Latest KFF Health News Stories
In letters to Attorney General William Barr and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, five House chairmen say they’ve been asking since April 8 for documents connected to the decision to stop defending the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, as well as testimony from four key officials involved in the effort.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on women’s health topics.
Media outlets report on news from Washington, Ohio, California, Illinois, Maryland, Connecticut, Arizona, Georgia, New York, Minnesota, North Carolina, Utah, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Iowa and Arkansas.
As Many As Two-Thirds Of Older Americans Will Need Long-Term Care But Won’t Be Able To Afford It
Nearly 15 million middle-income adults will be hit the hardest, according to an analysis in Health Affairs, because they won’t quality for Medicaid or subsidized housing. Other public health news focuses on maternal death rates, the impact of boys’ early sexual initiation, a skin disorder on genitals, unidentified patients, snake bites, good gossip, organ donations and tick information.
In Hospitals Where Alarms Can Be Easily Missed, Can AI Help Predict Crises Before They Strike?
Hospital command centers, where a technician watches patients’ vital signs for irregularities, have proliferated across the country. The need for such facilities in health care has increased in recent decades, as an array of monitoring devices produces tens of thousands of alarms on a daily basis, to the point where medical professionals tune out the ones that can signal a life-threatening event. In other health technology news: cyberattacks, breaches and an upgraded treadmill.
As communities seek billions in settlements, the family that owns OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma is reportedly growing uneasy about defense tactics and charges of misleading marketing. Other news on the drug epidemic looks at a new CDC report on cocaine and meth deaths and unethical practices by a Delaware physician.
The cities at the top of the list? Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami. A similar analysis, which uses statistics on nonmedical exemptions and international airport hubs, from last year proved to be surprisingly accurate. Meanwhile, there’s been little movement on tightening exemptions at the state level despite the sweeping measles outbreak. Advocates say that the vocal anti-vaccination movement is to blame.
Untangling The Inflammatory Rhetoric Around Abortion Bills In Georgia, Alabama
The abortion bills are not simple, especially Georgia’s, which experts say sends you “down a rabbit hole” and that you “have to be a lawyer to understand.” But fear and confusion over the measures has distorted some of the facts of the bills. Meanwhile, the legislation is part of a wave a similar restrictive measures under consideration throughout the south and Midwest.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health topics and others.
The state’s expanded Medicaid program would have ended this summer had lawmakers not reached a compromise to extend it. Included in the bill is a provision that requires the state to reevaluate the work requirements if a certain percentage of people get dropped for not reporting their hours. Medicaid news comes out of Kansas, as well.
Financially Crippled Hospitals In Rural America Are Fending Off Closure Hour-By-Hour
More than 100 of the country’s remote hospitals went broke and then closed in the past decade, turning some of the most impoverished parts of the United States into what experts now call “health-hazard zones.” “If we aren’t open, where do these people go?” asked one physician assistant at a troubled hospital. “They’ll go to the cemetery,” another employee said. “If we’re not here, these people don’t have time. They’ll die along with this hospital.”
Washington will dictate the terms of the public option plans but hire private insurance companies to administer them, saving the state from having to create a new bureaucracy — and guaranteeing a role for the insurance industry in managing the new public options. The plan is a more incremental approach than some others that would get rid of private insurers. Meanwhile, a battle is brewing in Connecticut over a public option for small businesses.
President Donald Trump added fuel to the fire over surprise medical bills last week when he called on Congress to take action on the issue, which has become a top concern for voters. Lawmakers are fully on board, but the question remains about who will pick up the extra costs if not patients. The powerful industries that any legislation could impact are gearing up for a battle. Other news from Capitol Hill focuses on a single-payer hearing and site-neutral pay regulation.
What Are 2020 Candidates Being Asked About On The Trail? Health Care, Health Care, Health Care
The Des Moines Register analyzed the questions Iowan voters were asking visiting candidates and found that health care ranks as a top concern. Meanwhile, The Washington Post fact checks Cory Booker’s statements on guns and KHN looks at how health issues are muddying Democrats’ campaigns.
The FDA released guidelines on the studies companies need to conduct to show their biosimilar is interchangeable with a biologic. Right now, biosimilars can’t automatically be substituted by a pharmacy for a brand product without the FDA’s interchangeability designation, and there are no FDA-approved interchangeable biosimilars on the market. Advocates hope this move will change that.
In court documents, the state prosecutors lay out a brazen price-fixing scheme involving more than a dozen generic drug companies, including Teva, Pfizer, Novartis and Mylan. A key element of the scheme was an agreement among competitors to cooperate on pricing so each company could maintain a “fair share” of the generic drug markets, the complaint alleges.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Longer Looks: Faking Cancer Online; The Anti-Vaccination Movement; And Lessons From A Reporter
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the web.
Editorials and columns look at these health care issues and more.
