Latest KFF Health News Stories
New Va. Governor Renews Democrats’ Push For Medicaid Expansion
Gov. Ralph Northam set an agenda that includes Medicaid expansion, gun control legislation and protections for abortion rights, but Republican lawmakers showed no signs of compromise. News outlets report on other Medicaid news from Oregon, Iowa and Illinois.
Lawsuit Brewing As Kentucky Becomes First State To Get Approval To Impose Medicaid Work Requirements
In one of the biggest changes to the Medicaid program in its history, the Trump administration last week announced that it would allow states to seek new requirements from beneficiaries. Kentucky is now the first state to do so, but advocates are already threatening a lawsuit over the new guidelines. Media outlets offer closer looks at Kentucky’s decision, the legal battle that will inevitably follow, who will be affected by the change, the political risk Republicans are taking, and more.
First Edition: January 16, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Postcard From California: Alzheimer’s ‘Looks Like Me, It Looks Like You’
At a panel discussion this week in Sacramento, patients, caregivers and others shared their perspectives on how Alzheimer’s disease affects women, who account for two-thirds of those living with the condition.
Inside The Global Race To Deliver A Vital Radioactive Isotope Used To Detect Cancer
Moly-99, as it’s called, is created in just six government-owned nuclear research reactors — none in North America — raising concerns about the reliability of the supply.
When You Need A Breast Screening, Should You Get A 3-D Mammogram?
The newer images are more expensive, but it’s not yet clear if they are more effective in catching cancers that will kill.
Trump’s Work-For-Medicaid Rule Puts Work On States’ Shoulders
States that opt to change their Medicaid program must figure out how to delineate who is covered by the new mandate, how to enforce the rules and how to handle the people seeking exemptions.
Kentucky Is First State Granted Approval For Medicaid Work Requirements
The program will also set monthly premiums for Medicaid coverage and penalties for those who don’t make the payments.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ Should You Work For Your Medicaid Coverage?
In this episode of “What The Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Sarah Kliff of Vox.com, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss possible new work requirements for Medicaid recipients and the latest on renewing the Children’s Health Insurance Program, plus Rovner interviews Princeton health historian Paul Starr.
A selection of opinions on health care from news outlets around the country.
Parsing The Policy: Will Medicaid Work Requirements ‘Backfire’?; Will They Make People Healthier?
The Trump administration plan to add work requirements to the Medicaid program drew strong reactions from opinion writers across the country.
Different Takes: The Value Of Reforming Medicaid; Securing Social Services; Getting A Flu Shot
Opinion writers examine a range of state-specific health care issues, including a proposed effort to create a first-of-its-kind drug formulary for Medicaid; struggles to save social services programs from the chopping block; and a push for everyone to get the flu shot this year.
Media outlets report on news from Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Massachusetts and Texas.
New Study Joins Growing List Confirming Abortion Pills Are Safe For Women To Take
Out of 220 women only two reported having major complications. In other women’s health news: the Trump administration is trying to block another pregnant teenage immigrant from seeking an abortion, and Serena Williams’ experience highlights the dangers that still accompany childbirth.
Generation That Equated Loud Music With Defiance Now Paying The Price With Hearing Loss
Biotech companies want to be the ones to reap the profits of those bad decisions. In other public health news: colonoscopies, genome sequencing, lead, E. coli, standing desks, and more.
Vicious Flu Sweeping Country: Death Tolls Are Climbing And Hospitals Are Overwhelmed
Media outlets report on news from California, Texas, Oregon, Minnesota and Ohio.
Methadone Clinics Become ‘Liquid Handcuffs’ For Those Who Can’t Afford Pricier Treatment Programs
Although the opioid crisis hasn’t discriminated based on race or economic class, the treatment for it does. In other news on the epidemic: studies show the benefits of safe injection sites, a judge overseeing hundreds of lawsuits against drugmakers wants all sides to start talking to each other, the FDA warns against giving kids certain cough medicine, and more.
13 Of 15 Doctors In Congress Are Republican Men. This Group Wants To Change That Statistic.
With so much of today’s political discourse revolving around health care, this grassroots groups thinks its imperative for the “doctors caucus” in Congress to include Democratic women.
A video that went viral shows a disoriented woman in nothing but a hospital gown and socks discharged out into the cold, dark night from the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. The practice of patient dumping, however, is anything but new.
Congressional Advisory Group Supports Changes In Medicare Doctor Payments
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC, says one of the two payment tracks set up under a new reimbursement system is too burdensome for physicians and won’t push them to improve care.