Latest KFF Health News Stories
Many Of The Migrant Children Being Held In U.S. Custody Have Been Detained Beyond Legal Time Limits
The Washington Post spoke to officials on the condition of anonymity who painted a grim picture of how long children are being kept in custody. The safety and care for the migrant children in U.S. custody has been called into question as the death toll of detainees continues to climb. In other news, civil rights groups are filing a suit against a Trump administration policy that they say makes it easier for taxpayer-funded adoption centers to discriminate against same-sex couples.
The clinic’s license is set to expire, but the state won’t reissue it because it says it has safety concerns it wants to continue to investigate. If the judge does not rule in favor of the clinic, Planned Parenthood officials said Missouri would become the first state without a functioning abortion clinic since the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.
Years of piecemeal state laws have left their mark. Mandatory waiting periods, travel, missed work and lost wages all make getting an abortion more expensive and more difficult, particularly for low-income women. Doctors and clinic staff have to face protesters, threats, proliferating regulations and draining legal challenges; and some clinics have closed. In remote parts of the midwest and south, women may have to travel more than 300 miles to end a pregnancy. Meanwhile, in other news on abortion: Hollywood slowly reacts to Georgia’s heartbeat bill, a look back at an abortion doctor’s murder, and more.
The legislation, which can ban abortion as early as six weeks, won’t go into effect immediately, and similar bills from neighboring conservative states already face court challenges.
Each week, KHN highlights interesting reads, graphics or videos from around the web.
When reporting the new cases, the CDC said on Thursday that if the current outbreak continues into the summer and fall, the United States could lose its “measles elimination status,” meaning the disease would be considered endemic in the country for the first time in a generation.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on abortion issues.
Editorial writers express views about these health issues and others.
Media outlets report on news from New York, New Hampshire, Hawaii, North Carolina, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio, Kansas, California and Arizona.
Research Roundup: The Public Charge Rule; Youth Suicide; Mental Health Stigma
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
California Measure Would Allow People To Receive Their First 30-Days Of PReP Without A Prescription
The bill faces opposition from the California Medical Association, which represents doctors and major insurance companies, because it says Truvada has potential side effects, including impaired kidney function, and that people who take it need to be closely monitored by doctors. In other pharmaceutical news, the weekend kicks off the annual meeting of the world’s biggest gathering of cancer doctors; a pharmaceutical company settles claims of kickbacks; and a look at the medications that have been linked to thousands of deaths.
Melissa Thomas is a veteran who also lost her husband unexpectedly. Neither trauma set led to PTSD for her. Now as she studies medicine, she realizes it’s important to know how to help those who do struggle with it. In other public health news: medical ethics, Ebola, dexterity in surgeons, microbes, bullying, and more.
Durbin Does ‘Not Have Confidence’ New FDA Head Will Satisfactorily Address Teen Vaping Epidemic
Former Commissioner Scott Gottlieb had deemed the issue a public health epidemic, but Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) accused acting chief Ned Sharpless of not taking it as seriously.
Former Vice President and 2020 presidential hopeful Joe Biden lost his son to cancer four years ago, giving him a perspective that allows him to reach grief-stricken voters. In other news, Biden released a plan on education that would boost the number of psychologists and other health providers in schools.
President Donald Trump is working on an executive order intended to increase price transparency across the health care landscape. But one of the aspects to the order is provoking intense backlash. Compelling disclosure of negotiated rates “would have the ultimate anti-competitive effect,” said Tom Nickels, the American Hospital Association’s executive vice president for government relations and public policy.
Scott Lloyd served as director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement during the tumultuous time period when the government was separating children from their families at the border. Lloyd testified in February that he failed to alert HHS leaders about the health risks of separating migrant children, and HHS leaders previously concluded that Lloyd mismanaged efforts to reunite families.
Following Sharp Outcry From Private Insurers, Connecticut Lawmakers Pause On Creating Public Option
“We are taking a step back and evaluating where things stand,” said state Sen. Matt Lesser, a Democrat who led the proposal. He said many of the complaints from the insurance industry revolved around displeasure with competing with the government for customers. Meanwhile, California lawmakers move ahead with plans to expand coverage for undocumented immigrants in the state.
A Missouri health agency is conducting an investigation into the state’s remaining abortion clinic, and officials say they have serious concerns about patients’ safety. The clinic’s license is scheduled to expire this week, and if the stand-off is not resolved, Missouri could become the first state since Roe v. Wade not to have an operating clinic. A court hearing on the group’s lawsuit is set for Thursday morning.
The death rate for young people due to opioid poisoning nearly tripled from 1999 to 2016, and the crisis continues to devastate a wide range of people from different backgrounds. News on the epidemic also focuses on the former president of Purdue Pharma, a physician opposed to strict opioid regulations, a push for free fentanyl test strips and more.
