First Edition: August 24, 2018
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Medicaid Covers Foster Kids, But Daunting Health Needs Still Slip Through The Cracks
Sherri and Thomas Croom have been foster parents to 27 children — from newborns to teenagers — during the past decade.That has meant visits to dozens of doctors and dentists for issues ranging from a tonsillectomy to depression. While foster parenting has innumerable challenges, health care coverage for the children isn’t one of them. Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor, picks up the tab for nearly all children in foster care and often continues to cover them if they are adopted, regardless of their parents’ income. (Galewitz, 8/24)
Kaiser Health News:
Tuition-Free Medical School: NYU Plan Draws Mixed Reviews As College-Debt Solution
New York University’s School of Medicine is learning that no good deed goes unpunished. The highly ranked medical school announced with much fanfare Aug. 16 that it is raising $600 million from private donors to eliminate tuition for all its students — even providing refunds to those currently enrolled. Before the announcement, annual tuition was $55,018. (Rovner, 8/24)
California Healthline:
CalPERS Health Chief Wields The Power Of Data To Tame Costs
As prices for drugs and procedures soar, and health insurance premiums for employer-based and individual policies inexorably climb, more than are few people are asking: Is the health care industry spiraling out of control? Liana Bailey-Crimmins, a top official with California’s public employee benefits and retirement system (CalPERS), offered a simple response. “Yeah,” she said. (Leed Matthews, 8/23)
Kaiser Health News:
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Opioids, EpiPens And Health Funding
The Senate is still working, well into August – something it hasn’t done in years — and it’s debating the funding bill for the Department of Health and Human Services. There is a back-to-school shortage of EpiPens, needed by people with severe allergies to treat potentially life-threatening reactions, and the Food and Drug Administration is weighing in. And “reinsurance” is back in the picture. The Trump administration has granted permission for New Jersey and Maryland to create such programs aimed at helping bring down premiums in the individual insurance market by helping pay for the most expensive enrollees. (8/23)
The Associated Press:
Senate Backs $854B Bill To Fund Health, Education, Military
The Senate approved an $854 billion measure Thursday that funds much of the government, including $675 billion for the Defense Department. The bill combines military spending with disbursements for Health and Human Services, Education, Labor and other agencies. The bill was approved, 85-7, and now heads to the House. (Daly, 8/23)
Politico:
Senate Passes Giant Spending Package In Hopes Of Averting Shutdown
HHS would see a $2.3 billion boost, including a 5.4 percent increase for the National Institutes of Health. Education programs would get a $541 million boost, while the Labor Department’s budget would remain flat. The two bills represent the eighth and ninth spending measures the Senate has passed this summer, likely the last of 12 to clear the chamber ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline. The rest, including the bill that would fund Trump’s border wall, are expected to be funded on autopilot under a continuing resolution through the midterms and into Congress’ lame-duck session. (Ferris, 8/23)
The Washington Post:
Senate Easily Defeats Measure To Defund Planned Parenthood
The Senate easily defeated an attempt by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Thursday to strip money from Planned Parenthood, with Democrats holding together unanimously despite the prospect of election-year attacks from Republicans over the issue. Those attacks arrived mere moments after the vote closed, with the National Republican Senate Committee blasting out releases attacking Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) for opposing Paul’s measure. The three are among the most endangered Democrats in the Senate. (Werner, 8/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
Maine’s Highest Court Orders Rollout Of Medicaid Expansion
Maine’s highest court on Thursday blocked the latest attempt by Gov. Paul LePage to restrain Medicaid expansion, although the legal battle appeared set to continue. Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court said two lower-court rulings ordering the state to begin executing the voter-approved Medicaid expansion stand, and that there are still issues for the lower court to resolve. Backed by nearly 60% of Maine voters last November, the Medicaid expansion would cover more low-income adults, while making the state the 32nd to adopt a key plank of the Affordable Care Act. (Kamp, 8/23)
The Hill:
Maine Supreme Court Rejects GOP Governor's Attempt To Slow Medicaid Expansion
The ruling Thursday by the state Supreme Court dealt a blow to LePage, who has been blocking Medicaid expansion ever since voters approved it in November. However, the court did not rule on the merits of the case; it dismissed LePage’s appeal of a lower court decision, sending the case back to Superior Court. The initial lawsuit was filed after LePage failed to meet an April deadline to submit a two-page State Plan Amendment to the federal government that establishes a process for ensuring eligibility for people under 65 years of age who qualify for medical assistance. (Weixel, 8/23)
Modern Healthcare:
Maine Supreme Court Orders Medicaid Expansion To Go Forward
Under the voter-passed initiative, Maine was supposed to start enrolling expansion beneficiaries by July 2. The initiative gave LePage until April 3 to submit a state plan amendment to the CMS. LePage balked at the measure and claimed he couldn't act on it until the state Legislature funded Medicaid expansion. But that argument didn't hold up in court. Kennebec County Superior Judge Michaela Murphy in June ordered the state Department of Health and Human Services to submit a state plan amendment to the CMS by June 11 to implement the expansion. Now, Murphy will have to handle the rest of the case "in as timely a manner as possible," according to the high court ruling, and future decisions in the case could come up for high court review. (8/23)
Stat:
HHS Advances Proposal That Could Require Prices Be Included In Drug Ads
The Department of Health and Human Services is moving forward with a policy that could require drug companies to put the price of their medicine in advertisements. The White House Office of Management and Budget received a draft regulation from HHS this week titled “Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Regulation to Require Drug Pricing Transparency.” An HHS spokesperson declined to comment on what the regulation would do, but lobbyists told STAT that it relates to the policy of requiring drug price information in ads. (Swetlitz, 8/23)
Stat:
Senate Joins Push To Require Pharma To Include Prices In Ads And TV Commercials
The Senate voted Thursday to give the Department of Health and Human Services at least $1 million to issue regulations requiring that prescription drug advertisements include information about the price of the medicine. Senators agreed to attach the provision, sponsored by Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), to a major spending bill, through a process reserved for noncontroversial items to which no lawmaker objects. The spending bill passed by a vote of 85-7. (Swetlitz, 8/23)
Reuters:
Oklahoma Medicaid Tests New Tactic To Curb U.S. Drug Costs
A new front in the battle over the cost of expensive medicines in the United States is opening up in Oklahoma, the first state where the government's Medicaid program is negotiating contracts for prescription drugs based on how well they work. In June, Oklahoma received approval from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to factor how effective a prescription medicine is into the price it pays to the manufacturer. (Beasley, 8/23)
Stat:
FDA Examining Whether Drug Ads 'Overwarn' Consumers About Side Effects
The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to launch a study of how well consumers understand the lengthy list of safety risks listed in drug advertisements — and whether there are so many warnings that their eyes glaze over. But the study, and related work at the FDA, have irked the drug industry and spurred critics of direct-to-consumer drug advertisements to argue the agency should be doing more. (Thielking, 8/24)
The Associated Press:
Education Dept. Proposals On Guns In Schools Sparks Outcry
The Education Department says it is weighing whether to allow states to use federal funds to purchase guns for schools, prompting a storm of criticism from Democratic lawmakers and educators. If approved, the plan would likely generate a lot of controversy at a time when a string of especially deadly school shootings earlier this year led to the rise of a powerful student-led gun control movement. (Danilova, 8/24)
Los Angeles Times:
Scientists Blast EPA Effort That Would Discredit Health Research In The Name Of 'Transparency'
When the Environmental Protection Agency unveiled a proposal this week to give states more latitude in regulating pollution from power plants within their borders, it came with a sobering forecast of its likely impact on Americans’ health. By 2030, adoption of the Affordable Clean Energy Rule could lead to 470 to 1,400 additional premature deaths each year because of an increase in tiny airborne particles. Children with asthma could wind up missing 21,000 extra days of school annually, and up to 48,000 more people could experience “exacerbated asthma” as air quality deteriorates. (Healy, 8/24)
The Associated Press:
Abortion Opponents Lose Appeal In Fetal Tissue Research Case
Abortion rights opponents who challenged the University of Minnesota's use of aborted fetal tissue for medical research have lost an appeal. The ruling issued Monday by the state Court of Appeals says the lawsuit filed in 2016 by Pro-Life Action Ministries is moot because the Legislature clarified the law, allowing the research, while the case was pending. (8/23)
The Associated Press:
Arkansas Abortion Pills Restriction Remains On Hold
A federal appeals court won't allow Arkansas to enforce a law that critics say would make the state the first in the U.S. to effectively ban abortion pills. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday denied a request by the state to put on hold a judge's order preventing Arkansas from enforcing the law, which says doctors who provide the pills must hold a contract with a physician with admitting privileges at a hospital who agrees to handle any complications. (DeMillo, 8/23)
The New York Times:
Russian Trolls Used Vaccine Debate To Sow Discord, Study Finds
Don’t get #vaccines. Illuminati are behind it.” “Do you still treat your kids with leaves? No? And why don’t you #vaccinate them? It’s medicine!” With messages like those, Russian internet trolls meddling in the 2016 presidential election also lashed out at Americans debating the safety of vaccines, a new study has found. (McNeil, 8/23)
The Washington Post:
Russian Trolls And Twitter Bots Exploit Vaccine Controversy
Researchers found bots and Russian trolls mentioned vaccines more often than the average Twitter account over a three-year period, but for different reasons. Russian trolls stoked the debate by tweeting pro- and anti-vaccine messages in an apparent attempt to sow division, while bots that spread malicious software appeared to use anti-vaccine messages that inflame strong responses from both sides to attract clicks. “Apparently only the elite get ‘clean’ #vaccines. And what do we, normal ppl, get?! #VaccinateUS,” a Russian troll account tweeted in one of the messages that stood out to researchers because of the unusual line it drew between vaccine fearmongering and income inequality. (Johnson, 8/23)
Stat:
NIH Is Questioning Researchers About Influence From Foreign Governments
The National Institutes of Health is investigating roughly a half-dozen research institutions based on suspicions that researchers with federal grants failed to disclose significant financial contributions from foreign governments, Director Francis Collins said Thursday. The fact-finding operation, Collins said, will center in many cases on technology research. ... On Wednesday, Collins also wrote to roughly 10,000 NIH grant institutions encouraging them to set up briefings with FBI field offices about threats to intellectual property and foreign interference. (Facher, 8/23)
The Washington Post:
Safest Level Of Alcohol Consumption Is None, Worldwide Study Shows
To minimize health risks, the optimal amount of alcohol someone should consume is none. That’s the simple, surprising conclusion of a massive study, co-authored by 512 researchers from 243 institutions, published Thursday in the prestigious journal the Lancet. The researchers built a database of more than a thousand alcohol studies and data sources, as well as death and disability records from 195 countries and territories between 1990 and 2016. The goal was to estimate how alcohol affects the risk of 23 health problems. The number that jumped out, in the end, was zero. Anything more than that was associated with health risks. (Achenbach, 8/23)
The New York Times:
Purveyors Of Juice-Box Style, Nicotine-Filled E-Liquids Quit Selling The Products
Makers of e-cigarette and vaping liquids like One Mad Hit Juice Box, V’Nilla Cookies & Milk, Unicorn Cakes and other products with packaging that could appeal to children have stopped selling them, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The agency said on Thursday that the 17 makers, distributors and sellers of nicotine-containing e-liquids for e-cigarettes had agreed to take the products off the market, after the agency issued a warning in May. (Kaplan, 8/23)
The Washington Post:
HPV-Related Cancer Rates Are Rising. So Are Vaccine Rates — Just Not Fast Enough.
Cancers linked to the human papillomavirus have increased significantly over the last 15 years in the United States, with throat cancer now the most common HPV-related malignancy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. More than 43,000 people developed HPV-associated cancer in 2015, compared with about 30,000 in 1999, the CDC said. (McGinley, 8/23)
NPR:
How Patients React After Seeing Their Doctors' Notes About Them
One day this spring, an elderly patient of mine became upset with me because, she said, I had betrayed her trust. The issue was a short note I had written in her medical record about her difficult relationship with her child. The note was a reminder for me and anybody else in the hospital where I worked that the patient didn't have anyone who could accompany her to appointments. (Gordon, 8/23)
The Associated Press:
Report: Personnel Issues At Migrant Child Housing Facilities
Arizona health officials have spotted personnel records concerns at several facilities housing migrant children separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. Arizona Department of Health Services officials on Thursday released the results of their inspections of 13 Southwest Key facilities after allegations surfaced last month of sex abuse at facilities in Glendale and Tucson. (8/23)
Stat:
Dartmouth Misconduct Case Highlights Mistreatment Of Junior Scientists
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice probably isn’t the most collegial of places these days. That’s because Dartmouth officials agreed with Samir Soneji, an associate professor at the New Hampshire university, that his colleague Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, a leading expert on cancer screening and overtreatment, used data that belonged to Soneji and a collaborator in California in a subsequent publication without even a hat tip. (Oransky and Marcus, 8/24)
Reuters:
NY Health Officials Investigating Illnesses Linked To McDonald's Outlet
New York State health officials said on Thursday they were investigating reports of multiple illnesses potentially associated with a McDonald's Corp restaurant in Jamestown, NY. The state health department and the Chautauqua County Health Department said 22 individuals reported symptoms of nausea, vomiting or diarrhea and on being interviewed 15 said they had eaten various breakfast sandwiches at the McDonald's outlet between August 4-21. (Sampath, 8/23)
The Associated Press:
Fertility Doctor Who Used Own Sperm, Surrenders License
A retired Indianapolis fertility doctor who lied about using his own sperm to impregnate possibly dozens of women surrendered his medical license Thursday to a state board that also barred him from ever seeking its reinstatement. After an attorney for Dr. Donald Cline surrendered his expired license to the Indiana Medical Licensing Board, the 7-member panel voted to prohibit the 79-year-old Cline from ever applying for a license in Indiana again. (8/23)
The Associated Press:
Officials Report Whooping Cough Outbreak In Central Delaware
Public health officials are investigating an outbreak of whooping cough in central Delaware. Officials on Thursday advised residents to get vaccinated against the highly contagious disease, also known as pertussis. Officials say the investigation began in June when they learned of cases of whooping cough occurring among Kent County’s Amish population. (8/23)