Latest KFF Health News Stories
Perspectives: #WhyIDidn’tReport: Rape Culture ‘Very Much At Play’ In America Today
Opinion writers weigh in on the complicated issue of reporting sexual assault.
Editorial pages focus on these health topics and others.
Opinion writers express views on health care.
Longer Looks: What Causes Sexual Assault; The Plan To End Measles; And A Food Science Crisis
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from Massachusetts, D.C., Texas, North Carolina, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, California, Connecticut and Virginia.
Because it primarily afflicts poor people in poor countries, research around the disease, called CKDu, has been spotty. In other public health news: tuberculosis, cancer, gender, toxins, food safety and more.
Many gun control advocates point to Australia’s laws that were enacted after a mass shooting in the 1990s as a model for America to follow. But mass shootings account for only a small fraction of firearm-related deaths in the U.S., with most coming from suicide or simple homicide. Neither of those kinds of deaths fell in Australia. News on gun safety comes out of California, also.
Suicide Rates For Young Veterans Jump Despite Efforts To Address Problem
“This isn’t just alarming. It’s a national emergency that requires immediate action,” said Joe Chenelly, the executive director of the national veterans group Amvets.
The law, which is likely to be finalized soon, builds on current requirements that pharmaceutical companies disclose gifts and payments to physicians. The policy would be expanded to account for gifts given to nurse practitioners and physician assistants, as well as clinical nurse specialists, nurse-anesthetists, and nurse-midwives.
Last year the Supreme Court ruled against a Texas law requiring doctors to have “admitting privileges” at a hospital, saying it created a substantial burden on women seeking an abortion. But a judge says differences in Texas and Louisiana hospital rules negates that worry in a different case. “Almost all Texas hospitals required that for a doctor to maintain privileges there, he or she had to admit a minimum number of patients annually,” Judge Jerry E. Smith wrote in the opinion joined by Judge Edith Brown Clement. “Few Louisiana hospitals made that demand.”
Medicaid Expansion Is Expensive, And Soon States Are Going To Have To Pick Up More Of The Tab
Federal funding will be phased down soon, and states are exploring a variety of taxes and work requirements to support their expansion. Medicaid news comes out of Tennessee and Iowa, as well.
The report released by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General found that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services “is not properly vetting the physicians it designates to conduct required medical examinations of these foreign nationals, and it has designated physicians with a history of patient abuse or a criminal record.”
U.S. Death Toll From Last Winter’s Vicious Flu Season Climbed To 80,000, CDC Reports
That tally is nearly twice as many deaths as what health officials previously considered a “bad” year. Officials are pushing to get people vaccinated before this year’s season hits.
If Democrats win the majority, they’ll be able to use their new positions as committee chairs to conduct investigations, issue subpoenas and drag Trump administration officials before Congress to ask tough questions about their handling of the health law. Meanwhile, the court case against the health law places a spotlight on attorney general races that usually fly under the radar.
As a model of the kind of investment advocates would like to see, they point to the Ryan White Care Act, a bipartisan bill that was passed in 1990. It allowed for billions of dollars in treatment and other support for people with HIV and AIDS, including antiretroviral drugs for anyone without insurance. More news on the crisis comes from California, Colorado and Ohio.
Trump Expected To Sign Spending Bill Passed By Congress To Avert Government Shutdown
The National Institutes of Health is a big winner in the bill, which passed the House 361-61. The agency will see a 5 percent boost in its budget.
The opening statements of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford were released ahead of today’s Judiciary Committee hearing about an alleged sexual assault. On Wednesday, a third woman came forward with a new set of allegations. Meanwhile, all eyes are on moderate Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) as possible swing votes in the nomination fight for a court seat that will greatly impact future health policy debates.
First Edition: September 27, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial writers weigh in on this health topics and others.
Opinion writers express views about the health care insurance.
