Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Azar Announces System Will Be Set Up To Allow Americans To Legally Access Cheaper Drugs From Canada
The Food and Drug Administration will have oversight of the process, HHS Secretary Alex Azar said. The move comes after the Trump administration has faced several setbacks on its drug pricing strategy.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health care issues and others.
Opinion writers weigh in on health care issues being raised at the Democratic debates and on other topics as well.
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
Perspectives: Unsustainable Spending For Unchecked Drug Pricing Could Unravel Medicaid Safety Net
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Media outlets report on news from Colorado, North Carolina, New Hampshire, California, Ohio, Indiana, Massachusetts, Florida, Missouri, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland and Oregon.
The study published in Lancet focused on the disease burden of pediatric cancers and stressed the importance of adequate care around the world. “If you don’t have access to care and treatment of childhood cancer, you die,” said Lisa Force, a pediatric oncologist who led the study. “There are years that a child could have contributed to their society that they have now lost.” News on children’s health also looks at traumatic brain injuries, underserved communities and environmental hazards.
Other conditions that could be linked to changes in the placenta include autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and intellectual disability. The lab-grown placentas will help scientists gather clues on just where these disorders start, and hopefully lead to breakthroughs in preventing them. In other public health news: cancer, epilepsy, ketamine, diapers, heartburn and more.
Prompted by an investigation by journalists from ProPublica and an organization called MLK50, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Tennessee announced major reforms in its collection policies. Yet the faith-based hospital, which temporarily suspended collection lawsuits this month, said it would not altogether stop such lawsuits.
Medicaid Expansion Advocates See Voters As The Way To Break Through Political Gridlock In Red States
When the question was put to voters last year in three states where Republican governors had resisted expansion, the answer was “yes.” “State advocates are looking up and saying, ‘We tried everything else, let’s go to a ballot initiative,’ ” said Patrick Willard with Families USA. Medicaid news comes out of Ohio and New York as well.
Lawmaker Targets Infinite Scroll, Other Techniques To Keep Users Mindlessly Engaged In Apps
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) accused Big Tech of embracing “a business model of addiction.” His bill doesn’t go as far as outright banning social media platforms, but it proposes regulatory measures that would force users to actively choose to engage for prolonged periods rather than being mindlessly sucked into the void.
CMS Crafts Plan B Over 340B Hospital Reimbursement Cuts In Response To Judge’s Ruling
A federal judge earlier in the year blocked the Trump administration’s Medicare cuts to 340B hospitals, saying the new rates aren’t lawful for 2018 and 2019. However, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras did not grant hospitals the permanent injunction. Now CMS is walking a careful line with its new proposal. Other news from CMS involves hospital prices, transparency in quality information, patient data, and more.
Planned Parenthood, ACLU File Lawsuit Over Missouri’s 8-Week Abortion Ban
Under the Missouri law, any provider that performs an abortion at the eight-week mark or later could be charged with a felony and face up to 15 years in prison. There are no exceptions for rape or incest in the law, scheduled to go into effect Aug. 28. Meanwhile new Planned Parenthood chief Alexis McGill Johnson talks about how the organization is a health care group, first and foremost.
Government officials claimed that separations at the border are now “extraordinarily rare” and happen only when the adults pose a risk to the child because of their criminal record. Yet documents show that children were taken from parents for minor reasons–such as a father not changing a wet diaper. The new numbers were filed with Judge Dana M. Sabraw of the Federal District Court in San Diego as part of the court’s continuing supervision of the family separation issue.
“Democrats — radical, reckless, socialist,” the narrator in the ads says. “They’re all the same.” Meanwhile, as the first debate ramped up, President Donald Trump’s campaign manager focused on how Democrats’ plans would increase taxes and long waits for health care.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) just unveiled a wide-ranging health plan that would move the country toward “Medicare for All” but keep private insurers in on the action. In the past few weeks, former Vice President Joe Biden has had some choice words for rivals who he see as abandoning the health law. The two will face off on the second night of the 2020 Democratic debates.
The candidates on the first night of the debates scuffled over what to do about immigration and the border crisis. While Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) supported decriminalizing illegal crossings, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock accused her of “playing into Donald Trump’s hands.” Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) defended his proposal to provide health care for immigrants in the country illegally.
Candidates Invoke Personal Experiences With Gun Violence And Blast NRA’s Lobbying Influence
Mayor Pete Buttigieg spoke about the “school shooting generations” that the country is producing, and Gov. Steve Bullock, a hunter himself, talked about ridding D.C. of powerful lobbies that hold sway over a public health policy issue. The discussion at the debate showcases just how far the political conversation around the topic of gun control has come even from the 2008 debates between then-candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
On the first night of the latest 2020 Democratic debates, front-runners and progressive Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) bore the brunt of the attacks over their health care plans, which were slammed by moderates as “fairy tale” policy. Warren and Sanders both stood their ground and avoided going after each other. “I don’t understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can’t do and shouldn’t fight for,” Warren said. “I’m ready to get in this fight. I’m ready to win this fight.” Media outlets offer a broad range of coverage on the nuances of what was argued last night, including insight on middle-class taxes, private insurers, a public option, and a look at where each candidate stands on the issue.
