Latest KFF Health News Stories
CMS will allow insurers to implement the restrictions when there’s a generic drug available to the patient. CMS argues that the rule would encourage patients to use generic drugs and lower drug spending.
There are already laws protecting babies who are born alive, whether it is as a result of a botched abortion or not, said North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper. Meanwhile, a look at the rare occurrence where infants actually are born following an abortion attempt.
“People these days are constantly rearranging their facial appearance in ways that prevent engaging in facial mimicry, having no idea how much we use our faces to coordinate and manage social interactions,” said Paula Niedenthal, a professor of psychology. In other public health news: medicine’s racist past, a polio-like illness, and groundbreaking heart surgery.
Researchers have created a way to test millions of gene variants to predict who is more susceptible to obesity. Although it’s in its early stages, some experts see it as a way to encourage intervention in children who are prone to becoming severely overweight.
Lessons From Columbine and Parkland: ‘Trauma Doesn’t Stop When Bullets Stop’
Saturday is the 20th anniversary of what was, at the time, the deadliest shooting at a high school in United States history. Survivors of the Columbine shooting talk with those who lived through Parkland just a year ago and share what life is like in the wake of such a tragedy. “You’re gonna go through really dark times,” Columbine survivor Amy Over tells Parkland student Brandon Abzug. “Times where you don’t think you can take another step forward. But you learn coping skills. You figure out, ‘I need to go get help.’ For me, I had to go punch something.”
Public health legal experts said it’s been at least a century since health authorities issued fines in connection with violations such as not vaccinating a child. But as the measles outbreak continues to run rampant, New York City is making it clear that it’s taking a strict stand on the emergency vaccination order that was issued. Meanwhile, Washington state legislation tightening exemptions moves forward.
Health insurers and hospitals have led a health care sector-wide plunge in stocks. About $150 billion of market value was erased from companies in the S&P 500 Health Care Index in the four days through Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’s been hearing from parents that there’s been an unprecedented spike in vaping among their teenage children. Tobacco companies are actually publicly on board with the federal legislation — and similar measures gaining traction at the state-level — in part to distance themselves from accusations that they’ve been marketing to youth.
Communities Hit Hardest By Opioid Epidemic To Get $350M From NIH To Study Best Way To Combat Crisis
The communities in the four-state study are expected to look at how behavioral health, unemployment and the criminal justice system contributes to the crisis, and measure the effectiveness of various prevention and treatment methods, such as distributing anti-overdose drugs to schools, police and other first responders.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial writers weigh in on these health topics and others.
Research Roundup: Dual Enrollment; Food Security; And Health Care Affordability
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Media outlets report on news from Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Alaska, California, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Maryland, Georgia, Kansas, Washington and Minnesota.
While revenue and earnings have been lackluster for Watson for Drug Discovery, other companies are making profits in developing software that improves the clinical trials process for drugs. Also in the news: Hospitals are making improvements by using data from certain electronic health record systems.
Supreme Court Asked To Take Up Louisiana Abortion Law Requiring Doctors To Have Admitting Privileges
The justices voted in February to put the law on hold. It is similar to a Texas law the court struck down in 2016. News on abortion looks at a Florida bill requiring parental consent, an investigation into family planning funding for anti-abortion groups, and plans of a civil rights protector to defend abortion opponents, as well
Faced With High Deductibles, Patients Are Delaying Health Care So As Not To Rack Up High Bills
Even with insurance, health care bills can be daunting and prompt people to delay care for problems that could have been caught earlier. Women with low incomes who had high-deductible insurance plans waited an average of 1.6 months longer for diagnostic breast imaging, 2.7 months for first biopsy, 6.6 months for first early-stage breast cancer diagnosis and 8.7 months for first chemotherapy, compared with low-income women with low-deductible plans.
People are going to these communities in vans and offering to swab residents’ cheeks purportedly for DNA checks for cancer and other diseases. It’s not clear who is behind the reported activity. In other public health news: asbestos, candida auris, prostate drugs, three-parent pregnancies, syphilis, and more.
Many of New York’s measles cases have been in an ultra-Othrodox Jewish community and public health officials fear the upcoming holiday is a recipe for disaster. Other news on the outbreaks focuses on mandatory vaccinations, flight attendants, more cases, and vaccination rates.
The process aimed at helping patients born with a severe immune-system deficiency involves removing some blood cells, using a modified HIV virus to insert a missing gene, and returning the cells through an IV. When doctors first tried it 20 years ago, the treatment had unintended effects on other genes, and some patients later developed leukemia.
Watching Media Coverage Of Mass Shootings Becomes Vicious Cycle In Terms Of Mental Health Trauma
A new report finds that people watching the coverage can develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress — but they just can’t look away from the news. And the stress from being glued to coverage ends up spreading through the society like a virus. In other news, as the Columbine anniversary approaches, survivors of that school shooting reach out to help other victims. And the woman who sparked a massive manhunt over possible threats to Colorado schools was found dead.
