Morning Breakouts

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Aid-In-Dying Law Falls Within Scope Of Improving Californians’ Health, AG Argues In Appeal Of Judge’s Decision

Morning Briefing

A judge recently overturned the legislation, saying it was passed illegally in a special session that was supposed to focus on specific health care issues. California Attorney General Xavier Becerra cited Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown’s statement from when he signed the bill into law as an example of how the measure fits into the scope of the special session.

Hospital Team That Handled Las Vegas Shooting Imparts Hard-Earned Wisdom To Others

Morning Briefing

Workers talked to staff at New Orleans’ University Medical Center about the lessons they learned after the mass casualty event. They said that when faced with that number of patients, it was impossible to follow their standard practices, so they resorted to tactics used by the military in active combat. News on guns comes out of Texas, as well.

Can We Live Forever? One Scientist Has Devoted Much Of Her Life To Extending Humans’ Years On Earth

Morning Briefing

Laura Deming is excited about the possibilities and the results already achieved in experiments on animals. In other public health news: racial disparities in suicide rates; doctor burnout; the difference between HPV and HIV; DNA; barbershops and health care; and more.

Lack Of Cohesive National Health Records Database Stymies Cancer Research

Morning Briefing

The Dana Farber Cancer Institute has invested millions of dollars into determining the genetic sequences of patients’ tumors, but until patients’ medical records are linked to the genetic data, life-or-death questions cannot be answered.

Chinese Hospital Told Woman She Had To Pay Charges Before She Was Allowed To See Her Twin Babies

Morning Briefing

Although China now has near universal coverage, for those who lack insurance, the system can make you pay up front before you get treatment. In other international news: the World Health Organization has named certain lab tests as “essential,” and Ebola’s death toll continues to grow.

Is New York City Ready For Supervised Injection Sites For Heroin Users?

Morning Briefing

As New York mulls supervised injection sites, officials can look to Canada for a real-life example of how the idea plays out beyond theoretical discussions. And in other news on the national drug crisis: elder abuse; and death rates may have crested in Ohio.

EHR Vendor Epic Nets Supreme Court Victory In Workers’ Arbitration Case

Morning Briefing

The court ruled that businesses can block employees from joining together to file claims for wage theft and other work-related violations. “The virtues Congress originally saw in arbitration, its speed and simplicity and inexpensiveness, would be shorn away and arbitration would wind up looking like the litigation it was meant to displace” if workers gathered their complaints under class action lawsuits, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the court.

Reality Check For Red States: Conservative Ideas For Medicaid Aren’t All Getting A Free Pass From CMS

Morning Briefing

While CMS has been encouraging states to request waivers from some federal restrictions on their Medicaid program, recent decisions by CMS Administrator Seema Verma indicate that not every plan will get a green light. Meanwhile, the White House’s rescissions plan faces a make-or-break moment on Tuesday. And Medicaid news comes out of Virginia and Iowa, as well.

Concerns Rise As California Hospitals Provide Few Details Following Crash Of Information System

Morning Briefing

While Sutter Health executive officer Sarah Krevans says everyone was provided “high-quality, safe patient care,” during the outage, patients, doctors and nurses describe a different picture. More hospital news is reported out of Illinois, Washington and Texas, also.

Incoming NRA Chief Blames School Shootings On ‘Youngsters Who Are Steeped In A Culture Of Violence’

Morning Briefing

Oliver North, the new National Rifle Association president, also said the problem could stem from the many young boys who have “been on Ritalin” since their early childhood, and recommended that schools focus on “fortifying” their campuses. Meanwhile, the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center made a plea for blood donations to help the victims of last week’s Texas school shooting. Also, in related news, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports on the range of gunshot injuries seen at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.