Latest KFF Health News Stories
When people could no longer grind Oxycontin and snort it or inject, some switched drugs, a new study from Rand says, and that is leading to the spread of disease and costly treatments taxing Medicaid. Other news on the opioid epidemic looks at safe injection sites and palliative use of marijuana, also.
“What is most worrying to me is that there has been fairly profound consolidation among hospitals and when they gain market power they have the ability to raise prices,” said Zack Cooper, the study’s co-author. “They have the ability to gain more favorable contractual terms, which allows them to raise prices and resist the new, more sensible payment reforms.” In other news from the health industry: artificial hip lawsuits, out-of-pocket costs, insulin pumps and surprise medical bills.
Federal regulators said the new agreement with LiveOnNY provides “more frequent oversight” and requires the organ procurement organization, or OPO, to increase its organ recovery rates substantially. In other news from the federal government: digitizing veterans’ records and halting the crackdown on e-cigarettes.
Patients suffering from a rare disorder previously were able to obtain the treatment for free from a small pharmaceutical company that offered it through an FDA program called “compassionate use.” In November, the FDA allowed Catalyst to distribute the drug, with exclusive rights to market it. The following month the company said it would sell Firdapse for $375,000 a year. In other news, lawmakers are inviting CEOs from seven major drug companies to testify on prices.
The study found a 21.6 percent increase in the insertion rates of long-acting reversible contraceptive methods among women ages 18-45 in the 30 days after President Donald Trump was elected. “My slots would be booked with women wanting to get IUDs,” Dr. Aparna Sridhar told The New York Times. “They would specifically state that they are getting an IUD because of the political changes they are witnessing.”
For years, lawmakers in Utah and Idaho blocked Medicaid expansion — until it went on the ballot last November. Initiatives were approved in both states, but now state legislators are trying to add restrictions that would limit the gains made by Medicaid advocates. Utah lawmakers, worried that a sales tax increase might not fully cover costs, are rushing through a bill that would limit the expansion to people with incomes less than or equal to the poverty level, while in Idaho the legislature is mulling work requirements for the program.
President Donald Trump is expected to speak about the issue in his State of the Union address tonight. He may also talk about other health policy issues such as high drug prices and his administration’s efforts to combat the opioid crisis.
How An Infamous Party Drug Could Hold The Key To Quieting Suicidal Ideation
Scientists have been looking at ketamine’s effects on suicidal thoughts for a while now, but no one was biting despite the positive trial results. With the rise of the suicide epidemic, however, the winds might be changing. The first ketamine-based drug, from Johnson & Johnson, could be approved for treatment-resistant depression by March and suicidal thinking within two years. In other public health news: supplements and dementia, gambling, aging and the brain, intimacy, gene-editing and more.
First Edition: February 5, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these health topics and others.
Opinion writers weigh in on women’s reproductive rights’ issues.
Media outlets report on news from Texas, New Mexico, Ohio, Illinois, Florida, Kansas, California and Missouri.
Advances In Cystic Fibrosis Treatment Give Many Hope, But Others Have ‘Panic’ Of Being Left Behind
Because the progressive disease is a complicated one that involves 1,500 rearrangements in the genetic code, about 10 percent of CF patients lack a treatment to slow down the disease and will die in their 40s. Other public health news focuses on cancer rates and obesity; aging surgeons; intimacy after cancer; walking buddies; cancer overtreatment for men; DNA tests; male sexuality; listening to your body; signs of depression; inmates’ mental illness; Ebola; diabetes; women’s heart attacks and more.
Hate Crimes Based On Sexual Orientation Skyrocket In D.C. Amid National Trend Of Increasing Rates
Hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity accounted for nearly half of the city’s total hate crimes in 2018. While some experts say the rise in hate crime rates could be because the public is more aware of reporting it now, others point to a national trend. Meanwhile, nearly 2 percent of high school students are now identifying as transgender.
The added work requirements alone would likely end up in courts, but Utah’s waiver request could include an establishment of per-capita federal payment caps. Experts say only Congress has the power to revise the federal matching formula for Medicaid. News on Medicaid comes out of Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and California, as well.
Merger talks, which were officially announced in October 2016, were expected to span a year. After a series of setbacks over that time, the California Justice Department conditionally approved the merger Nov. 21, marking the final major regulatory nod. Other hospital news focuses on: strategies to lure cash-paying patients, pricing transparency, federal funding and more.
The health care initiative created by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase worries traditional health care companies — the recent lawsuit between the venture and UnitedHealth is a stark example of aggressive tactics such companies will take to protect their turf from the technology powerhouses edging into the health care landscape. In other health industry news: a pelvic mesh settlement, the e-cigarette crackdown and health care real estate.
Will The Supreme Court Cut Back Abortion Rights?: Decision On Louisiana Law Might Tell
The makeup of the court is more conservative than when the justices overturned a similar Texas law three years ago. The decision is likely to be an indication of how the new court will police state laws. News on abortion comes out of Virginia, as well.
“In effect, the state proclaims that the sky is falling. But, falling acorns, even several of them, do not amount to a falling sky,” said Baltimore-based U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander. Maryland had filed the case last year, asking a court to require President Donald Trump to continue to enforce the health law.
HHS Warns That Removing Separated Migrant Children From ‘Sponsor’ Homes Would Be Too Traumatizing
Jonathan White, who leads the Health and Human Services Department’s efforts to reunite migrant children with their parents, said the government should be focusing its efforts on finding the families for the children currently in custody. But advocates questioned the motivation behind the argument. “The Trump administration’s response is a shocking concession that it can’t easily find thousands of children it ripped from parents, and doesn’t even think it’s worth the time to locate each of them,” said Lee Gelernt, the lead ACLU attorney.
