Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
HHS Used To Get About One Conscience Violation Complaint A Year. Last Year, 343 Were Filed. What Happened?
NPR: Why Are Health Care Workers' Religious And Moral Conscience Complaints Rising?
When health care workers feel they have been forced to do something they disagree with on moral or religious grounds, they can file complaints with the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights. Some high-profile cases have involved nurses who objected to providing abortion services. For a decade, the agency got an average of one of these complaints of conscience violations each year. The complaints can include doctors, nurses or other health care workers who feel a hospital or clinic that receives federal funds has discriminated against them because of their moral position. Groups of health care providers also can file complaints. (Simmons-Duffin, 5/9)
Kaiser Health News: Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ ‘Conscience’ Rules, Rx Prices And Still More Medicare
In a new set of rules, the Trump administration wants to let not just doctors but almost any health care worker or organization decline to provide, participate in or refer patients for any health service that violates their conscience or religion. Also this week, the Trump administration is ordering prescription drugmakers to include list prices in their television ads for nearly all products. (5/9)
