Latest KFF Health News Stories
By Choosing Sides In Election, Health Tech Leaders Take A Calculated Risk
As Stat notes, their public stance could put future investments and business deals on the line. Also, more follow-up discussions stemming from Tuesday’s presidential debate.
Employers Face Average 5.8% Jump In Their Health Insurance Costs Next Year
The higher-than-usual spike is driven primarily by higher use of medical care by employees, increasing costs that providers charge for their services, and pricey drugs like weight loss GLP-1 medications. The increase was estimated through a survey by consulting firm Mercer, which also found that 53% of employers plan to implement cost-management changes in 2025.
‘So Stressed They Cannot Function’: Surgeon General Warns On Parenting Hazards
The office of the surgeon general issued an advisory that calls the pressures of modern-day parenting “an urgent public health issue,” finding that more than half of parents say that the stress is “completely overwhelming.”
Hospital Safety And Quality Are Ticking Upward After Covid: Report
The report from the American Hospital Association and consulting group Vizient notes that among the improvements seen after the pandemic, patient mortality risks are falling, and there are fewer hospital-acquired infections.
Why All Families Should Talk About Racial Trauma
KFF Health News’ Midwest Correspondent Cara Anthony spent the past few years reporting about racial violence in Sikeston, Missouri, for our “Silence in Sikeston” project. Interviewing Black families there helped her uncover her family’s traumatic past, too.
First Edition: Friday, Sept. 13, 2024
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial writers dissect these public health issues.
North Carolina Approves Medicaid Funding, But Below Levels Requested
The figure approved by the legislature Wednesday is designed to address higher state Medicaid costs for the current fiscal year, but the total is $81 million less than the figure requested by state health officials. Separately, New York moves to address disparities in health care.
Research Roundup: Menopause; RSV; Alzheimer’s; Ear Infections
Each week, KFF Health News compiles a selection of health policy studies and briefs.
Tubal Ligations Steadily Climbed Since Roe Was Overturned, Study Finds
Researchers broke the data down by states where abortions were “banned,” “limited,” or “protected,” and found increases across all of them, leading to the conclusion that legal uncertainty prompted more people to choose to have their fallopian tubes tied.
Mosquito-Borne EEE In Rhode Island; Infant Dies From Pertussis In Alaska
In other news, bird flu has spread to three more dairy herds in California. Also, CDC data confirm that more than half of the country experienced “very high” levels of covid-19 in August.
Kentucky Medical Group Allegedly Sought Organs From Living Patient
The Wall Street Journal reports a startling case in which an organ-procurement group in Kentucky allegedly pressed its staff to harvest organs from a patient who was conscious and later exited the facility alive. The accusation surfaced during a House hearing about the troubled transplant system.
High Adderall Dose Linked To Alarming Risk Of Mental Health Episodes
A fivefold increased risk for first-time psychosis or mania episodes was found among patients prescribed more than 40 milligrams per dose, researchers say. Migraine medicine ads and weight-loss drugs also are in the news.
Sen. Bernie Sanders Ready To Accuse Steward Health CEO Of Contempt
Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre signaled he’ll disobey a subpoena to show up at a Senate hearing on Steward’s bankruptcy. If he doesn’t appear, Sanders is ready to press charges: “Tell me about your yacht. … I want to hear your justification for that,” the Vermont independent said to AP.
Prominent Senate Republican Shakes Off Notion Of Obamacare Repeal
Should Republicans take control of the Senate, Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana would likely take the reins of the health committee — and he acknowledges scrapping the Affordable Care Act isn’t likely because it would require a bipartisan vote.
Judge Blocks Utah Social Media Law Intended To Protect Minors
“Even well-intentioned legislation that regulates speech based on content must satisfy a tremendously high level of constitutional scrutiny,” Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby said in issuing the preliminary injunction. Also: College students’ mental health appears to be improving.
First Edition: Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial writers discuss these public health issues.
Report: Black Women More Likely To Receive Unnecessary C-Sections
The New York Times reports on the new study, which found Black women to be 25% more likely to have cesarean sections than white women. In other women’s health news: a dearth of obstetric doctors, maternal home visit programs, toxic metals in tampons, PCOS, and more.
CDC: Lack Of Health Insurance Is A Factor In Rising Suicide Rates
A CDC study finds that communities where people lack health insurance, income, and broadband internet access are likelier to have higher suicide risks, and those “preventable” social factors are playing a role in the national crisis.