Latest KFF Health News Stories
A flurry of abortion news comes out of Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, Louisiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Texas.
Longer Looks: Abortion Restrictions; Republican Health Care Proposals; And The Public Option
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Opinion writers examine the complexities of abortion rights and other women’s health issues.
Editorial pages feature opinions on immigration, vaccinations, gun safety, heart disease, climate change and more.
Women In Health Care Industry Routinely Overlooked For Promotions Due To Gender
The survey comes amid a broader push among the industry to get more women into leadership roles. More health systems are appointing chief diversity officers tasked, in part, with ensuring gender diversity. Time’s Up Healthcare also recently launched to address similar disparities and injustices. But shifting from how things have always been done in health care has proven to be difficult and slow.
House Committee Leaders Target Medicare Part D With Draft Legislation To Lower Drug Costs
“Already this Congress, our committees have held several hearings with patients and experts from across the political spectrum to discuss options to lower prescription drug prices,” the bipartisan group of House lawmakers said. “Universally these witnesses agreed that Medicare Part D can and should be improved to cap out-of-pocket spending, and lower costs both for the patients and for the Medicare program.” The bill came the same week as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi began to test the waters on negotiating powers for Medicare.
White House Forges Ahead With Public Charge Rules Following Complaints DHS Was Slow-Walking Process
The Trump administration has sought to impose tougher requirements on legal immigrants using public assistance programs, a move that advocates say will have a chilling factor on vulnerable migrants — and potentially their sponsors — who would otherwise seek health care and food aid.
Media outlets report on health care news out of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Illinois, Tennessee, Florida, New Jersey and Michigan.
University of Southern California administrators hired a team of medical experts after it received complaints against longtime campus gynecologist Dr. George Tyndall. Despite the subsequent damning report, he wasn’t fired. Instead, USC’s lawyers arranged a secret deal with Tyndall that allowed him to leave his post with a substantial financial payout and a pristine professional record. News on medical personnel comes out of Ohio, Maryland, D.C., and California, as well.
Screening requirements for hospitals and nursing homes can be costly and time-consuming, but state officials say they are determined to stop Candida auris, a fungus of mysterious origin that has been quietly spreading around the world since it was first identified in 2009. In other public health news: cancer, autism, superbugs, genital cutting, black lung, stress fractures and more.
Nation’s Eyes Swivel To Oklahoma As High-Stakes Opioid Trial Against Drugmakers Kicks Off Next Week
The hearing is the first public trial to emerge from roughly 2,000 U.S. lawsuits aimed at holding drug companies accountable for their alleged role in the nation’s raging opioid crisis. “I expect a very spirited trial,” said local attorney and author Bob Burke. In other news on the epidemic: JPMorgan cuts ties with Purdue Pharma, the American Pain Society is considering filing for bankruptcy, and buprenorphine gains popularity as an addiction treatment.
Politically Charged Air Travel Ban Becomes Latest Tool In Public Health Officials’ War On Measles
Though less restrictive than isolation or quarantine, the public health measure to keep people who are infected with measles off airplanes “is seen as a government using its power over the people and the states, which is kind of toxic in America right now,” said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health policy at Georgetown University. But as cases continue to climb across the country, public health officials are using the options they have to combat the outbreak.
Surveys have found that most common reason the women gave for wanting an abortion was they couldn’t afford to support a child. Women are speaking out across the country about their own reasons as states move to restrict abortion rights. And the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is imposing a travel ban on Alabama as a response to its restrictive legislation.
The legislation was held up over conflicts with the White House over money for the border and Puerto Rico. Although the House has left for a one-week recess, the legislation could theoretically be approved on a voice vote as soon as Friday.
Reps. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) and Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) both talked on the campaign trail about giving Medicare negotiating powers as a way to curb high drug prices. Now, in Congress, they appear to have backpedaled their positions. Meanwhile, the spat between President Donald Trump and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi jeopardizes a potential deal on drug pricing. And Colorado caps the costs of insulin.
Connecticut Poised To Consider Public Option That Supporters Say Will Cut Premiums By 20%
Under the legislation, the state would form an advisory committee with experts, consumer advocates and state officials, and the group to develop network criteria and provider reimbursement rates to guarantee a 20% premium savings compared to plan rates in 2020. Washington state passed a similar proposal earlier this month, and several other states are considering public options.
The highly anticipated health care package from Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) contained more than 30 specific ideas on how to drive down health care costs including measures on surprise medical bills, pharmacy benefits managers, hospitals’ “gag clauses,” and other consumer protections. The surprise medical bills, in particular, have garnered much attention in recent months, as a rare bipartisan issue Republicans and Democrats both see as a win.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages feature opinions on “Medicare for All,” vaccines, prejudice in medicine, the opioid epidemic, depression and more.
Opinion writers examine the complexities of abortion rights and other women’s health issues.
