Latest KFF Health News Stories
CMS Chief Puts Blame On The Court For Decision To Freeze Payments To Insurers
A federal court ruling in New Mexico found the Trump administration did not properly justify its formula for dispensing the funds. “We’ve been trying to figure out, is there a solution? We understand the impact to the market [but] we have to follow what the courts say,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said.
Democrats Using ACA Threat As Talking Point Against Kavanaugh Exaggerate His Hostility To The Law
The New York Times fact checks some of the rhetoric being used as the nomination battle heats up. Meanwhile, though Democrats are painting a grim picture about what would happen to the health law if Brett Kavanaugh is approved, it’s unlikely that the Supreme Court will wholesale upend the legislation.
State Democrats Begin Scouring Their Books For Old, Unenforced Laws Banning Abortion
With Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination for the Supreme Court seat, both Republican and Democratic states are readying for what would happen if Roe v. Wade is overturned and abortion rights are thrown back to the states. Meanwhile, polling shows continued support from Americans for upholding Roe.
All Eligible Children Under 5 Reunited With Families, But Thousands Of Older Kids Still In Custody
The government scrambles to fulfill a judge’s order regarding the younger children being held. There are still 46 kids under the age of 5 that weren’t released due to a variety of reasons, such as their parents having been accused of serious crimes.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Retooled Vaccine Raises Hopes As A Lower-Cost Treatment For Type 1 Diabetes
The vaccine, BCG, is relatively cheap. But experts caution the therapy could be overhyped and, if proven effective, wind up overpriced.
‘Like A Ghost Town’: Erratic Nursing Home Staffing Revealed Through New Records
Daily nursing home payroll records just released by the federal government show the number of nurses and aides dips far below average on some days and consistently plummets on weekends.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ ACA Under Fire. Again.
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News and Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News discuss the health politics of the latest Supreme Court pick, as well as the Trump administration’s efforts to further undermine the Affordable Care Act. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists recommend their favorite health stories of the week.
El toque humano en un hospital: por qué importa que los médicos sean compasivos
La actitud de los médicos al momento de hablar de temas difíciles como el final de la vida pueden hacer la diferencia en la calidad de vida del paciente y las preocupaciones de la familia.
Más recortes a los fondos para programas de navegadores de ACA
Los Centros de Servicios de Medicare y Medicaid anunciaron que están reduciendo el dinero para financiar el trabajo de los navegadores, que ayudan a las personas a inscribirse y comprar o cambiar de plan de salud
Editorial pages focus on these and other health issues.
Parsing Policies: Choose Politicians Who Want To Keep Coverage For Pre-Existing Conditions
Opinion pages express views on various aspects of the health law.
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from New York, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio, Delaware, California, Florida and New Hampshire.
The small step has proven to be simple yet effective at a time when patients are at their most vulnerable for another attempt. In other public health news: high blood pressure, diets, positive people, mysterious attacks, anti-aging drugs, and more.
New, Faster Method Of Gene Editing Allows Scientists To Turn T Cells Into ‘Living Cancer Drugs’
“We’re living in an amazing moment in cancer immunotherapies,” said microbiologist Alexander Marson, co-author of the study that appears in Nature. In other news on cancer research, “re-homing” cells are found to improve survival in mice.
Recent laws have now made it legal to breastfeed in public in all 50 states, while others have been passed to strengthen workplace protections for nursing mothers.
The findings come from a congressional investigation into drug distributors and their potential failure to report suspicious prescription activity. The report, in particular, focused on the disparity between what AmerisourceBergen and McKesson flagged. The two distributors shipped nearly identical volumes of opioids to Missouri, but the number of suspicious orders each company reported were nowhere close: 224 from AmerisourceBergen and 16,714 from McKesson.
Millions In Funding For Gun Violence Research Rejected By Republican Appropriators
The lawmakers argued that the CDC is already free to study firearm injuries and that the language would risk further politicizing the spending bill. News on health savings accounts and drugged driving also comes out of Capitol Hill.
Under Pressure, Trump Administration Expected To Streamline Process Of Reuniting Separate Families
To speed up the reunions, the government will no longer insist on fingerprinting all adults in a household where a child will live, or require home visits by a social worker. Meanwhile, tech issues aren’t helping the problems. And lawmakers’ tarrying at a House Appropriations Committee highlights just how hard it will be to pass immigration measures in this Congress.