Latest KFF Health News Stories
Campus Voices: Should Student Health Centers Offer Abortion Pills?
California lawmakers are considering a bill that would require student health centers at all of the state’s four-year public universities to carry the abortion pill. Students at campuses across the state sounded off on the proposal.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ HHS Leaders Take To The Stump
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times, Joanne Kenen of Politico and new podcast panelist Anna Edney of Bloomberg News discuss this week’s spate of speeches by the leaders of the Department of Health and Human Services. They also discuss the slow progress on health legislation on Capitol Hill intended to fund the government and stabilize the individual insurance market. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists offer their favorite health policy stories of the week.
Editorial pages highlight these health issues and others.
Longer Looks: Mental Illness And Homelessness; Death By Bacon; The End Of Mall-Walkers
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from Hawaii, Georgia, California, New York, Florida, Maryland and Montana.
Mississippi Poised To Pass 15-Week Abortion Ban That Would Challenge Supreme Court Ruling
The effort is the latest attempt by states seeking to test the Supreme Court’s ruling on when abortions can be performed. Meanwhile, the Indiana Legislature sent a bill to the governor that would change the way medical providers report on abortion complications.
Oklahoma Is Latest State To Signal Interest In Adding Medicaid Work Requirements
After the Trump administration released guidance that work mandates would be approved, many red states have begun jumping at the chance to add restrictions to their Medicaid programs. Media outlets report on Medicaid news out of Virginia, Arkansas and Florida, as well.
Study Upends Widely Held Belief That Adults Can Create New Neurons, Uproar Ensues
If the UCSF researchers are right that the adult human brain does not produce any detectable new neurons in the area that’s supposedly ground zero for neuronal creation, 20 years of neuroscience textbooks have to be rewritten. In other public health news: pre-teen suicide, male doctors in gynecology, probiotics, cancer, and aging.
U.S. District Judge Dan Polster is overseeing a case that consolidated more than 350 lawsuits from cities and states across the country against drugmakers for their alleged role in the opioid epidemic. Although Polster has been pushing for both sides to talk and get to the root of the crisis, it may end up going to court.
Defying NRA, Florida Lawmakers Send Gun Control Legislation To Governor’s Desk
Although the legislation falls short of many of the demands from students affected by the Parkland shooting and other advocates, if it is signed the bill will be the first successful gun control measure in Florida in more than 20 years. Media outlets take a look at what made it in the final draft.
Drugmakers’ ‘Sham Transactions’ With Tribes To Game Patent System Targeted By Lawmakers
The latest legislation introduced in the Senate would limit the ability of a company to transfer patent rights to a foreign country or under legal claims of tribal sovereign immunity.
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s sharp words for the pharmaceutical industry are seen as a strong signal of his interest in curbing high drug costs.
With Women’s Health Riders, Republicans Throw Wrench In Otherwise Smooth Budget Talks
Democrats are opposed to new additions to the fiscal 2018 Labor-Health and Human Services funding measure that target Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health programs.
Lawmakers, Unfazed By White House Memo, Work On Finishing Touches To Market Stabilization Deal
A leaked memo from the Trump administration includes new demands in return for the president’s support, but lawmakers are marching forward with their efforts and are optimistic for a deal soon. Meanwhile, a group of attorneys general is speaking out against a rule to allow states to work around certain health law requirements.
Three Veterans Affairs programs under now-VA Secretary David Shulkin’s management from 2015 to 2016 knew of “serious, persistent deficiencies,” a VA internal watchdog report finds. Meanwhile, Shulkin announced an overhaul of the senior leadership overseeing almost two dozen troubled hospitals across the country.
In Search Of The Next Bill Gates: Hospitals Gamble On Health-Tech Startups In Hopes Of Striking Big
“We view this as a strategic investment. It will be important to the care of patients and we also can presumably make money,” says Thomas Thornton, senior vice president of Northwell Ventures, the for-profit arm of a health system in New York.
Cigna Move To Buy Express Scripts Is Latest Acquisition In Rapidly Evolving Health Industry
Cigna would acquire Express Scripts in a cash-and-stock deal worth about $52 billion, excluding debt, the companies say.
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Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
When Wildfire Smoke Invades, Who Should Pay To Clean Indoor Air?
Public health agencies are set up to regulate easily controlled sources of air pollution. Wildfire smoke presents a different set of expensive challenges.