Latest KFF Health News Stories
Five New York doctors are charged in connection with the investigation. “Instead of caring for their patients, these doctors were drug dealers in white coats,” said Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a news conference on Thursday.
The practice of lawmakers taking money from the health industries they regulate is not unusual, but the increased scrutiny of the opioid epidemic is drawing attention to these particular donations. News from the upcoming elections comes out of Iowa, California and Massachusetts, as well.
Pfizer To Settle Charges That It Misled Consumers With Drug Coupon Promises
Pfizer will pay $500,000 in penalties, fees, and costs to New York, as well as more than $200,000 in restitution to consumers. The settlement comes amid ongoing controversy over the role that copay coupons play in rising health care costs
Trump Administration Opened Door To Step Therapy And Insurance Giant Plans To Rush In
Step therapy allows insurers to require patients to try cheaper drugs first and see if they fail before moving on to more expensive ones. UnitedHealth has decided to require the method, which is supported by the Trump administration which rolled out new step therapy rules this year. Other pharmaceutical news includes Walgreens’ sales and biotech unicorns.
Hurricane Michael Batters Florida And Georgia Hospitals As Staff Rushes To Ensure Patients’ Safety
When a storm like Michael rapidly intensifies, leaving little advance warning, it can be difficult to organize enough specialized medical transportation and patient beds to evacuate people in time, disaster experts said.
While Trump officials take credit for the dip in premiums, others warn that the numbers are just a small snapshot of the marketplaces and say that rates would have dropped more if not for some of the actions taken by the administration.
First Edition: October 12, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages offer looks at the health law, industry deals, Trump administration moves and more.
Perspectives On Trump’s ‘Medicare For All’ Op-Ed: Sets ‘New Standard’ For Lies
Columnists react to the opinion piece President Donald Trump wrote in USA Today attacking the Democrats’ “Medicare For All” plan.
Longer Looks: Medicaid And The Georgia Election; Rising Health Cost Worries; Timing Your Flu Shot
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from Minnesota, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Kansas, California, Colorado, Arizona, Louisiana, Wisconsin and Florida.
When Doctors Are Stumped By Rare Cases, They Can Call In These ‘Disease Detectives’
The Undiagnosed Diseases Network, set up by the National Institutes of Health, brings in specialists trained to diagnose mystery symptoms and “the rarest of rare diseases.” In other public health news: ketamine clinics, health apps, ICU dementia, mental illness, food scarcity, immunology and more.
San Francisco’s Superior Court of California Judge Suzanne Bolanos issued a tentative motion granting Bayer a new trial. Her ruling calls into question the bulk of the $289 million judgment, the first in thousands of cases alleging that glyphosate, the main ingredient in Bayer’s Roundup herbicide, causes cancer.
More Floridians Could Be Exposed To Toxic Red Tide As Hurricane Michael Pushes It Ashore
“The toxin would get into the air and people would be breathing it,” said Larry Brand, a professor in the Department of Marine Biology and Ecology at the University of Miami. Other news on the hurricane focuses on the public health of those affected and the financial impact of the storm on hospitals.
Former Gov. Ed Rendell, who is on the board of Safehouse, wants to move forward with a facility that would allow drug users to inject under the supervision of medical professionals. There has been a push for the safe injection sites in cities and states, but the movement has run up against federal officials who are adamantly opposed to the idea.
The request from Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) comes in response to a Wall Street Journal article that detailed hidden financial arrangements between hospital systems and insurers that included limitations on coverage offered by the plans to their enrollees, which in turn would save the hospitals money.
Experts say that hundreds of thousands of children and other members of low-income legal immigrant families could drop out of public programs providing health care, nutrition and housing assistance due to the rule, which directs immigration officials to take into account things such as Medicaid assistance when determining green card eligibility. Meanwhile, House Democrats have introduced a bill to block the Trump administration’s policy.
In Sign Of Health Law’s Increasing Stability, Centene To Offer Plans In Four New States Next Year
Centene will sell the health law plans in 20 states next year, adding Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. It will also expand its markets in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Texas.
The legislation won’t directly impact the prices of drugs, but it may lower what some consumers pay at the pharmacy. President Donald Trump’s signing was a contrast to the rancor over other health issues roiling through D.C.
Reports estimate that the ballot measure would cost the state’s health system more than $900 million a year, and that if it becomes law hospitals would need to hire as many as 3,100 additional full-time nurses to comply with the new mandate. Meanwhile, a poll finds that support for the measure is waning. Midterm election news comes out of Michigan, Minnesota and Maine, as well.
