Latest KFF Health News Stories
Drugmakers To Be Required To Put Prices In TV Ads So Patients Are No Longer ‘Left In The Dark’
“If you’re ashamed of your drug prices, change your drug prices,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. Proponents of the Trump administration’s new rule say that TV ads often steer patients toward pricier drugs without disclosing just how much they cost. Critics, however, say including the list price — which patients with insurance would rarely have to actually pay — is confusing and could keep patients from seeking out medication they need. A disclaimer will have to state, “if you have insurance that covers drugs, your cost may be different,” though.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Prominent New York Times Health Care Reporter Robert Pear Dies At 69
Robert Pear spent 40 years at The New York Times covering the ins and outs of health care politics and policy, among other national issues. His paper’s obituary describes Pear as someone who “influenced the public discourse most by mastering the details of health care delivery” through his “exacting, authoritative and closely read” reporting. He died from complications of a stroke.
Media outlets report on news from Florida, California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Georgia, Iowa and Minnesota.
Following the resignation of Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh for her alleged financial ties to medical firms, the board chairman of the University of Maryland Medical System and two other board members resigned Tuesday, including Dr. Scott Rifkin. His company had an “active agreement” with the hospital to provide software.
When Someone Is Grieving A Loved One’s Suicide, Even Well-Intentioned Words Can Hurt
But while it can be tricky to know what to say to a suicide loss survivor, it is much better to reach out than to hold back out of fear of saying the wrong thing. In other public health news: domestic violence, talking to your pets, concussions, blood pressure, intersex athletes, and more.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said the attitude is consistent with how the family and Purdue Pharma disregarded people in their “blind pursuit of profit.” More details about both the family and the company are emerging in court.
Just Weeks After Columbine Anniversary, Colorado School Shooting Leaves 1 Student Dead, 8 Wounded
Sheriff Tony Spurlock of Douglas County said the suspects, who were armed with a handgun and other weapons, confronted law enforcement officers when they arrived, but that they were not injured. Spurlock said neither suspect had been on law enforcement’s radar before the shooting and that the motive was unknown.
The new poll reveals that most Americans don’t sympathize with the small, but vocal, anti-vaccination movement. Meanwhile, the measles cases in New York continue to climb, the World Health Organization issues a warning about the global outbreak, and school nurses play key role in the crisis.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health issues and others.
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
EPA Disregarded Its Own Scientists’ Warnings When It Issued Restrictions But Not A Ban On Asbestos
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said when the rule was issued that it would significantly strengthen public health protections. But in the memos dated Aug. 10, more than a dozen of the agency’s own experts urged the EPA to ban asbestos outright, as do most other industrialized nations.
Lawmakers Raise Red Flags About How Health Apps Use, Share Data Of Patients
Guidelines might be necessary, says Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) as federal agencies push for a free exchange of information. News on technology and health focuses on price comparing on smartphones, interoperability, Google’s health leaders and more.
Judge Stops Short Of Permanent Injunction Of 340B Medicare Rate Cuts, But Halts Them For Now
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras is ordering the government the deficiencies in the rule. HHS Secretary Alex Azar “patently violated the Medicare Act’s text,” the judge wrote. “Unlike cases in which the agency’s decision may have been lawful, but was inadequately explained … no amount of reasoning on remand will allow the secretary to re-implement the 340B rates in the same manner.”
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday lawmakers discussed ideas to curb high drug prices, such as the international price index and using the patent system to increase competition in the marketplace. “I think we’re dangerously close to building a bipartisanship consensus around change,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said during the hearing.
Heartbeat bills are popular in the anti-abortion movement despite the fact that they’ve been repeatedly knocked down in court. Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) said he approved the bill “to ensure that all Georgians have the opportunity to live, grow, learn and prosper in our great state.” Abortion news comes out of Wisconsin, Virginia, Texas and Pennsylvania, as well.
And huge disparities persist in maternal death rates for African-American, Native American and Alaska Native women. “The bottom line is that too many women are dying largely preventable deaths associated with their pregnancy,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC, told The New York Times.
Tennessee May Be First State To Achieve Longtime GOP Goal Of Shifting To Medicaid Block Grants
Proponents of the block grant model say it gives states flexibility to more efficiently run their programs and try novel ideas to lower costs. But opponents, including providers and patient advocacy groups, warn that capped models like block grants or per-capita caps would lead to reduced Medicaid funding over time and require states to cut enrollment, benefits and payment rates.
The poverty level is used to determine things like who qualifies for Medicaid and food stamps. Critics seized on the proposal as the Trump administration’s latest broadside against those struggling the most to make ends meet.
