Latest KFF Health News Stories
Editorial pages focus on these health topics and others.
Opinion writers weigh in on women’s heath care issues.
Media outlets report on news from Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota and California.
Part-time work is common for outpatient physicians, but providers on the hunt for jobs are sometimes shocked to discover that their potential employer could limit that work based on ethical and moral grounds.
Privatizing Medicaid Program Only Saved Iowa About Half Of What Had Been Projected
When Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad’s administration changed the system for overseeing health care for more than 600,000 poor and disabled Iowans, he projected it would produce $232 million in savings. A report by the outgoing Republican state auditor found that only $126 million has been saved. Meanwhile, Democrats, who are troubled by what they see as deteriorating care under the new system, question if the state really saved anything. Medicaid news comes out of Virginia, Tennessee and Kansas, as well.
One of the last hurdles on the $69 billion deal was met Monday when New York regulators signed after CVS agreed to several requirements, including that acquisition costs will not be passed onto consumers or to affiliated insurers covering New Yorkers.
FDA To Revamp Long-Criticized System For Approving Medical Devices
“We believe that it’s time to fundamentally modernize an approach first adopted in 1976,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement, noting that the changes under consideration would push companies to compare their devices to more up-to-date technology. And The Associated Press reports on the challenges of tracking devices.
Trump Says Obama Had An Immigration Policy To Separate Families, But That’s Not True
It was President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy that resulted in families being separated, reports The Associated Press fact checker. Zero tolerance remains in effect, but Trump signed an executive order June 20 that stopped separations.
Vocal Anti-Vaccination Doctor Has Now Become A Frequent Expert Witness For Parents Accused Of Abuse
Over the past decade, David Ayoub estimates that he has testified in about 80 child abuse cases in the United States, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Ayoub, though, doesn’t specialize in treating children, and most of his information on the conditions he says can be misinterpreted as child abuse come from research and textbooks. In other public health news: pollution, autism, the flu, fear, cancer, diabetes, and more.
People can eat romaine again, but if there isn’t information on the label about where it came from, they should play it safe, the FDA says.
He Jiankui of Shenzhen says he altered the embryos to change a gene so that it might provide the resulting babies with a trait few people naturally have — protection against future infection from the AIDS virus. The research is unsubstantiated, but it created an immediate and fierce outcry among scientists who have been grappling with the ethics of gene editing long before the technology even existed.
Government Watchdog To Investigate Allegations Of Shadowy Mar-A-Lago Trio’s Improper Influence On VA
Th three men are said to be confidantes of President Donald Trump. “Membership in President Trump’s private club, alone, is not sufficient to have an informed opinion on the best way to deliver care and benefits to our nation’s veterans,” said Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), the lawmakers who requested the GAO investigation.
Only an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people a year in the United States develop the type of cancers that the drug is approved to treat.
Trump Administration Seeks To Expand Medicare’s Negotiating Power In Effort To Curb High Drug Prices
Currently, Medicare plans are required to cover all or “substantially all” drugs in six protected classes. As part of the Trump administration’s proposal, plans would be allowed to exclude protected drugs with price increases that are greater than inflation, as well as certain new drug formulations that are not a “significant innovation” over the original product.
First Edition: November 27, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on the future of the health insurance.
Media outlets report on news from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida, Washington, Ohio, California, Maryland, Kansas and Louisiana.
Rains Help California’s Firefighters Contain Deadliest, Most Destructive Wildfire After 17 Days
But the victory of extinguishing the Camp Fire flames was made bittersweet by the realization that the death count will rise, as well as statistics that show an increase over the past 20 years of deadly and destructive fires. In other news, survivors from earlier blazes relive the horrors and discuss the difficulty of moving on afterwards.
Because there’s no medical test autism spectrum disorder is a particularly challenging condition to track. The numbers from each of the three assessments are not meant to be taken individually but rather to be used to paint a fuller picture of the condition in the country. In other public health news: right-wing violence, the flu, bacteria, makeup, virtual reality, and more.
Although more and more police departments are offering mental health training from their officers, experts say professionals are the best ones to handle crises. A model in Oregon could act as a blueprint for other communities across the country.
