Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Tax Law Changes Are Already Undermining Health Law, Causing Prices To Jump
Editorial pages focus on changes impacting the health law and other health care issues.
Opinion writers express views about the impact of the administration’s zero-tolerance policy on children’s health.
Longer Looks: The Trauma Of Family Separation; Nutrition Science; And Hiding Mental Illness
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from Georgia, Florida, New Hampshire, Missouri, West Virginia, South Carolina, Mississippi and Massachusetts.
Reisa Sperling looks at the ten to fifteen year span before the onset of the disease when patients already have build-up of a protein that is believed to trigger the deterioration of the brain. In other public health news: pancreatic cancer, gout, depression, genetic testing, grandchildren for hire, and more.
Health And Wellness Trend Taking A Toll On Companies’ Profits From Sugary Drinks
Concerns about sugar are prompting customers to skip the fraps and go for other options instead.
“This study confirms that the EPA’s guidelines for PFAS levels in drinking water woefully underestimate risks to human health,” said Olga Naidenko, senior science adviser at the Environmental Working Group. Other news on the safety of drinking water comes from New York and Cleveland.
The state’s managed care program is in the spotlight after it was reported that high costs that would not have been reimbursed prevented it from providing important care and services. Other Medicaid news comes from Connecticut and Indiana.
Intimidation, Fear Used To Prevent Potential Whisteblowers From Speaking Out, VA Employees Claim
“If you say anything about patient care and the problems, you’re quickly labeled a troublemaker and attacked by a clique that just promotes itself. Your life becomes hell,” said one longtime employee at the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System. In other veterans’ health care news: a lawsuit over burn pits, the nomination hearing for the president’s pick to lead the VA, and staffing issues at medical centers.
The groups are challenging laws that say only doctors can perform abortions and that second-trimester abortions be performed in a hospital, which they argue are unconstitutional based on the Supreme Court’s 2016 ruling in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt.
Experts Emphasize Importance Of Incremental Improvements With New Flu Vaccine
It was shown to be only slightly better than the old one. But baby steps are still forward movement, experts say. In other news on vaccinations: there’s a national shortage on the shingles vaccine; an experimental therapy for type 1 diabetes shows some early stages of success; and officials warn about hot spots for diseases where vaccination rates lag.
“Companies cannot be NGOs,” Brainstorm CEO Chaim Lebovits said. “We have to have an incentive.” Health insurers don’t typically pay for treatments that haven’t been approved by regulators or proven to work in clinical trials. That means patients would have to pay for the therapies, which could reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, out of their own pockets.
Senate Blocks Trump’s Plan To Trim $15 Billion In Government Spending
Among other concerns, lawmakers were worried about the cut to the popular CHIP program.
Stat looks at the measures to address the nation’s drug epidemic that experts say still don’t go far enough. Meanwhile, the crisis is taking its toll on children and taxing foster systems across the country.
Trump Proposes Shaking Up Agencies With Model That Hearkens Back To 1950s
The changes President Donald Trump wants to make to agencies that oversee government aid are unlikely to come to pass, but they signal the White House’s agenda toward social safety-net programs. Right now the focus is on the Education and Labor Departments, but officials are also looking at programs and offices within HHS.
Long History Of Fraud And Shady Operators Linked To Association Health Plans Has Experts Worried
As the Trump administration moves forward with its final rule allowing small businesses and self-employed workers ti get coverage through association health plans, fraud experts are concerned that the “unauthorized or bogus” plans that flooded the marketplace in the early 2000s will crop up again. Meanwhile, New York and Massachusetts will sue the federal government over the rule.
“It’s not like an auto body shop where you fix the dent and everything looks like new. We’re talking about children’s minds,” said Luis H. Zayas, professor of social work and psychiatry at the University of Texas at Austin. “We did the harm; we should be responsible for fixing the damage. But the sad thing for most of these kids is this trauma is likely to go untreated.” Media outlets dive into the mental health toll of President Donald Trump’s family separation policy, as well as the lasting political ramifications it may have in the coming months.
Executives from the companies said the deal won’t negatively affect the marketplace, but outside experts predict that it will chip away at competition to the detriment of patients. California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones can’t block the merger himself, but his suggestion could have an impact on regulators’ final decision.
The health world has been closely watching to see who Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase would choose to lead their health care initiative geared toward reining in astronomical costs. Atul Gawande, a highly respected doctor and writer on health care policy, is a “well-known luminary” in the field, but the pick was also a surprise to some because he lacks hands-on experience running a large organization.
