Latest KFF Health News Stories
The app enables doctors to choose which supplies to recommend, then email the list of products to a patient. Privacy experts are expressing concern that patients could unwittingly share personal and potentially sensitive health information with Amazon. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group is riding high after debuting a platform to streamline medical record data despite Amazon’s announcement it would be entering the landscape.
New Health Industry Giant Emerges With Completion Of CVS’ $70B Acquisition Of Aetna
CVS faces a heavy lift in uniting two complicated companies with very different business models and approaches, but company leaders are optimistic that the merger will cut health care costs and improve consumers’ experience. The deal has been working its way through state and federal regulators for the past year, and finally gained the last go-ahead needed from New York this week.
An analysis found that on average, health plans would save $4,162 per patient each year if they switched to clinically equivalent single-tablet regimens. Meanwhile, a coalition of conservative groups is asking President Donald Trump to withdraw his plan to curb high drug costs, arguing it will hurt innovation by creating “price controls.”
The lawyers say the babies’ specific needs have been lost in the sweeping case that is comprised of hundreds of local and state suits against companies who make opioids. The overall settlement is expected to rival the $240 billion tobacco settlements of the late 1990s. News on the national drug crisis comes out of Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Arizona, as well.
Even a couple months can make a big difference in a student’s ability to focus in class, researchers found in the largest study looking at a strict Sept. 1 cutoff birth-date cutoff date for enrollment. Researchers studied ADHD diagnoses for children born in August, the youngest in their classes, compared with those born in September, who became the oldest in their classes.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons updated its policy to better provide care for inmates with mental health disorders, but in practice didn’t dole out any extra money to help those on the front lines of the crisis. Mental health workers were then left with a bigger caseload but the same amount of resources. In other public health news: climate change, cancer, dementia, HIV, male birth control and more.
Amid a fiery outcry from the scientific community, He Jiankui’s gene-editing project has been suspended amid a Chinese government investigation. But scientists are not closing the door on the practice entirely. Instead they stress the importance of employing a rigorous ethical framework to any research done on editing human life.
USA Today examines the country’s 10th leading cause of death in a series about suicide, mental health and the loved ones the trauma leaves behind.
Because of the policy that expands the definition of public charge to immigrants receiving government aid, legal residents have stopped using school programs, food subsidies, housing vouchers and health clinics for which they are eligible, the city’s lawsuit says. It hurts Baltimore’s mission to welcome immigrants and increases long-term expenses as Baltimore deals with a sicker and less-educated community, according to officials.
Under the proposal, anyone aged 50 to 64 who buys insurance through the health-care exchanges would be eligible to buy in to Medicare. While some Democrats are eager to work on the plan, others from the left-wing of the party view it as too incremental. Elsewhere on Capitol Hill: Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) wants to work on a bipartisan fix to shore up the health law, a spat between lawmakers endangers chances of two health measures getting passed this year, and Democrats shift focus from health message with eye on 2020.
This is the first time in a decade the number of uninsured children has increased, and experts are worried it’s a trend. “Without serious efforts to get back on track, the decline in coverage is likely to continue in 2018 and may, in fact, get worse for America’s children,” said Joan Alker, the report’s lead author.
A slow start doesn’t necessarily mean a slow end to the six-week season, experts say. A flood of sign-ups could arrive as the deadline prods procrastinators to act. But health law backers are worried that many Americans don’t even know it’s open enrollment season. Meanwhile, the Democrats say the numbers are a result of the Trump administration’s attempts to “sabotage” the law.
Public health experts are alarmed by the new statistics released by the CDC. In contrast, life expectancy has marched steadily upward for decades in most other developed nations. “After three years of stagnation and decline, what do we do now?” asked S.V. Subramanian, a professor of population health and geography at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Do we say this is the new normal?
First Edition: November 29, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Thumbs Up To CDC For Warnings About Romaine; Research On Suicide Prevention Falls Short
Opinion writers weigh in on these health issues and others.
Editorial pages weigh in on these health care topics.
Opinion writers express views on producing genetically-modified human babies.
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
Media outlets report on news from Florida, California, Maryland, Texas, Washington, Ohio, Minnesota, Colorado, Iowa and Massachusetts.
