Latest KFF Health News Stories
First Female Dean ‘A Sea Of Change’ At USC’s Scandal-Plagued Medical School
Laura Mosqueda, a geriatrician, wants to train new doctors to better care for elderly people as the country’s population ages. She will face a big challenge as USC reels from drug and sexual misconduct scandals that have enraged students and landed the university in legal hot water.
‘Holy Cow’ Moment Changes How Montana’s State Health Plan Does Business
Other states are watching to see if controlling how much hospitals get paid can continue to hold down costs in “Big Sky Country.”
Administration Eases Way For Small Businesses To Buy Insurance In Bulk
The Trump administration issued the final rule on association health plans, which supporters say will make coverage more affordable for some employees but led others to warn about “junk insurance.”
Si tienes hepatitis C, escupir puede ser un crimen
En Ohio, un hombre que tiene hepatitis C fue sentenciado a 18 meses de prisión por escupirle a un oficial. Defensores dicen que estas leyes no son eficaces para detener la propagación de la enfermedad.
Luego de una sobredosis de opioides, solo el 30% recibe tratamiento contra la adicción
Solo 3 de cada 10 pacientes revividos tras sufrir una sobredosis de opioides reciben el tratamiento de seguimiento que puede evitar una futura tragedia.
Editorial pages focus on these and other health issues.
Different Takes: Changes Put Health Law On Shaky Ground; New Policies Are Good For Small Businesses
Opinion writers express views about changes to the health law and proposals for more changes.
Media outlets report on news from Massachusetts, Arkansas, California, Minnesota, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Some Prison Nurses Earning More Than $100,000 In Overtime A Year, Costing Taxpayers Millions
While about 50 nursing vacancies exist, the prisons rely on volunteer overtime to accommodate the shortages. In other health worker news: limits proposed on the number of patients a nurse can see, reinstated health care workers are turned away on eve of union vote, and a new movement in paramedicine.
Families that rely on states’ medical marijuana laws are more cautious than celebratory as one company’s actions to make sure its product can be legally prescribed and sold by pharmacies threaten to curtail programs that have been in effect for years. Marijuana news comes out of New York, Florida and Virginia, as well.
Women who are on the path to recovery were having their babies taken away from them, sometimes as early as right from the hospital. That was setting off a spiral, where to cope with the pain the women would turn to opioids and thus make it harder to ever get their kids back.
When Others Have Given Up On Patients, This Neurologist Steps In
Dr. Alice Flaherty likes to tinker with machines until she fixes what’s broken. And her current interest involves patients who others say aren’t really sick or lack motivation to get better. “I got interested in that whole thing, like if you want to get better then you’re sick, if you don’t want to get better, then it’s a vice,” she says. “What was it that made us attribute willfulness to people who were obviously miserable?” In other public health news: smoking, video game addiction, autism, diets, ticks, alternative medicines, and more.
Stat looks at these and other questions — like what will happen to the company? — following the charges against Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes and the company’s former president Ramesh Balwani.
What Would You Sacrifice For Lower Premiums? For Younger Consumers The Answer Is Privacy
If it ends with them saving money, the younger consumers were happy to let insurers trawl through their digital data. As the ages went up, people were less inclined to be alright with the tactic.
165-Page Internal NIH Report Lays Bare Just How Cozy Scientists Were With Alcohol Industry
“So many lines” were crossed in the alcohol study that people were “frankly shocked.” The investigation was prompted by reports that scientists were wooing the alcohol industry to pay for the study that would tout the benefits of daily moderate drinking.
Maine Governor Remains Steadfastly Intractable Over Medicaid Expansion In Face Of Two Court Rulings
Maine voters approved the expansion of the state’s Medicaid program last year and two courts have recently ordered the plan enacted. But Gov. Paul LePage (R) continues to say he won’t do it unless lawmakers come up with a way to cover the cost.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians and the American Psychiatric Association have all issued statements against the Trump administration’s new policy. “To pretend that separated children do not grow up with the shrapnel of this traumatic experience embedded in their minds is to disregard everything we know about child development, the brain, and trauma,” reads a separate petition from mental health professionals.
“We’re asking the Administration to reverse their decision and instead work with Congress and Governors on bipartisan solutions to protect coverage and lower health care costs for all Americans, all while protecting those with preexisting conditions,” nine governors say in their letter to the Trump administration.
Trump Administration Poised To Unveil Final Rule On Association Health Plans
The plans, which let small businesses and self-employed individuals band together for more affordable coverage, won’t have to meet all the strict regulations laid out by the Affordable Care Act. The Trump administration says they will help bring down premiums, but experts warn that they’ll siphon healthy people away from the exchanges.
After Opioid Overdose, Only 30 Percent Get Medicine To Treat Addiction
Patients revived from an opioid overdose who get methadone or Suboxone treatment for addiction afterward are much more likely to be alive a year later, says a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.