Latest KFF Health News Stories
First Edition: December 17, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Judge Strikes Down Federal Health Law
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, ruling on a suit brought by opponents of the Affordable Care Act, says that the law was invalidated when Congress dropped the tax penalty for not having coverage. Advocates for the law say they will appeal the decision.
Editorial writers weigh in on these health care topics and others.
Research Roundup: ACOs; Diabetes; Food Allergies; And Medicaid
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Media outlets report on news from California, Washington, Tennessee, Missouri, Ohio, Connecticut, North Carolina, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Delaware and Massachusetts.
“The effects of holding children (beyond medical necessity) are heartbreaking at an individual level and staggering when multiplied among all the children who have been subjected to the practice,” the lawsuit against the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services claims. Other news on mental health care comes out of Maryland, New York, Iowa and New Hampshire.
U.S. Gun Deaths Rise To Highest Level In Nearly 40 Years, CDC Data Shows
The 39,773 recorded deaths in 2017 marked an increase of more than 10,000 compared to 28,874 deaths in 1999, according to a CNN analysis confirmed by the CDC. Other news on gun violence focuses on an increase in state gun control laws, a report criticizing the sheriff’s policy for responding to the Parkland school massacre and a request from grieving parents for a waiting period before a gun purchase.
The tests are expanded versions of ones that look at a single DNA mutation to assess the risk of getting common diseases. But many questions still remain, including what to even do with the results if a patient is found to be at higher risk. In other public health news: abortion access, gene-editing, lead in toys, and bullying.
A Step Toward Unraveling The Notoriously Tricky Mystery Of The Genetic Roots Of Psychiatric Diseases
In a sweeping set of studies, scientists looked at about 2,000 human brains from both healthy people and individuals with psychiatric diseases, including autism, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, hunting for insights on how those conditions develop.
Technology Is Key To Giving Consumers Better Experience Navigating Health Plans, Insurers Say
More than half of people who were given a health care literacy test failed it and that lack of knowledge can translate into stress and frustration as well as high costs overall. Insurers say simplifying the system people use to navigate their plan through technology will help improve user experience overall.
Allie Rambo tells her story of the daily highs and lows of living with and recovering from addiction.
Generic Drugmakers Get Year-End Gift As FDA Backs Off Product-Liability Rule Proposal
At issue was proposed regulation that would have allowed generic drug companies to update their product labeling when new information about a medicine’s safety is revealed, a move that could open drugmakers up to lawsuits. Commissioner Scott Gottlieb and the FDA’s drug-center director Janet Woodcock said in a statement, “We heard from manufacturers that they believed this change would have imposed on them significant new burdens and liabilities.”
The National Institutes of Health was criticized this past year when it was reported that the alcohol industry had been funding the government’s study on the benefits of moderate drinking. Director Francis Collins says it’s important to reestablish trust in the institution’s policies: “We have to do everything we can to ensure the integrity of the NIH grants process and the quality of our research is above reproach, which means worrying about conflicts.”
The death of the girl comes amid intensifying scrutiny over the quality of care immigrants are getting when they enter into U.S. custody.
House Hearing On Fetal Tissue Research Gets Heated Amid An Ever-Intensifying Debate Over The Issue
Since September, the Trump administration has been performing an audit on federally funded research that uses fetal tissue, which has reignited a debate on the issue that had been simmering quietly on the back burner for months.
Some experts, however, say that it’s still too soon to say that fewer sign-ups this year mean fewer people will have insurance coverage in 2019. The unemployment rate fell from 4.1 percent to 3.7 percent over the course of 2018, and it’s also hard to know how many people aren’t showing up on enrollment tallies because they are just sticking with the plan they have.
First Edition: December 14, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Longer Looks: Free Pens And The Opioid Crisis; School Lunch Regulations; And Prison For A Stillbirth
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Editorial pages focus on these public health problems and others.
Opinion writers weigh in on the Supreme Court’s recent decision to not hear a case against Planned Parenthood.
