Latest KFF Health News Stories
Fallout From Price: Internal Feuds, Pressure From Congress Rock HHS Long After Secretary’s Departure
Tom Price stepped down from the top position at the Department of Health and Human Services after information came out about his use of taxpayer-funded private jets. But the investigation didn’t end with his resignation.
Maine Gears Up For Funding Fight Next Year Over Medicaid Expansion
The governor says he won’t implement the expansion approved by voters in a referendum this month unless lawmakers fully fund it. Elsewhere in the news, other states consider the Maine experience while considering their own voter referendums on expansion, one family in Iowa bemoans the experiences trying to get specialized care for their son from his Medicaid managed care plan, West Virginia officials consider work requirements for Medicaid enrollees and health care jobs are at stake as Ohio cuts reimbursement rates.
Trump Administration Chips Away At Initiatives That Base Payments On Quality Over Quantity
Experts have said that paying doctors for quality care instead of just the number of appointments they take would help rein in burgeoning medical costs. But the Trump administration wants to slow efforts to shift toward that model.
Pace Of Health Law Enrollment For First Days Surged Over Last Year, But Will It Continue?
The high numbers even after the Trump administration slashed the outreach budget for sign-ups surprised experts.
After Navigators’ Budget Slashed, Consumers Being Directed To Get Help From Private Brokers
But advocates worry that shifting from a nonprofit model to one where the agent stands to make a commission will ultimately hurt consumers. Meanwhile, a study finds that competition in the Affordable Care Act exchanges has gone down, Democrats seize on health care as a political weapon, and five states ask a judge to halt the rollback of the health law’s birth control mandate.
First Edition: November 13, 2017
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Brokers Are Reluctant Players In A Most Challenging ACA Open-Enrollment Season
With federal support slashed for organizations that provided consumers help in making their health plan choices, insurance brokers have to pick up the slack.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ We Have Numbers!
In this episode of “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Sarah Kliff of Vox.com, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo discuss the first days of open enrollment for 2018 individual health insurance plans and whether the Democratic gains in Tuesday’s off-off-year elections will have any impact on health care policy in Washington, D.C.
Obamacare: comprar seguro es más complicado que nunca. Aquí, algunas tretas
Es esencial que conozca sus opciones en base a los ingresos y al tamaño de su familia. Aquí, algunas respuestas clave para entender el mercado de seguros.
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Research Roundup: Death-Hastening Options; Medicare Part D; And Preventive Care
Here is a selection of recent research.
Media outlets report on news from Massachusetts, California, Oregon, Illinois, Ohio, Connecticut, Georgia, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Texas and Louisiana.
Each Of Past Three Years Has Been Deadliest On Record For Transgender People, Advocates Say
Although it’s difficult to get an accurate death toll, violence against transgender people is on the rise. In other public health news: tobacco use, fidget spinners, clean water, hospital-acquired infections, and more.
Prosecutors Now Able To More Easily Go After Anyone Trafficking Fentanyl-Related Substances
The Drug Enforcement Administration will now classify drugs that are chemically similar to fentanyl as illegal controlled substances. Meanwhile, it’s up to Congress to fund the administration’s new promises to curb the opioid epidemic, but with bigger fights looming, it’s unlikely lawmakers will come up with a new stream of revenue by the end of the year.
Big, Expensive Battle Brewing Between Pharma, Hospitals Over Drug Discount Program
The 340B program requires drugmakers to offer discounts of up to 50 percent on medicines sold to safety net hospitals and health centers that serve low-income populations. The Trump administration wants to slash reimbursement payments to providers. Meanwhile, Vermont is investigating if pharmaceutical companies have violated state law by giving gifts or payments to providers.
Conservative Activists’ Next Health Goal After ACA Failure? Privatizing Veterans’ Care
Advocates want to make it easier for veterans to seek care from private doctors, but the debate is fraught, with traditional groups the American Legion firmly on the side of guarding the Veterans Affairs system that they helped build. Meanwhile, a battle over whether the Pentagon can approve drugs and medical devices has been brewing on Capitol Hill this week.
Federal Medicaid Chief Again Raises Concerns About Effect Of Expansion
Seema Verma, who heads up the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, says the federal health law should not have opened Medicaid to nondisabled adults because it “stretched the safety net” and imperils care for those who need it.
Repeal Of Individual Mandate Not In Senate’s Tax Plan, But Could Still Be Added Down The Road
Some lawmakers are still pushing for it to be introduced further along in the legislative process. Meanwhile, the Senate tax bill keeps a deduction for medical expenses.
For Years GOP Used Health Care As Political Weapon, But Election Suggests Tables Have Turned
Democrats won big Tuesday, including passage of a ballot initiative to expand Medicaid in Maine. The results seem to signal that health care is no longer a winning issue for Republicans.
Despite Dire Predictions, Pace Of Health Law Sign-Ups In First Days Of Enrollment Surging
The Trump administration slashed the budget for outreach this year, but some say that all the attention that was on the political debate about the law has kept the issue at the forefront of consumers’ minds.