprint To Lower Costs
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Drug Rebates’ Days Are Numbered, Pfizer CEO Says Of Latest Culprits In High Prices Blame Game
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
Media outlets report on news from California, New York, Virginia, Texas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kansas.
NIH Strives To Recover Reputation After Recent Ethical Controversies
The most publicized of the controversies involved a study on the benefits of moderate drinking and scientists’ attempts to woo the alcohol industry to fund the study. NIH Director Francis Collins acknowledged the setbacks, but the agency hopes to make clear the lapses are one-offs and not indicative of a larger cultural problem. In other public health news: suicide, Parkinson’s disease, exercise, Lyme disease, brain injuries, and more.
Attorneys general in eight states and the District of Columbia had filed a joint lawsuit attempting to force the Trump administration to prevent the company from uploading blueprints for consumers to print out plastic guns. The weapons would be hard to catch even by metal detectors.
Ideas about care are changing from the past when doctors were likely to take the baby away from the mother and put it in brightly lit ICU, making their risk of withdrawal higher. News on the epidemic also comes out of Texas, Arizona and Massachusetts.
“Any time Google tries to enter your industry, that’s a very big competitive threat,” said Nilesh Chandra, senior leader in PA Consulting’s health care business. In other health and technology news, IBM is tweaking its software that allows its supercomputer to recommend cancer treatments and a hospital turns to tech to help solve pervasive hand-washing issue.
The Wall Street Journal offers a look on some of the problems with the pricing structure of the U.S. health system. And, in other news, Democrats, hoping to take back the House in November, are already laying the groundwork for a Medicare for All vote.
More Democratic States Speak Out Against Proposed Changes To Family Planning Funds
“We will fight this rule at every turn,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who is leading a coalition of 13 attorneys general who say the proposals for how Title X funding is distributed are unconstitutional. Governors have also added their voices, saying they’ll back out of the program if the rule is implemented.
Bitter Dispute Over Documents On Kavanaugh’s Records Signals Bumpy Road Ahead For Confirmation
“The Republican majority has cast aside Democratic wishes for openness and transparency and has made a partisan request for only a small subset of Judge Kavanaugh’s records,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday morning. “It is such a break from precedent that you have to wonder: What are the Republicans hiding about Judge Kavanaugh’s record?” But, there are signs that two moderate Republican senators who are being watched closely for their votes may back the nominee.
Trump Officials ‘Very Comfortable’ With Immigrants’ Treatment In Detention Facilities
“These individuals have access to 24/7 food and water,” said Matthew Albence, the acting No. 2 official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. “They have educational opportunities. They have recreational opportunities, both structured as well as unstructured.” Meanwhile, another official testified that he warned higher-ups about the psychological trauma the separations could have on children.
The administration released the final rule on Wednesday expanding the amount of time people can be covered under the plans. But they’re less expensive for a reason. “We make no representation that it’s equivalent coverage,” said James Parker, a senior adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. Insurers and analysts are worried that the plans will attract healthier consumers away from plans that meet the guarantees of the Affordable Care Act, driving premiums up for the rest of the marketplace.
Trump Administration Loosens Restrictions On Short-Term Health Plans
The administration says these plans, which can now last as long as 12 months and be renewed for two years, will give consumers another less-pricey insurance option. Critics say the new rule is yet another swipe at the Affordable Care Act.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.