First Edition: June 15, 2017
SEND IN YOUR QUESTIONS!: KHN is launching our new Facebook group on navigating aging with a live online chat, "Getting Smarter About Getting Older." You can send in questions ahead of time here. But make sure to mark your calendars for 12 p.m. on June 20 to join in the conversation on Facebook Live with Judith Graham, our Navigating Aging columnist, and her guest Dr. Lee Ann Lindquist.
Kaiser Health News:
Descent Into Secrecy: Senate Health Talks Speak To Steady Retreat From Transparency
Congress struggling to finish a huge budget reconciliation bill. A GOP president pushing a major overhaul of federal payments for health insurance that could transform the lives of sick patients. Sound familiar? The year was 1986. I was a rookie health reporter on Capitol Hill and watched a Medicare bill move from introduction, to hearings, to votes in subcommittees, to full committees and then to the entire House — an operation that took months and was replicated in the Senate, before the two chambers got together to iron out their differences for final passage. Everything was published in the official Congressional Record in almost excruciating detail for everyone to see — as long as they could read really tiny type. (Rovner, 6/14)
Kaiser Health News:
Some Seniors Just Want To Be Left Alone, Which Can Lead To Problems
The 84-year-old man who had suffered a mini-stroke was insistent as he spoke to a social worker about being discharged from the hospital: He didn’t want anyone coming into his home, and he didn’t think he needed any help. So the social worker canceled an order for home health care services. And the patient went back to his apartment without plans for follow-up care in place. (Graham, 6/15)
The Associated Press:
Trump Labeling House Health Care Bill 'Mean' Frustrates GOP
President Donald Trump's labeling of a House-passed health care bill as "mean" is aggravating some of the conservatives he pressed to back it, even as Senate attempts to reshape the measure increasingly threaten to spill into July. "In terms of strategery, I hope he's just trying to motivate the Senate," Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., said Wednesday, employing a mangled word used [in a parody of] former President George W. Bush. "Because he put all sorts of pressure on us to move the bill we passed." (Fram, 6/14)
The Washington Post:
In GOP Health Care Struggle, It’s Senator Vs. Senator
Here’s one unique, easy-to-grasp way to understand the continued gridlock among Senate Republicans on how to change the health-care industry: Each senator is trying to get the best deal for his or her state. It’s a somewhat obvious observation, because that’s what happens in most congressional debates. But the last six weeks of Senate consideration of the Republican effort to overturn the Affordable Care Act has been somewhat lost in the weeds of Medicare regulations, the size and scope of tax credits and proposals to phase out benefits over a couple years or much longer. (Kane, 6/14)
Politico:
Liberals Ease Up On Health Care Fight — For A Moment
Liberal activists on Wednesday hit pause on their all-out battle to thwart Republicans trying to fast track an Obamacare repeal-and-replace plan through the Senate. But Democratic lawmakers and outside groups say the mass shooting that wounded House Majority Whip Steve Scalise can’t slow down the overall effort. (Schor, 6/14)
The Associated Press:
Gov't Report: Health Care Deductibles Higher Under GOP Bill
President Donald Trump promised to make health care more affordable but a government report finds that out-of-pocket costs — deductibles and copayments — would average 61 percent higher under the House Republican bill. And even though the sticker price for premiums would be lower than under Obama-era law, what consumers pay would actually go up on average because government financial assistance would be reduced. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/15)
The Wall Street Journal:
Insurers Take Low-Key Approach In Health-Law Debate
Nearly every health group has taken a stand on the Republican legislation to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, but a split among insurance companies, who are arguably most central to the overhaul, has prevented the industry and its powerful lobby from picking a side in the debate. The divisions, along with a desire to remain involved in the negotiations, have quieted an industry that had a vocal role in shaping the ACA. (Hackman, 6/14)
The Washington Post Fact Checker:
President Trump’s Mangled ‘Facts’ About Obamacare
Not a day goes by without President Trump bashing the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, as he tries to urge the Senate to pass its own version of a repeal-and-replace bill. He’s become a torrent of statistics as he has tried to make the case that the law is “dead,” as he puts it. Increasingly, the president is aided by reports churned out by the Department of Health and Human Services, which under President Barack Obama used to issue dubious reports defending the law but now offers dubious reports to undermine it. (Kessler, 6/15)
NPR:
Proposed Medicaid Cuts Threaten Services For Disabled Adults
It's morning meeting time at Our Place Day Services, a day center for adults with disabilities, housed in a small concrete and glass building on Lovers Lane in Slinger, Wis. About 30 people are gathered here, around a long table, reciting the pledge of allegiance. One man paces alongside the table, another sits in a wheelchair a few feet away. There's a woman holding a baby in her lap and a friendly dog — a goldendoodle — wandering around greeting people with a sniff and a lick. (Kodjak, 6/14)
The Washington Post:
These Are The People Who Suffered When Kansas’s Conservative Experiment Failed
Suzan Emmons has done the most she can for the girls. Her small green house has bunnies in the back yard, class pictures proudly displayed on the living room wall, food in the refrigerator. She has scrimped from her annual salary of $14,000 to pay for one dance class each: tap for Elizabeth, jazz for Jaiden. But far-off political decisions have made the haven that Emmons built for them more precarious. Five years ago, she rescued Jaiden, her granddaughter, and Elizabeth, her granddaughter’s half sister, from a dangerous home. Today, she doesn't make enough money to qualify for health insurance subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. She would qualify for Medicaid under Obamacare’s proposed expansion of the program, but because the Kansas governor turned down federal funds for that expansion, she doesn't qualify there either, leaving her unable to afford insurance coverage. (Swanson and Ehrenfreund, 6/14)
The Associated Press:
Health Chief, 4 Others Charged With Manslaughter In Flint
Five people, including the head of Michigan's health department, were charged Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter in an investigation of Flint's lead-contaminated water, all blamed in the death of an 85-year-old man who had Legionnaires' disease. Nick Lyon is the highest-ranking member of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder's administration to be snagged in a criminal investigation of how the city's water system became poisoned after officials tapped the Flint River in 2014. (6/14)
USA Today:
5 Michigan Officials Face Manslaughter Charges Over Flint Water Crisis
Six officials were charged in all — five with involuntary manslaughter — according to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. "We will turn to the prosecution of this investigation," he said in at a morning news conference. "We are confident that the charges that we have filed will be upheld in the courts." (Egan and Anderson, 6/14)
The Washington Post:
Top Michigan Health Official, Four Others Charged With Manslaughter In Flint Water Crisis
While much of the attention in Flint has focused on the lead-tainted water that exposed thousands of young children to potential long-term health risks, the crisis also has been linked to an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease that contributed to at least a dozen deaths. Those cases ultimately led to the charges Wednesday for Lyon, as well as for the state’s chief medical executive, Eden Wells, who faces charges of obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer but is not accused of manslaughter. (Dennis, 6/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
Michigan Health Chief, Four Others Charged In Flint Water Probe
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said the latest charges reflected the determination of investigators to hold government officials responsible for Flint’s water crisis. “There are those who assumed this would be swept under the rug,” Mr. Schuette said. “That arrogance that people would want to sweep this away, that there were nameless, faceless bureaucrats that caused this, is outrageous.” (Maher, 6/14)
The Associated Press:
Man At Center Of Flint Death Case Lived There All His Life
Robert Skidmore was born in Flint, raised a family there and lived his entire life in and around the blue collar town that — next to Detroit — was synonymous with manufacturing of cars and trucks. But his December 2015 death has been blamed on Legionnaires’ disease and linked to a tainted water crisis that on Wednesday led to involuntary manslaughter and other charges against five officials, including the director of Michigan’s Health and Human Services department. Skidmore, 85, was one of 12 people to die from the disease and nearly 100 cases of people being sickened from it. (Eggert and Wililams, 6/15)
The Associated Press:
VA Warns Of Surprise Budget Gap, Insists No Delays In Care
The Department of Veterans Affairs warned Wednesday it was unexpectedly running out of money for a program that offers veterans private-sector health care, forcing it to hold back on some services that lawmakers worry could cause delays in medical treatment. It is making an urgent request to Congress to allow it to shift money from other programs to fill the sudden budget gap. (6/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
Group Calls For Expanded Probe Of Premature-Infant Clinical Trial
The consumer group Public Citizen said it has found new, “serious ethical lapses” in a premature-infant study that it contends should lead a federal medical-research watchdog agency to expand an investigation into the research. Public Citizen said it has unearthed documents showing that oxygen-measurement instruments used in the baby study gave inaccurate readings, which could have harmed the babies. The group called for the federal Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) to look into the matter. (Burton, 6/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
States Launch Bipartisan Probe Of Opioid Marketing And Addiction
A bipartisan group of state attorneys general is jointly investigating the marketing of prescription painkillers and the causes of widespread opioid addiction, according to people familiar with the matter, in another sign of growing pressure on the pharmaceutical industry. The probe, which includes a majority of U.S. states, is expected to be publicly announced in the coming days, the people said. The investigation is focused on manufacturers of prescription painkillers, one of the people said, and, like other opioid investigations launched in recent years, will focus on the allegedly deceptive marketing of the drugs. The full range of targets of the investigation isn’t yet clear and could change. (Randazzo and Whalen, 6/14)
The Washington Post:
The Opioid Epidemic Is Making The Fight Against HIV More Difficult
Bringing down the rate of HIV infection in one of the United States’ great public health triumphs of the past quarter-century. Now, thanks to the opioid epidemic, some of those hard-won gains may be reversed. Opioids, as well as being harmful on their own, also increase the risk of HIV outbreaks, as users sometimes inject the drugs using shared, infected syringes. That drove a clustered outbreak in Scott County, Indiana, where then-Governor Mike Pence declared a public health emergency in 2015 because of a spate of new HIV infections. (Humphreys, 6/14)
The New York Times:
Too Many Opioids After Cesarean Delivery
Doctors may be overprescribing opioids to women who have had cesarean sections. Researchers tracked prescriptions and pill use in 179 women discharged from an academic medical center after cesarean delivery. On average, they left the hospital with a prescription for the equivalent of 30 pills containing 5 milligrams of oxycodone or hydrocodone. Then, using interviews, the scientists tracked how much of the medicine they used during the two weeks after discharge. The study is in Obstetrics & Gynecology. (Bakalar, 6/14)
The Washington Post:
Doctors Just Separated Twin Girls Joined At The Head In One Of The World’S Rarest Surgeries
For the first time, conjoined twins Abby and Erin Delaney can sleep in separate beds. The 10-month-old girls from North Carolina were born connected at the head, an extremely rare condition. Following months of planning and preparation, the pair underwent a successful 11-hour separation surgery last week at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in southeastern Pennsylvania, according to the hospital. (Bever, 6/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Torrance Memorial Hospital Receives $32-Million Donation
Philanthropists Melanie and Richard Lundquist have donated $32 million to Torrance Memorial Medical Center to improve neurological, orthopedic and spinal care at the hospital. The gift announced this week brings the couple’s total contributions to the hospital to $100 million over the last 11 years. The sum is the most a single donor has given to a hospital that isn’t a research or teaching facility since the Chronicle of Philanthropy began tracking donations over $1 million in 2005. (Karlamangla, 6/14)
The Associated Press:
Lawsuit Challenges Kentucky's Medical Marijuana Ban
Kentucky's criminal ban against medical marijuana was challenged Wednesday in a lawsuit touting cannabis as a viable alternative to ease addiction woes from opioid painkillers. The plaintiffs have used medical marijuana to ease health problems, the suit said. The three plaintiffs include Dan Seum Jr., the son of a longtime Republican state senator. (6/14)
The New York Times:
A New Lure For Spa Customers? A Salt Cave
Two young women in white chamois robes exited the Himalayan salt sauna at Premier57, a spa in Midtown Manhattan, looking rosy and happily spent. The salt sauna, lined with burnt orange and yellow blocks of sodium chloride, is a popular destination at the spa, where a day pass is $75 and the tagline urges guests to “immerse, indulge, intrigue.” Options include an infrared lounge, a meditation room, an igloo room, a gold sauna and a clay sauna, “but we have a lot of guests who just come here for the salt room, especially if they have arthritis,” said the spa’s general manager, Ellis Kim. “It’s very good for arthritis and for regulating blood pressure.” (Kaufman, 6/14)