Latest KFF Health News Stories
2020 Democrats Agree That Health System Needs Work, But What That Looks Like Becomes Dividing Line
The New York Times talked to 21 of the Democrats who are running for president in 2020. Many believe a single-payer type system is a longer-term aspirational goal and would like to see more realistic, incremental improvements soon. Others want to overhaul the whole system.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
Editorial pages focus on how to stem the high cost of health care.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health topics and others.
Substance Abuse Centers Offering Tailored Help To Members Of LGBTQ Community
“If you’re somebody with substance use disorder, you face tremendous stigma, discrimination and you’re less likely to seek care and access to treatment,” said Lipi Roy, a clinical assistant professor at NYU Langone Health. “If you’re transgender [or LGBTQ], same thing. Then you combine those two. It’s just so less likely to seek care and get the care that you need and deserve.” News on the opioid crisis comes out of New Hampshire and Nevada, as well.
Media outlets report on news from Rhode Island, Colorado, Kentucky, Texas, Arizona, Minnesota, Louisiana, Massachusetts, California, Florida, Tennessee, Michigan and Maryland.
Mass Shooting Victim’s Father Wins Defamation Lawsuit Against Authors Of ‘Nobody Died At Sandy Hook’
Lenny Pozner’s 6-year-old son Noah was killed in the shooting. He is the lead plaintiff in several of at least nine cases filed against Sandy Hook deniers in federal and state courts in Connecticut, Florida, Texas and Wisconsin. Others are joining him in his fight to take on the conspiracy theorists, saying they are being complicit by letting hoaxers spread lies. Other news on gun violence looks at safety regulations targeted by Democratic presidential hopeful Rep. Eric Swalwell.
The legislation would also get rid of parental consent requirements for teenagers. The fiery hearing drew advocates on both sides of the issue, and it’s unclear if lawmakers have enough support to overturn a potential gubernatorial veto if the bill gets that far. Abortion news comes out of Missouri as well.
The annual Kids Count report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation measures 16 indicators of childhood well-being, from the rate of low birthweights and teen pregnancy to third-grade reading abilities and the prevalence of single-parent families. Outlets across the country dive into how well their states performed in comparison to others.
You Can Still Be Healthy With A High BMI Yet Many Fertility Clinics Close Door To Obese Women
Does it make sense, medically or ethically, when fertility clinics refuse to treat prospective mothers they consider too large? One woman was treated coldly at a clinic and told she was too fat to get pregnant. “Have more sex and lose the weight,” the technician said to her. In other public health news: murders of black transgender women, sleeping without drugs, eating expired foods, shortage of geriatricians, lessons on modern technology, living after cardiac arrest and obesity’s ties to prostate cancer.
Fear over vaccine safety has been in large part driving the measles outbreak that’s been the country’s worst in decades — but a look at federal numbers reveals that only a very tiny percentage of people who get vaccines file an injury claim. Over the past three decades, when billions of doses of vaccines have been given to hundreds of millions of Americans, the program compensated about 6,600 people for harm they said was caused by a vaccination. About 70 percent of the awards were settlements in cases in which program officials did not find sufficient evidence that vaccines were at fault.
A New York Times investigation recently revealed North Carolina Children’s Hospital doctors’ concerns that their patients were dying even after simple surgeries. UNC administrators previously denied that there were any problems affecting patient care in the heart surgery program, but following the report the North Carolina secretary of health opened an investigation into the hospital.
When It Comes To Hospitals, Robocalls Aren’t Just A Nuisance But A Life-Or-Death Challenge
Hospitals “can’t not pick them up,” said Steven Cardinal, a top security official at the Medical University of South Carolina. “They don’t have any indicator it’s a spoof until they answer it.” Officials across the country are terrified for the day that their phone systems can’t keep up with the spam on top of a real emergency. And there doesn’t seem to be any relief in sight. In other health tech news: a data breach ends in bankruptcy, a look at how 13 became the age of adulthood for the Internet, and e-prescriptions.
An investigation between The Associated Press and Capital News Service found serious problems with how inmates who have mental health struggles fare in local jails across the country. While experts call for better targeted response to inmates’ needs, local prisons already struggling to stay afloat and say “we’re not the nation’s psychologists.”
Coming on the heels of a worldwide scandal over edited embryos, Democrats’ initial opposition to an ethics ban on the practice left many baffled. The lawmakers quickly walked back the position, but digging into their reasoning shows hint of partisan politics at play. Other news from Capitol Hill focuses on the 9/11 victims fund and global reproductive health.
Pelosi Zeroes In On Health Care As A Winning Issue For 2020, Directing Focus Away From Impeachment
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) promised that her party would “fight relentlessly” to protect health care gains and said hundreds of House Democrats held home-district events on the issue last weekend. The remarks came in reaction to President Donald Trump, who is also striving to gain back political ground on health care. But Republicans are wary of his approach. Meanwhile, a new poll confirms that voters are focused on health care.
Nine of the presidential candidates addressed the Poor People’s Campaign, a clergy-led effort to revive the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s push for attention and resources on poverty. In his remarks, former Vice President Joe Biden focused on his plan to expand on the health law, while others took a more sweeping approach.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
