Latest KFF Health News Stories
Medicaid Beneficiaries Won’t Report Hours If They Don’t Know The Requirements Exist
Thousands of people were dropped from Arkansas’ Medicaid rolls after failing to report new required work hours, but advocates say that’s because people don’t realize they have to. The federal government invested millions into getting the word out about the health law, and still it took years for people to understand what it was. States have far fewer resources and time.
The Trump administration announced last week that it will divert nearly $200 million in public health funding to support the cost of housing detained immigrant children. Advocates and lawmakers sound the alarm over the shift.
The proposal would expand the parameters that immigration officials use to determine if an immigrant is likely to become a “public charge.” Currently, cash benefits are taken into account, but the administration wants to allow officials to consider legal immigrants’ use of public health insurance, nutrition and other programs as a strongly negative factor in their applications for legal permanent residency.
With Immediate Threat From Florence Dissipated, Carolinas Begin Long Recovery Process
Public health threats will continue to plague residents who were impacted from Hurricane Florence, including the fallout from toxic coal ash pouring into a river that supplies drinking water.
First Edition: September 24, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these and other health issues.
Research Roundup: Employer-Sponsored Health Care; Cost Of Care; And Medicaid
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Media outlets report on news from New Hampshire, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Washington, Ohio, Connecticut, California, Minnesota and Kansas.
The legislation was one of several bills California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) addressed this week. Brown also signed into law a measure that requires restaurants to offer water or milk as the default drink for children’s meals, but vetoed a statewide change to school start times.
Three Years After Anthrax Scare, Defense Department Still Behind On Biosafety Upgrades, Report Finds
“When it comes to reforming procedures, this is not a one-off thing that you can do once and take a vacation,” said Gigi Gronvall, a biosecurity expert at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. In other public health news: yoga and meditation, Alzheimer’s, germs, concussions, and food safety.
Since last year’s hurricane, The National Science Foundation has funded a small set of water studies, finding possible lead contamination significant enough to warrant further investigation. News on water safety comes out of Detroit, also.
Researchers are more and more trying to break taboo’s on unique treatments for military veterans with mental health disorders. A new study on how an octopus given Ecstasy acts offers clues about how the drug can be used in broader settings.
Scientists Take A Step Closer To Creating Human Eggs In A Lab Dish Using Stem Cells
The technique might someday help millions of people suffering from infertility because of cancer treatments or other reasons, but is also ethically controversial because it involves human intervention in creating life.
Part of the problem is that the real-life application of the models is far too complicated to analyze. But experts say if the government overhauls how models are developed they might save money.
Funds for the Children’s Health Insurance Program are technically outside the jurisdiction of the Appropriations Committees and don’t count against annual discretionary caps, and the pool of “contingency money” dedicated to the program has been tapped sparingly. Medicaid news comes out of Alabama and Maine, as well.
‘A Lot Of Opportunities’ Exist For Cutting Drug Costs, Trump Health Official Tells Congress
Joe Grogan, OMB’s associate director for health programs, didn’t specify what lawmakers can do before year’s end to stem rising costs, but one bill with bipartisan support helps generic companies obtain samples of brand drugs as part of the development process. News on the industry also spotlights a new lobbying heavyweight for PBM and Medicaid pharmaceutical spending.
America’s Drug Death Trends Are More Complex Than The Current Narrative About Opioid Overdoses
Overdose deaths are on a sharp upward trajectory, but the roles different drugs play in that overarching epidemic has been simplified to focus on opioids. A new study reveals the depth of the crisis in America over the past four decades, and offers a grim picture of the country’s future. In other drug-related news: hospitals and addiction treatment; the Trump administration’s efforts to curb the epidemic; information exchanges; and more.
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and its officials hold an equity stake in the artificial intelligence startup to which the center has granted exclusive rights to use its vast archives. The connections raised some eyebrows so soon after the resignation of the center’s chief medical officer over his failure to disclose financial conflicts.
In February, Congress passed a provision forcing drug manufacturers to pay more for drugs used by Medicare beneficiaries. The industry has been railing about the change ever since, and the bipartisan opioid package might be lawmakers’ chance to hand pharma a big win.
HHS Secretary Alex Azar became the public face of the crisis because his agency is responsible for housing the migrant children that were separated from their parents. The Washington Post looks at how he handled the pressure. Meanwhile, Azar plans to shift millions from public health programs to help pay to house detained migrant children.
