Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Putting In Place An A-Team Of Allies
Older adults who face an uncertain future reach out to trusted friends to guide them.
Senators’ Dueling Web Shoutouts Echo Nation’s Partisan Divide On Obamacare
In the early stages of the Senate’s attempts to write a health care bill, a Republican and a Democrat each solicit constituents’ Obamacare experiences from opposite ends of the spectrum.
Viewpoints: Climate Change, Global Health And Vaccine Deals; Driving Drugged
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Editorial pages offer local takes on ideas and issues related to health system reform.
Opinion writers offer their ideas on what’s happening on Capitol Hill with the American Health Care Act, whether its shortcomings can be repaired, and who wins and loses if it advances.
Perspectives: Drug Prices Out Of Control? Not So Much, Actually
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
In The Drug Industry’s Civil War, Finger-Pointing Over Prices Is The Name Of The Game
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
Media outlets report on news from Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Texas, Florida, California, Massachusetts, Georgia, Colorado, Wisconsin and Kansas.
Price Gouging Runs Rampant In ERs, With Vulnerable Populations Taking The Brunt Of Pain
A new study looks at how hospitals are marking up prices in their emergency rooms. Media outlets report on hospital news out of Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and Missouri, as well.
Kansas Legislature Passes Exacting Requirements For Abortion Providers’ History Disclosures
The information must be provided to patients on white paper in black, 12-point Times New Roman type. Elsewhere, in California, Planned Parenthood confirms that three of its clinics will close in the northern part of the state.
Ohio Is Not Doing Enough To Combat Its Opioid Epidemic, Expert Says
There are several steps that the state should be taking to address the crisis, but it is falling short according to an health expert. Media outlets report on the crisis from Ohio, New Hampshire, Iowa and Massachusetts.
Dentists In Unique Position To Identify Domestic Abuse, Activist Group Says
One survey of domestic abuse victims found that over half had visited a dentist when signs of abuse were present, but nearly 90 percent of those individuals weren’t asked about their injuries. An activist group is pushing to get dentists more training so they can better recognize those signs. In other public health news: health disparities between transgender and cisgender Americans, gene editing, sepsis, antibiotics, helmet safety and more.
Hearing Aid Bill Draws Unlikely Opponent: The Gun Industry
The opposition to the legislation, which would create an over-the-counter category of hearing aids, appears to be more about the fact that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is involved with the bill and less because of the substance.
Medicare Next Spring Will Mail Beneficiaries New Cards Without Social Security Numbers
The change is designed to cut down on the risk of identity theft. But the transition is sensitive since it involves coordination among beneficiaries, hospitals, doctors, insurance companies and pharmacies. In other news, Medicare announces it will cover exercise therapy for peripheral artery disease, and two insurers in Florida settle a lawsuit over billing.
Moody’s Says Trump’s Medicaid Cuts Would ‘Pressure States’ And Harm Nonprofit Hospitals
The credit rating agency says changes in Medicaid “would force states to make difficult decisions about safety-net spending for hospitals that serve large numbers of indigent patients.” Also, the Dallas Morning News examines how Medicaid cuts will affect state residents.
Green Bay voters gathered to express concerns about the legislation despite knowing Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) wouldn’t be there. Meanwhile, in North Carolina, dozens were arrested following a health care protest.
Dirt-Cheap ‘Junk Insurance’ Plans, Wiped Out By ACA, Could Reappear Under GOP Health Bill
The Congressional Budget Office says the plans are so low-quality that it considers people who have them to be uninsured. In other news on the Republican health care plan, former patients speak out against the high-risk pools central to the legislation, Democrats criticize the Medicaid cuts they say will hurt rural Americans and a look at preexisting condition coverage.
CMS Chief Lumps Marketplace Woes Onto Obamacare’s Shoulders
Seema Verma, the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, says that the buck stops with the creators of the Affordable Care Act over high premiums and an unstable marketplace. In other news, House Republicans defend their decision to seek delays in the insurer cost-sharing reduction lawsuit, and Connecticut might be left without any insurers offering plans under Obamacare.
Majority Of Americans Don’t Like GOP’s Health Care Plan, Poll Finds
But about two-thirds of Republicans support the legislation.