Latest KFF Health News Stories
Protesters Set Up Giant Heroin Spoon Stamped With FDA’s Logo In Parting Gift To Gottlieb
Critics have decried now-former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s approval of a mega-potent painkiller in November. Although, Gottlieb over his tenure had taken steps to curb the opioid crisis, protesters say that he hasn’t done enough. In other news on the opioid crisis, California are trying to implement a program to treat opioid use disorder and a Florida county is the latest to sue Purdue Pharma for its role in the epidemic.
In Highly Unusual Move, Federal Judge Wants To Hear From Witnesses Opposed To The CVS-Aetna Deal
The Justice Department has already approved the acquisition but U.S. District Judge Richard Leon has been voicing his concerns that the department did not adequately address potential competitive harms raised by the merger. A federal law called the Tunney Act requires proposed merger settlements to be approved by a federal court. Usually the process is all but a rubber stamp, but Leon has been making waves with his critical approach to the deal.
Executives from pharmacy benefit managers will have a chance to defend themselves from all the finger-pointing this week at a congressional hearing on high drug prices. The grilling follows one last month where pharma executives emerged largely unscathed. It’s unclear if the PBMs will escape with the same outcome.
The investigation comes following requests from Democrats for the inspector general to review CMS Administrator Seema Verma’s “highly questionable use of taxpayer dollars.” The lawmakers questioned why Verma would be using outside contractors to write her speeches and handle some media calls when her agency already has an extensive communications staff. In other Medicare news: accountable care organizations, telehealth, dialysis centers and pricing plans.
It Could Take Two Years For Government To Identify All Migrant Children Separated From Families
A federal judge had asked for a plan to identify these children and their families after a report from government inspectors in January revealed that the Trump administration most likely separated thousands more children from their parents than previously reported. Advocates take issue with the timetable, saying that if the children were a priority it would take months not years for the reunification process.
Residents of the island of Vieques have to travel to the big island to get care because Hurricane Maria made their hospital unusable. The facility is just one of many services in the area that is still unable to rebuild because disaster funding has stalled in Congress. Meanwhile, House Democrats, trying to break the stalemate, want to move forward with their own package.
GOP Senators Tapped By Trump To Work On Health Law Replacement Have Little Appetite For The Task
Republican Sens. Rick Scott, Mitt Romney, John Barrasso and Bill Cassidy are President Donald Trump’s new go-to team on health care, but the lawmakers themselves are less than eager to jump into the politically fraught issue. Meanwhile, Mick Mulvaney, the president’s acting chief of staff, says there will be a plan coming “fairly shortly” from the administration.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers focus on these health topics and others.
Editorial pages focus on the health care debate.
Longer Looks: Fighting Medical Bills; Going Off Psychiatric Drugs; And Ambulance Bills
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from Oregon, Georgia, Texas, New Hampshire, Florida, California, Missouri, Hawaii, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Massachusetts.
Accusations that former Vice President and potential 2020 candidate Joe Biden is too handsy have brought attention to the idea of personal space. Scientists and researchers have been studying the universal phenomenon for years, but questions about it, and how it works in our brains, still remain. In other public health news: cancer, violence, sexual partners and your microbiome, IVF, miscarriages, and more.
Court Upholds Kentucky Law Requiring Doctors To Show Fetal Ultrasounds Before Abortions
Federal appeals court Judge John Bush said the Kentucky law “provides truthful, non-misleading, and relevant information aimed at informing a patient about her decision to abort unborn life” and does not violate the First Amendment rights of physicians. News on abortion comes from Kansas, Ohio and Massachusetts, as well.
The pharmacy chains are taking steps to become go-to places for people with chronic illnesses, but previous attempts to remake the drugstore concept with in-store medical services have had mixed results. CVS, with the threat of Amazon looming, is also looking to expand its same-day prescription deliveries.
Amazon revealed new software that allows hospitals and health insurers to use voice tools to transfer patient information that is protected by the U.S. health privacy law known as HIPAA. For now, patients on the West Coast can also benefit by gaining access to records and making appointments.
States Have Been Leading The Charge Against Surprise Medical Bills–Can Congress Catch Up?
At least 25 states now have laws protecting patients from surprise out-of-network bills. Now, there’s starting to be more movement in Congress over the issue, which both Republicans and Democrats have spoken out against. In other news: outpatient prices outpace in-office costs for same treatments, and why cash rewards are powerful enough to change consumers’ behavior.
John Kapoor, the founder of Insys Therapeutics Inc., has been the subject of several high-profile cases centering on drugmakers’ roles in the national opioid crisis. Prosecutors accuse Kapoor of bribing doctors to prescribe patients the powerful fentanyl product, putting money ahead of safety. Meanwhile, Oklahoma lawyers drop some of the charges against opioid-makers in an effort to narrow the focus of their lawsuits.
MedPAC Suggests Streamlining Emergency Department Coding So That There Would Be National Guidelines
The suggestion from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission comes as scrutiny of emergency department visits and spending has increased as the healthcare industry shifts towards more value-based care. MedPAC also weighed in on Medicare Advantage payments.
A block grant would transform Medicaid from an open-ended entitlement program into one with capped benefits. The concept, however, is a controversial one that most certainly would create legal battles for the state. Medicaid news comes out of Tennessee, as well.
