Latest KFF Health News Stories
The implementation of the rule could come as a huge hit to unions. “If unions lose the ability to collect dues via payroll deductions, caregivers will have much more control over whether they choose to financially support a union or not,” said Maxford Nelson, director of labor policy for the Freedom Foundation, a conservative group in Olympia, Wash.
While giving an interview with Fox News, President Donald Trump commented on the “major problem with filth” in U.S. cities, saying it’s a phenomenon that emerged in recent years, despite there being ample evidence to the contrary. California’s top political leaders, who have been trying to address the ever-worsening problem in their state, welcomed the federal help Trump seemed to threaten them with.
It ‘Smacks Of Corruption’: Warren Calls On Former FDA Chief Gottlieb To Resign From Pfizer’s Board
2020 hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said former FDA Chief Scott Gottlieb’s decision to join Pfizer’s board— less than three months after he left the agency —will make “the American people rightly cynical and distrustful about whether high-level Trump administration officials are working for them, or for their future corporate employers.”
Former congressman John Delaney said at the Democratic presidential candidate debate that because of Medicare rates, if “Medicare for All” was enacted, all hospitals would close. The Washington Post Fact Checker explains why that’s not really true.
Health experts say in the long run it’s better for people in the country regardless of immigration status to receive care, but the idea could be a hard political sell. Only 6 in 10 Democratic voters support the idea, and, more broadly, 60 percent of Americans oppose it. But, with all the news on immigration recently, it’s likely to play a leading role in the 2020 elections.
GOP States’ Request To Delay Next Week’s Health Law Hearing Denied By Federal Appeals Court
The Democratic states and the House urged the court to deny the request, arguing that moving ahead with the case would reduce uncertainty in the health care industry. Arguments over the constitutionality of the health law remain set for next Tuesday afternoon at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
A secret Facebook group revealed by ProPublica reporting featured jokes about migrant deaths, among other offensive content. Meanwhile, The Associated Press looks at how Facebook handles hate speech.
In a strongly worded report, the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General said the prolonged detention of migrants without proper food, hygiene or laundry facilities — some for more than a month — requires “immediate attention and action.” Photos in the report show how extensive the problems at the facilities are.
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Different Takes: Alabama’s Not Alone When It Comes To Punishing Pregnant Women
Editorial writers focus on the manslaughter charges against Marshae Jones.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health care topics and others.
The state’s Medicaid agency will help by using new technology to ensure qualifying low-income women don’t experience a gap in health insurance coverage; working with the Department of Social Services to streamline enrollment; and launching an outreach campaign this fall to reach pregnant women and to connect those in need with substance abuse treatment.
Media outlets report on news from California, Mississippi, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Alabama, Florida, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Missouri, New Jersey and Ohio.
“We didn’t think it was possible, but it happened and we have to deal with it,” NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said last week after the department’s sixth suicide since January. Across the nation, more officers die by suicide than in the line of duty. Police are morely likely to suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome and depression. NYPD is adopting programs put in place by Chicago, including providing peer-to-peer counseling and additional mental health training.
New Transgender Guidelines From Physicians’ Group Expands Audience To Primary Family Care Doctors
According to the new guidelines, transgender medical care has been historically siloed to endocrinologists. In other public health news, overactive thyroids, medical myths, dead brains, MRIs and atoms, stem cells, and more.
Best Ways To Curb Teen Vaping? New State Laws Aimed At Raising Legal Age To 21 Won’t Do It Alone
Even as San Francisco has adopted a ban on e-cig sales and states have passed laws raising the purchasing age, the trend among teens to vape is on the upswing, health officials say, and threatens to undermine a decades-long decline in teen smoking. News on efforts to stem nicotine use comes from Vermont, Georgia and Massachusetts, as well.
More than half of the facilities analyzed in a new report met the expected staffing level less than 20% of the time. In other news on nursing homes, a look at the poorest performing of Tennessee’s facilities.
Finance Committee Expands Investigation Into Tax-Exempt Organizations With Ties To Opioid-Makers
The move is the latest effort to peel back the curtain on the interplay between pharmaceutical manufacturers and various organizations, some of which have been accused of working harder on behalf of industry interests than patient concerns. Other news on the crisis deals with kratom and needle exchanges.
Between Democratic Primary And Legal Battle Over ACA, Insurers Facing Precarious Second-Half Of Year
“You have these two very low-probability, but very negative events … that almost all investors think have a close to zero probability of actually happening but the time to get clarity on that is still quite extended. Time is the main issue here,” Evercore analyst Michael Newshel said.
The 181 million taxpayers with employer-sponsored coverage could miss out on the benefits of 2020 hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders’ plan. And even those receiving Medicaid could pay more, health policy analysts tell Bloomberg. Meanwhile, Sanders emerged out of the debates as the front-runner in terms of who Americans see as the strongest candidate on health care.
