Latest KFF Health News Stories
Extreme Weather Stresses Mental Health, Finds New Report That Paints Dire Picture On Climate Change
Researchers found that in warmer summers the mental health problems increased by about the same amount of percentage points as degrees. Short-term weather patterns, like rainy days, are also linked to an increase of self-reported symptoms. In other public health news: gene-editing, impotence, bullying, HPV, breast cancer and more.
Getting The Church Involved Helps Significantly Reduce Hypertension In Black Communities
The sense of trust that comes with community churches can help patients with heart risks to more fully commit to a wellness plan. Meanwhile, a study looks at the Southern diet’s link to heart disease.
Some residents are being treated with “ultrahigh intensity” rehab in their last week of life, which has experts looking at who is benefiting from that decision. Meanwhile, CMS aims to increase its enforcement actions of nursing home staff in cases of elder abuse. Nursing home and elder care news comes out of Kansas and Florida, as well.
People buying drugs like Xanax online are taking the pills, not realizing that they are fake and some are tainted with a potent opioid. The mistake can be fatal. Meanwhile, a drug rehab center in North Carolina is facing a lawsuit over allegations that it sent its patients out to work while pocketing the wages.
The decisions can be made by state judges without notifying the biological parents, and the cases are hard to track at a federal level. Meanwhile, the number of young children forced to have a day in court is ever-increasing.
Planned Parenthood’s political arm only began scoring Supreme Court nominees in 2005, so Justices David Souter, Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy pre-date that shift. Moreover, Planned Parenthood even praised O’Connor’s nomination. The office of Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) acknowledged the error she made when defending her vote for Brett Kavanaugh.
President Donald Trump’s recent speeches criticizing “Medicare For All” misrepresent the actual pros and cons of the plan. Media outlets fact check his and 2018 candidates’ claims about health care.
An analysis of campaign ads for the upcoming midterms reflects polls that find that the percentage of Americans who hold favorable views of the law has surpassed the share opposing it — a gap that has grown since Republicans’ failed repeat efforts. But many candidates focus on buzzwords like “preexisting conditions” rather than naming the contentious law itself. Media outlets take a look at advertisements and campaigns in races across the country.
First Edition: October 9, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Eating Disorders Do Not Discriminate By Gender — Boys Can Get Them, Too
Editorial pages focus on public health.
Perspectives: Physicians Are Not Great At Showing Up To Vote. It’s Time To Change That.
Columnists offer takes about the upcoming election and other health care issues.
Media outlets report on news from California, North Carolina, Colorado, Michigan, Oregon, Kentucky, Florida, Maryland, Arizona, New Hampshire, Texas and Minnesota.
Researchers know that there is a link between women who experience sexual assault and harassment and later health problems. But much of the previous research relied on self-reported symptoms, meaning that the women might be missing health problems they didn’t known about.
Toxic stress affects the developing brain, the immune system, the cardiovascular system and the metabolic regulatory system, and can dramatically increases the risk of hypertension, heart disease and diabetes, among other costly health conditions.
While doing your job, your brain faces daily memory, processing and multi-tasking challenges that keep its cognitive functions sharp. Meanwhile, being diagnosed with dementia does not mean patients can’t have an active life.
Countries will have to take unprecedented actions immediately to avoid a dangerous warming of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit by 2040. Media outlets take a look at what effects that change would have on human civilization.
Experts say buprenorphine is misunderstood, and its potential for abuse just shows the gaps that exist in treatment options in the U.S. News on the national drug crisis comes out of California and Maryland, as well.
What You Need To Know About The Upcoming Medicare Open Enrollment Season
Open enrollment for Medicare and prescription drug plans will begin Oct. 15 for coverage in 2019 and close Dec. 7. One change this year is that seniors can try a Medicare Advantage plan for up to three months and if they don’t like it, they can switch to another Advantage plan or enroll in traditional Medicare.
As Major Hospital Mergers Become The Norm, Experts Wonder If Antitrust Standards Need To Be Adjusted
Just because health systems are not direct competitors doesn’t meant they won’t create a power shift in the market that should be regulated, experts say.
In Progressive States, Abortion Foes Make The Fight About Money Instead Of Morality
Although defeating abortion rights efforts in liberal-leaning states is still an uphill battle for anti-abortion activists, they see an opportunity in appealing to an anti-tax faction. Oregon’s referendum on banning public funds for the procedure could offer a template for the strategy. News on abortion comes out of Louisiana, as well.
