Latest KFF Health News Stories
Law Aims To Help Medicare Tackle Expensive Problem Of Costs From Chronic Illnesses
Half of Medicare patients are treated for five or more chronic conditions each year, and they account for three-fourths of Medicare spending. The law, which has bipartisan support, allows Medicare to focus on the social factors outside the reach of traditional medicine.
There’s little chance that any mentions are going to break though the cable news cycle that tends to focus on the latest stories coming out of the administration. So, the candidates are going to have to pay for their airtime. Meanwhile, polling data shows that Republicans are on the hook with voters when it comes to high premiums.
Separation Policy May Be Over, But The Psychological Trauma Isn’t, Mental Health Experts Warn
There are no clear plans to reunite the migrant children who were separated from their parents, and mental health experts say that continued stress is bound to take a psychological toll. “People have been very focused on technical pieces of this process, and the egregiousness of children in cages,” said Jennifer Rodriguez, executive director of the Youth Law Center, an advocacy group based in San Francisco and focused on protecting the rights of children. “But they’re not thinking about most basic fundamental trauma we’re inflicting on people.”
Assisted-Death Rate Ticks Up In First Full Year After California Passed Aid-In-Dying Law
While the law faces an uncertain future, state officials released numbers Friday showing an increase in deaths from 16.5 per month in 2016 to 31.2 in 2017.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Small Businesses Make Huge Gains On Health Care; Puerto Rico Deserves A Better Response
Opinion writers look at changes impacting the health law and other health issues.
Perspectives: National Undertaking Needed To Fight Depression, Focus On Mental Health Issues
Editorial pages focus on mental health issues and the problems they pose for the nation.
Research Roundup: ACA Enrollment; Anxiety And Autoimmune Disorders
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Media outlets report on news from Missouri, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Florida, California and Connecticut.
New Tool Analyzes How Prepared World Is For An Epidemic. Spoiler Alert: It’s Not.
The new website aims to help public officials recognize where vulnerabilities exist. In other public health news: heart research, predicting falls, lead paint, addiction, obesity and more.
The affected personnel have exhibited several health problems that resemble those caused by mild brain trauma such as a concussion, including sharp ear pain, dull headaches, tinnitus, vertigo, disorientation, nausea and extreme fatigue.
While other studies have focused on the adverse affects of black killings, the Lancet study researchers aimed for a better sense of how police violence is felt on a population level months before and after a shooting.
Cigna To Step Into War Against Opioid Epidemic
The health insurer plans to use predictive analytics to identify customers who are at the highest risk for an opioid overdose and develop partnerships in those areas to help combat the crisis. In other news: the government pulls funding for a pain relief training; a lobbying blitz has been launched on Capitol Hill as lawmakers vote on opioid measures; and more.
Maine’s Highest Court Gives Governor Breathing Room, Sets Arguments Over Expansion For Mid-July
Medicaid expansion is supposed to take effect July 2, but the law is on hold until oral arguments in a lawsuit can be held in later in the month. Meanwhile, the state’s legislature has approved a bill directing up to $54.5 million in surplus funds and tobacco settlement money for expansion.
Potential Double-Digit Rate Hikes For Health Law Plans Are Dark Clouds Over GOP Candidates
Polling consistently shows that more voters will blame Republicans for the pain in their wallets if the predicted hikes come to pass.
“Biosimilars foster competition and can lower the cost of biologic treatments for patients,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. “Yet the market for these products is not advancing as quickly as I hoped.”
Critics are concerned that adding “welfare” into the agency’s name brings with it a negative connotation. But the shake-up is unlikely to happen, and is more an insight into the direction in which the White House wants to move policy.
Don’t Get Distracted By High Drug Costs, It’s Surgery That’s Driving Health Spending, Gawande Says
Dr. Atul Gawande will be heading up the health care initiative formed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase that’s geared toward starving the “tapeworm on the American economy.” While many people’s attention is focused on skyrocketing drug prices, Gawande says that is just 10 percent” of total U.S. healthcare spending.
Migrant Children Must Be Reunited With Parents Immediately, Mental Health Experts Say
Although President Donald Trump ended his family separation policy, there’s no plans to address the children that have already been taken from their parents. Some advocates have suggested that public genetic testing sites could aid in the process of reuniting families. Meanwhile, there’s profit to be made off the health care needs of those held at the border. And chaos reigns supreme even after the president’s executive order.
A new study suggests that certain viruses could kick-start an immune response that might increase the accumulation of amyloid, a protein in human brains which clumps into the telltale plaques of Alzheimer’s. Scientists are being very cautious to warn that this might not prove anything, but it’s one of the few developments the field has seen in decades.
