Latest KFF Health News Stories
Aetna To Sell Medicare Part D Business As Step Forward In Deal With CVS
Industry experts say regulators may have been concerned about a Medicare business overlap between Aetna and CVS.
The work requirements have drawn criticism after more than 4,000 Arkansas residents lost Medicaid coverage after three months of failing to report their hours. CMS Administrator Seema Verma once again touted the number of people who found work underneath the rules, and said the government would continue monitoring the data closely going forward. Meanwhile, the battle over Medicaid expansion continues to play out in Maine and a study looks at the effects of expansion for rural residents.
The marketplace is getting stronger and next year’s premiums are not expected to be as shockingly high as previous years. While HHS Secretary Alex Azar credits that success to President Donald Trump’s policies, other experts say that it’s because states’ insurance departments have been working to blunt the attacks to the law. Meanwhile, Azar took a swing at Democrats’ “Medicare for All” plan, saying it’s too good to be true.
Judiciary Committee Set To Vote On Kavanaugh Following Emotional, Heated Hearing That Riveted Nation
It’s unclear whether Republicans have the votes to get Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh through following the fireworks of Thursday’s hearing, but the votes are set both for the committee and the full Senate, with procedural votes on Saturday and Monday and a final confirmation vote on Tuesday. Meanwhile, experts dig into the psychological trauma of sexual assault and Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony.
Surgeon General: It’s ‘A Social Responsibility To Get Vaccinated’ For The Flu
Health officials are urging everyone get a flu shot this year. “I’m tired of hearing people say, ‘Well, I didn’t get sick and I didn’t get the flu shot.’ Or, ‘I don’t like it, my arm hurts,’” said Jerome Adams, U.S. Surgeon General. “Those 80,000 people who died last year from the flu, guess what? They got the flu from someone.”
First Edition: September 28, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
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.
