Latest KFF Health News Stories
A Bullying Management Style Doesn’t Pay Off In Long Run, So Why Do So Many Leaders Fit That Mold?
Stories of 2020 presidential hopeful Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s alleged harsh management style put a spotlight on bosses bullying their workers. Those who study management say it’s not an effective strategy, but many successful people exhibit the tendency. So what’s going on? In other public health news, gender and science, gene-editing, cancer, exercise, and organ donations.
Medicaid news comes out of Georgia, Ohio, Texas, Louisiana and Florida.
Susan Bodine, assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said that EPA is achieving results by focusing on compliance over enforcement, encouraging companies to self-report violations and make compliance and enforcement processes more efficient. Meanwhile, regulators testified that they are leaving intact an air quality standard for power plant pollution that can worsen asthma in children, despite calls by health advocates for a tougher rule.
The hospital has been the center of an investigation from ProPublica and the Houston Chronicle that has found major lapses in patient care. St. Luke’s released the CMS report along with plans to improve safety at its facility. St. Luke’s CEO Doug Lawson called the government’s findings “deeply disappointing,” and wrote that he expects regulators to find additional problems when they return to the hospital for a comprehensive audit of patient care practices in the coming weeks.
One step the FDA plans for 2019 is requiring the packaging of pills in small amounts, such as for a day or two of medication following surgery, as well as instituting new steps to promote nonaddictive pain medicines and to issue new guidelines for clinical studies of such new therapies. Other news on the epidemic focuses on safe injection sites, treatment services, and predicting addiction.
Rhetoric over abortions that happen near enough to birth that infants could survive has heated up in recent days with President Donald Trump tweeting that Democrats want to “execute babies after birth.” However, what usually happens when an infant survives an abortion procedure its because the health of the mother was endanger and the baby won’t live long outside the womb. In those instances, “comfort care” is provided, but the recent legislation Democrats voted down would have required the doctor to resuscitate the infant. Abortion news comes out of Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Wyoming and Connecticut.
Through Feb. 1, the cost of treating troops with the diagnosis of gender dysphoria included 22,992 psychotherapy visits, 9,321 prescriptions for hormones and 161 surgical procedures. Surgeries performed included 103 breast reductions or mastectomies, 37 hysterectomies, 17 “male reproductive” procedures and four breast augmentations. Psychotherapy sessions cost nearly $5.8 million and surgery cost more than $2 million, according to the data.
House Poised To Pass First Major Gun Control Legislation In Over Two Decades. Here’s What’s In It.
The legislation focuses on background checks, closing a loophole for online and gun-show buyers and extending the initial background check review period to 10 days from three. Although it is the first major legislation to get this far in Congress in decades, critics say it is unlikely to prevent the mass shootings that have sparked a push for more controls because the weapons used in many of incidents were obtained legally and after the shooter passed a background check.
House Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) says committee members sought information for seven months on the children separated, the location and facilities where they are held, details on their parents, information on efforts to restore children to their parents and whether parents were deported. Federal officials said they already sent over thousands of pages of documents and call the subpoenas, which are the first of the new Congress, a “political stunt.”
Scott Lloyd, former head of the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, testified Tuesday about the family separations in front of the House Judiciary Committee after months of resistance. Meanwhile, during the hearing, data was released that showed there have been thousands of accusations of sexual abuse and harassment of migrant children in detention centers over the past four years. The Office of Refugee Resettlement manages the care of tens of thousands of migrant children who cycle through the system each year.
The plan, which will be released by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) is more aggressive than the plan from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), which has been touted by progressive lawmakers and 2020 candidates alike. Under the Medicare for All Act of 2019, the federal government would pay for health coverage for every American, including premiums, copays or deductibles, and benefits would include primary care, outpatient services, prescription drugs, dental care, substance-abuse and mental-health treatment, full reproductive services, as well as long-term care and services. The measure is largely symbolic as it faces certain death in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Seven big pharma CEOs were hauled in front of Congress in a highly anticipated hearing about high drug costs. Although the issue sparks public outrage and bombastic claims from other lawmakers, the Senate Finance Committee hearing proved somewhat muted, with the senators willing to listen to the executives — who blamed other parts of the drug pipeline for the rising pricing.
First Edition: February 27, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health topics and others.
Media outlets report on news from New York, California, Kansas, Tennessee, Illinois, Ohio, Connecticut, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Maryland and Washington.
While it’s known that Cannabidiol is the part of the cannabis plant that won’t get you high, there are few trials to support claims that it aids a range of problems from anxiety to diabetes. Public health news also report on the longterm effects of childhood punishments; pitting germs against each other; mental health benefits of going to green spaces; a quit-smoking message in an obit; smoking’s impact on vision; Ireland’s rising HIV rates; a giant fighter against Ebola retires; minimizing risks of falling and how to be a better talker, as well.
‘The Wave Is Starting To Turn Back’: Measles Outbreaks Becoming A Turning Point In Vaccination Wars
The outbreaks are sparking backlash against the movement that had been gaining traction in pockets across the country. Now more states are looking at tightening vaccination exemptions as tech companies start to crack down on misinformation.
Package Of Bills Aims To Overhaul Troubled Texas Medicaid System
The legislation that involves increasing oversight and introducing more patient protections among other improvements was spurred by a Dallas Morning News investigation that uncovered significant problems with the state health program. Other Medicaid news comes out of Massachusetts and New Mexico.
Medicare’s Innovation Chief Wants To ‘Blow Up’ Model For Paying Primary Care Physicians
Adam Boehler wants to introduce a new model that focuses on quality of care. That new model will be the first major test of Boehler’s efforts to accelerate the federal government’s slow-moving shift to what’s known as value-based care.
Anthem Accuses Cigna Of Doing Everything In Its Power To Sabotage $49B Merger
Now that the deal has fallen apart, Cigna is seeking more than $16 billion in damages and termination fees, while Anthem claims it’s owed $20 billion in damages because of Cigna’s intransigence in turning over information to push the merger forward.
