Latest KFF Health News Stories
Warren’s Numbers Do Add Up, But They Rely On Everything Going Perfectly To Plan
The Washington Post Fact Checker takes a deep dive into the “Medicare for All” cost analysis offered by experts and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Critics continue to focus on the assumptions — such as getting hospitals accepting near-Medicare rates from all patients — that the proposal relies on. If those fall apart, so does the plan.
First Edition: November 5, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health issues and others.
Media outlets report on news from Massachusetts, California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Louisiana, Idaho, and Iowa.
Editorial pages focus on the plan Elizabeth Warren released on funding “Medicare For All”.
Ilana Yurkiewicz, a physician and medical journalist at Stanford University, explains why CAR-T is only used in patients with certain cancers and tries to answer why they haven’t yet been shown to work against solid tumors in an UnDark article. Public health news is on breast cancer tests, fecal matter transplants, Zantac recalls, white male life expectancy, skin rashes, growing up with HIV, a retracted HIV study, live-streaming a mammogram, and how to get a good night’s sleep, as well.
The administrators of Lauren Bard’s health plan assured her three days after the early birth of her daughter that the baby was covered. But she didn’t realize she would need to be enrolled through the website within 31 days of the birth.
Despite Court Ruling, CMS To Move Forward With Site-Neutral Payments For Doctor’s Visits
Under the policy, doctors would be paid the same amount for a basic visit whether it takes place in a hospital outpatient facility or a regular doctors’ office. Earlier this year, a court found that the proposal exceeds the administration’s authority.
The first part of the commission’s report to Florida lawmakers in January called for improvements to school safety. Friday’s report zeroed in on Florida’s rank among the lowest of any state in per-capita mental health funding.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) defended the state’s health department’s tracking spreadsheet, saying that kind of information has been filed to the state for decades and is done to regulate patients’ safety. “Lawmakers that don’t know that should probably take a good look at the laws in the state of Missouri,” Parson said. The revelation that the state logs women’s periods came from a trial over Missouri’s last-remaining abortion clinic.
Food safety experts fault the CDC and FDA for not notifying the public during the outbreak in September. The FDA says its data indicated the tainted produce was no longer on shelves by the time romaine was identified as the likely culprit. No one died.
The Difficult, Rewarding Work Of Feeding America’s School Kids
The Washington Post goes beyond the politics of how to feed America’s hungry kids and asks schools not only how they’re accomplishing the task but what is actually going on kids’ plates. Meanwhile, a proposed food stamp rule could impact free lunches for some children.
Google Jumps Into Fitness Tracking Business With $2.1B Fitbit Acquisition
The entry into the crowded field marks the latest effort by tech giants to secure a piece of the lucrative wearables marketplace.
Proposed Rule From HHS Would Allow Foster Care, Adoption Agencies To Deny Services To LGBTQ Families
The rule would roll back an anti-discrimination policy put into place by former President Barack Obama.
“Facing a likely risk of being separated from their family members and a delay in obtaining a visa to which family members would otherwise be entitled is irreparable harm,” wrote Judge Michael Simon in U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon of the Trump administration’s policy that would require new immigrants to show proof of health insurance or the means to afford it.
Cancer Doctor Tapped To Head FDA Will Inherit Slew Of High-Profile Public Health Issues If Confirmed
Dr. Stephen Hahn of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston was named by President Donald Trump on Friday to head the FDA. The nomination comes amid several public health crises, including a vaping-related outbreak and an opioid epidemic, along with an increased interest in prescription drug costs.
Meanwhile, Trump administration officials tell consumers that they’re working to smooth out website glitches from the first day of open enrollment.
The New York Times investigates the machines, which are found in nearly every police station in America yet can yield results that were at times 40 percent too high. The consequences of the legal system’s reliance on these tests are far-reaching as people are wrongfully convicted based on dubious evidence.
China has more than 7.4 million e-cigarette consumers, and it is the largest maker of e-cigarette products. In the midst of a vaping reckoning happening elsewhere, the move could cut the industry off at the knees. In other news on the growing public health issue: vaping bans; e-cigarettes’ likelihood of acting as a gateway product to traditional cigarettes; Americans’ view on the dangers of marijuana versus vaping; and more.
President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal aid from California because of how Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is handling the wildfires. But the tweets were quickly met with pushback, with Newsom saying, “You don’t believe in climate change. You are excused from this conversation.” Others accused the president of playing “political roulette with the lives of our firefighters.”
