Latest KFF Health News Stories
In State Of Union Address, Trump To Announce Strategy To End HIV Epidemic
Under President Donald Trump’s HIV strategy, health officials would spend the first five years focusing on communities across roughly 20 states where the most HIV infections occur. The State of the Union historically has been a platform for presidents to make bold public health proclamations — many of which haven’t come to pass. Trump is also expected to make drug prices a priority in his speech.
Azar Urges Congress To Pass Law That Would End Drug Rebate System More Broadly Than Trump Proposal
HHS Secretary Alex Azar asked Congress to introduce legislation that would echo a newly proposed rule from the administration that targets the drug rebate system in the pharmaceutical industry. The request highlighted the underlying question about the new rule in the first place: Does the administration actually have the authority to make such a change without action by Congress? Meanwhile, Cigna said the efforts will have minimal impact. And KHN offers a look at the winners and losers of such a policy change.
In 2009, McKinsey & Company wrote a report for Purdue Pharma saying that new sales tactics would increase sales of OxyContin by $200 million to $400 million annually and “suggested sales ‘drivers’ based on the ideas that opioids reduce stress and make patients more optimistic and less isolated,” according to the lawsuit. McKinsey also recommended that Purdue redirect its sales force to focus on doctors who were especially prolific prescribers of OxyContin. The firm was also part of the team that looked at how “to counter the emotional messages from mothers with teenagers that overdosed,” the lawsuit claims.
Supporting universal health care is emerging as a “must” for the progressive base, but many Americans are wary about eliminating the private insurance industry to get there. The issue is opening up a rift in the party, with moderates cautioning against taking an extreme stance on the issue. “Most of the freshmen who helped take back the House got elected on: ‘We’re going to protect your health insurance even if you have a pre-existing condition,’ not ‘We’re going to take this whole system and throw it out the window,’” said Kenneth Baer, a Democratic strategist.
‘This Could Go On For Weeks’: Experts Recommend Vaccine As Measles Outbreak Continues To Grow
With 47 cases confirmed in the Pacific Northwest, health experts say the solution to stopping the spread is very simple: the vaccine works and if you’re not sure if you’ve had it, a blood test can determine if you’re immune. Other news on measles comes from Michigan.
First Edition: February 4, 2019
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health care topics and others.
Editorial writers express views about legislation on reproductive rights.
Longer Looks: Whistle-Blowing; Measles; And Missing Health Data
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from California, New York, Ohio, Texas, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Wisconsin, Georgia, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
A study from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found in addition to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, Dallas and Seattle all recorded their highest number of hate crimes in a decade. Public healths news focuses on staying warm; helping the homeless during the frigid cold; underreported stories on cures for cancer; the state of CRISPR research; insensitivity about girls’ pain; safe amounts of toothpaste; sleepiness and sickness; and your sports team’s impact on your health, as well.
Scientists plan to use the money from Wellcome Trust to look for the “magic ingredient” in the brain that makes treatments successful for some patients, according to Dr. Leanne Williams, a Stanford neuroscientist. Mental health news also focuses on anxiety drug shortage; questions about Facebook monitoring potential suicides; the downside of therapy apps and more.
Some employees of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase will be offered products the three company’s joint venture buys from existing health care companies, said Jack Stoddard, the initiative’s COO. Stoddard testified during a hearing over a trade secrets lawsuit, filed by UnitedHealth Group.
Kentucky Pushes Start Date For Enacting Medicaid Work Requirements To No Sooner Than July 1
A spokesman said a pending legal challenge to the “community engagement” rules and the federal government shutdown are contributing factors to the delay. Other Medicaid news comes out of Tennessee, Florida, Wyoming and Georgia.
A major concern from state regulators is whether short-term plans are deceptively marketed to residents, a study finds. The plans offer fewer benefits than a plan sold on an ACA exchange and don’t cover pre-existing conditions, potentially leaving consumers with more out-of-pocket costs. Meanwhile, the Kansas Farm Bureau is petitioning lawmakers to essentially be given authority to develop and market health coverage free of state and federal oversight.
SNAP benefits are usually staggered throughout the month according to last name or Social Security number. Suddenly, millions of families that normally get their benefits toward the middle of the month will have to live off what little they have for about 50 days.
The details on how the company wanted to capitalize on the opioid crisis, how much the family that controls Purdue and company executives were paid, how the company marketed its painkiller and more were revealed when the Massachusetts attorney general’s office on Thursday made public a full copy of its lawsuit against Purdue Pharma. In other news, doctors continue to testify at the trial against Insys, a company that makes the fentanyl spray Subsys. And President Donald Trump released a wide-ranging annual report that outlines the government’s approach to policing illegal drugs.
Recent comments from Democrats in Virginia and legislation in New York have brought the issue to the forefront of the abortion debate. President Donald Trump has gone so far as to label the Democrats as the “party of late-term abortion,” while Vice President Mike Pence said the recent controversies should be a “call to action for all Americans.” Conservatives largely see abortion as a unifying issue for the right. Meanwhile, an abortion case from Louisiana provides an unexpectedly quick test for the Supreme Court justices.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) stoked the fire this week with her statements about cutting out the private insurance industry if that’s what it took to enact “Medicare for All.” Moderates, such as Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), pushed back on the proposal. “We have no center in either party, and we have extremes in both parties,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a longtime Democratic strategist based in New York. “The question is, ‘How does that work itself out? Not well. Not well because it creates greater conflict.” Meanwhile, Republicans are repurposing past talking points to try to paint Democrats as radical and scary.
The Trump administration says the current system encourages drugmakers to set high list prices so they can pay larger rebates to insurers and pharmacy benefit managers. The changes, geared toward curbing high prices, are “potentially devastating to the current pharma ecosystem,” said Eric Coldwell, an analyst with Baird Equity Research. “The U.S. health-care system is a sandcastle and the tide is coming in.”
