Latest KFF Health News Stories
Tech giants like Amazon, Apple and Google are all trying to shoulder into the health field, and the companies that are already struggling in a tough landscape do not welcome new competition. The trade secrets lawsuit fight between the new health initiative led by Atul Gawande and UnitedHealth Group can be read as a sign of that growing tension.
With the opioid epidemic in full swing, many have turned to the courts to demand drug companies be held responsible for their alleged role in the crisis. In the high-profile lawsuits unfolding: Unredacted documents provide more details about the powerful Sackler family behind the painkiller OxyContin; testimony continues in the trial of Insys founder and four other executives who face federal charges of bribing doctors to prescribe their fentanyl spray; and the judge presiding over a massive lawsuit in Ohio wanted the cases settled out of court, but that no longer looks like a possibility.
‘If We Die, We Die’: Vulnerable Homeless Residents Hunker Down To Try To Survive Arctic Blast
Government officials and advocates race to help anyone who doesn’t have somewhere to go as the country is hit with deadly temperatures. The polar vortex has been linked to at least eight deaths so far.
The rules, which will be open to public comment, would permit veterans to get private care if they had to wait more than 20 days or drive more than 30 minutes for a VA appointment. Previously, the travel restrictions were set at 40 miles. That change will make a big difference to veterans who live in rural areas as well as high-traffic ones.
‘Medicare For All’ Was Once A Fringe Policy Proposal, Now It’s A Litmus Test For 2020 Dems
Progressive Democrats have seized on “Medicare For All” as a winning health strategy as they kick off their campaigns for 2020. But what does that mean in a party where leadership is advocating for incremental fixes to the health law instead of sweeping policy changes geared toward universal coverage?
First Edition: January 31, 2019
Note to readers: If you are in the D.C. area, please join us Thursday, Jan. 31, for a live taping of KHN’s weekly podcast, “What The Health,” hosted by Julie Rovner and her expert panel of health journalists. Registration begins at 12:30 pm. For more information and to RSVP, click here.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health care topics and more.
Perspectives: Trump Makes Strides In Combating High Drug Prices, But The System Is Still Broken
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
Media outlets report on news from California, New York, Maryland, Minnesota, Michigan, Wyoming, Texas, New Hampshire, Missouri, Massachusetts, Florida and Washington, D.C.
Parents in 18 states can opt out of vaccinations for their children based on to their personal beliefs, making those areas vulnerable to disease outbreaks. The American Academy of Pediatrics supports only medical exemptions. News on measles comes out of Washington, Oregon, Vancouver, and Georgia, as well.
Witnessing Abuse Carries Same Risk To Children’s Mental Health As If They’d Been Abused Directly
New research is giving scientists more insight into the far-reaching and long-lasting harms of domestic violence to the children who grow up around it. And brain imaging in infants shows that exposure to domestic violence – even as they are sleeping, or in utero – can reduce parts of the brain, change its overall structure and affect the way its circuits work together. In other public health news: autism, aggression, bone density, and exercise.
Emails Between Coca-Cola, CDC Ignite Concerns About Industry’s Influence In Public Health Sphere
Advocates say there needs to be greater transparency over how industry interacts with public health agencies, especially in the midst of the obesity crisis.
Lena Wen spoke recently about the impact the changes would have on women, especially disadvantaged women: “I want people to think about what if this were any other aspect of medical care. Imagine if the Trump administration prevented people with diabetes from talking to their doctors about insulin.”
CMS Wants To Expand Value-Based Payment Models Beyond Medicare
CMS Administrator Seema Verma said the agency will develop templates that states can use to implement similar pay models in their own programs. “Not every provider is comfortable taking full risk, but we can still figure out ways to create incentives for providers to deliver outcomes of low cost and high quality,” she said.
NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio touts his plan to provide coverage for everyone in the city as a potential model for the rest of the country. But a closer look at the financial situation of the city’s public hospital system casts doubts about its sustainability. Meanwhile, the rates of hospital-acquired conditions is on the decline.
The details came out at the federal trial of Insys founder John Kapoor and four other former executives. On the first day of testimony, prosecutors sought to grab jurors’ attention with racy details about the lengths to which Insys officials would allegedly go to market its opioid-spray Subsys for off-label use among doctors. Meanwhile, federal money is helping advocates win victories against the opioid epidemic in the states, but they say more is needed.
Public Health Officials Race To Try To Protect Vulnerable People As Polar Vortex Pummels Midwest
People are being warned not to go outside, even just for a few minutes. And if you have to, make sure none of your skin is exposed. But what about people who don’t have that option? “I’m cold and I’m afraid,” said one homeless man in Chicago who was trying to raise money for a night in a hotel room.
Partisan Fireworks On Display As Ways And Means Committee Holds Hearing On Preexisting Conditions
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said they want to guarantee protections for people with preexisting conditions. Democrats called attention to the ways their Republican colleagues have chipped away at the health law — and thus those popular provisions — while GOP lawmakers countered that there are other ways to protect people. Many politicians see the issue as an important factor in the 2020 elections. In other news from Capitol Hill: surprise medical billing and Johnson&Johnson baby powder.
“To replace the entire private system where companies provide health care for their employees would bankrupt us for a very long time,” Michael Bloomberg said during a trip to New Hampshire. Support for “Medicare for All” has become somewhat of a litmus test for progressive Democrats interested in tossing their hats in the 2020 presidential ring, but it can mean different things for different candidates.
