Latest KFF Health News Stories
HHS Alex Azar is supporting President Donald Trump’s promise to tackle the HIV epidemic, by touting things such as needle exchanges. But the administration has faced criticism that its cuts to Medicaid run counter to their work on the crisis. Azar, however, says the increased flexibility that states would have would benefit patients with HIV.
Although the policy drew ferocious pushback from lawmakers and the public, three senior administration officials with knowledge of President Donald Trump’s conversations over the past several months confirmed that the president has repeatedly told aides that he wants to restart the family separation policy. The deliberations come as Trump has begun to purge the Department of Homeland Security.
Democratic Senators Demand Answers From Juul About Teen Marketing Tactics, Altria Deal
Amid a growing epidemic of teen vaping, Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) led a group of 11 senators requesting information from the e-cigarette manufacturer about how its plans with the manufacturer of Marlboro — which has a long history of misleading youths about health impact of smoking — will impact its claims about public health.
Sanders’ Updated ‘Medicare For All’ Plan Expected To Include Provisions On Long-Term Care
The measure from 2020 hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) would eliminate the private insurance marketplace and institute a single-payer system managed by the government.
Congress is expected to grill executives from these middlemen companies that have absorbed much of the blame for rising drug prices. “They’re kind of a secret organization,” says Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). “I ask people to explain what they’re doing and nobody seems to give you the same answer twice.” Grassley is chairman of the Finance Committee and Tuesday’s hearing is the panel’s third on drug prices this year. Meanwhile, it’s not just Congress that’s investigating the role of PBMs in the drug cost issue — states are getting in on the action as well.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these health topics and others.
Media outlets report on news from Missouri, Oregon, California, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Texas, Iowa, Colorado, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.
State lawmakers across the country are trying to find ways to make health care cheaper, from expanding Medicaid programs to creating a public option to addressing high drug prices.
Another Downside When Rural Hospitals Close: Towns Becomes Undesirable For Retirees
A rural area might hope it can draw retirees and their 401ks to move to a quiet and less expensive location, but hospital closures are making some rethink that decision. News on hospitals comes from Kansas, California, Massachusetts and D.C., as well.
In Growing Trend, Hospitals Offering Tablets And Apps For Patients, Family Members To Track Care
The apps provide medical information, such as medications and dosage, procedures, daily care schedules, test results and educational videos; photos of the patient’s physicians and nurses; and an expected date of discharge. The systems can also root out medical errors. In other health technology news: Alexa and the health care field, apps’ impact on pharmacies, and prescription practices with telemedicine.
Latest E. Coli Outbreak Has Now Spread To Five States And Yet Officials Remain Stumped On Its Source
Ohio, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia all have reported cases of the illness. “Given the size and the number of states that are involved, what you’re seeing is very unusual,” said food safety lawyer Bill Marler of CDC’s inability to identify the source. In other public health news: CBD regulations, allergies, mindfulness, diets, mental illness, marijuana versus smoking, prenatal screenings, and more.
Antibiotics Have Never Been More Accessible To The World’s Poor. But There’s A Downside To That.
Antibiotic resistance is a global threat that isn’t just limited to the U.S. And in fact, urban poverty is a huge and largely unappreciated driver of resistance.
Florida Health Care Businessman Charged In $1B Medicare Fraud Scheme, One Of Biggest In History
Federal prosecutors say Philip Esformes, a Miami Beach resident, was the mastermind of a scheme paying bribes and kickbacks to doctors to refer patients to his nursing home network from 2009 to 2016, as well as paying regulators to inform him when patients complained and when there would be inspections. News on Medicare fraud comes from Illinois, as well.
The Ripple Effects From Medicaid Expansion: Study Finds It’s Linked To Fewer Heart-Related Deaths
“The overall results of this study are that after expansion of Medicaid in 2014, the areas in the country that did expand had a significantly lower mortality rate compared to if they had followed the same trajectory as the areas in the country that didn’t expand,” said Dr. Sameed Khatana, a fellow in cardiovascular disease at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Other Medicaid news comes out of Illinois, Kansas and Tennessee.
Protesters Set Up Giant Heroin Spoon Stamped With FDA’s Logo In Parting Gift To Gottlieb
Critics have decried now-former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s approval of a mega-potent painkiller in November. Although, Gottlieb over his tenure had taken steps to curb the opioid crisis, protesters say that he hasn’t done enough. In other news on the opioid crisis, California are trying to implement a program to treat opioid use disorder and a Florida county is the latest to sue Purdue Pharma for its role in the epidemic.
In Highly Unusual Move, Federal Judge Wants To Hear From Witnesses Opposed To The CVS-Aetna Deal
The Justice Department has already approved the acquisition but U.S. District Judge Richard Leon has been voicing his concerns that the department did not adequately address potential competitive harms raised by the merger. A federal law called the Tunney Act requires proposed merger settlements to be approved by a federal court. Usually the process is all but a rubber stamp, but Leon has been making waves with his critical approach to the deal.
Executives from pharmacy benefit managers will have a chance to defend themselves from all the finger-pointing this week at a congressional hearing on high drug prices. The grilling follows one last month where pharma executives emerged largely unscathed. It’s unclear if the PBMs will escape with the same outcome.
The investigation comes following requests from Democrats for the inspector general to review CMS Administrator Seema Verma’s “highly questionable use of taxpayer dollars.” The lawmakers questioned why Verma would be using outside contractors to write her speeches and handle some media calls when her agency already has an extensive communications staff. In other Medicare news: accountable care organizations, telehealth, dialysis centers and pricing plans.
It Could Take Two Years For Government To Identify All Migrant Children Separated From Families
A federal judge had asked for a plan to identify these children and their families after a report from government inspectors in January revealed that the Trump administration most likely separated thousands more children from their parents than previously reported. Advocates take issue with the timetable, saying that if the children were a priority it would take months not years for the reunification process.
