Latest KFF Health News Stories
Health Law Coverage Gains Are Slowly Eroding Under Trump Administration, Study Shows
The Commonwealth Fund study also shows disparities across different states in relation to how much they embraced the health law when it was enacted. In the South, 20.7 percent of adults are uninsured, up from 15.8 percent in 2016.
Maine Governor Sued After Refusing To Implement Medicaid Expansion That Voters OK’d Months Ago
Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) says he won’t expand the program until state lawmakers find a way to fund it under his conditions, despite voters’ approval of a ballot initiative with nearly 60 percent support. Meanwhile, Wisconsin residents sue the state over its refusal to pay for gender reassignment surgeries.
McConnell Touts Measure Aimed At Helping Ease Transition From Opioid Treatment Back Into Workforce
The proposal is part of an opioids legislative package that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says lawmakers are crafting. In other news: former Eli Lilly head Kurt Rasmussen is tapped to oversee the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s unit that studies the efficacy and safety of devices and drugs used to treat substance use disorders; Kentucky struggles to handle the autopsies related to the crisis; a VA study offers clues on how hospitals can reduce prescriptions; and more.
CDC Director’s Compensation To Be Cut Following Questions About $375,000 Salary
“Dr. [Robert] Redfield has expressed to Secretary [Alex] Azar that he does not wish to have his compensation become a distraction for the important work of the CDC,” an HHS spokeswoman said.
Loneliness has the same effect on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, which makes it even more dangerous than obesity, says Cigna, which sponsored the study.
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Media outlets report on news from Illinois, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, South Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin, Louisiana and Georgia.
In the midst of the opioid crisis, endocarditis cases are on the rise. The effects from the bacteria are costly and hard to treat, and doctors are warning patients that if they come back with the same problem, they might not get medical care for it. Meanwhile, drugmakers are pushing back against opioid taxes and the Department of Agriculture is sending money to needy communities to help boost services to treat addiction.
Cases of serious health consequences after patients have trusted stem cell clinics’ promises are highlighting just how little oversight there is of the trendy businesses. In other public health news: strokes, gun control, emergency care, exercise, tumors and more.
Bill Gates Talks Pandemics, Universal Vaccines And Amazon’s Entry Into Health Landscape
The billionaire philanthropist chatted with Stat last week about global health and his plan to offer $12 million in seed money to spur innovative thinking over a universal flu vaccine, which has stumped the influenza research community for decades and is considered the holy grail of flu research.
Inability To Find All Sources For E. Coli Outbreak Raising Concern About Food Safety In U.S.
For more than two weeks, the FDA and the CDC have been investigating the outbreak as it continues to grow and have only been able to track down where the whole-head romaine lettuce came from. The government is still looking for the source of chopped lettuce that sickened dozens more Americans.
Weapons Training Alone Is Enough To Leave Troops With Lasting Brain Trauma, Study Finds
“It’s analogous to people getting hits to the head in sports, playing football or boxing,” said Paul Scharre, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
After Arrest Using DNA Database Ethicists Left Wondering: Do The Ends Justify The Means?
Genetic testing and genealogy sites are widely popular these days, but the case of the Golden State Killer calls attention to privacy issues some had glossed over in the past.
Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, an internist and friend of Trump confidant Ike Perlmutter, has been given access to the updates on the project, which has not gone over well with the officials trying to get it up and running.
The Trump administration is failing “to recognize the unique legal status of Indian tribes and their members under federal law, the U.S. Constitution, treaties, and the federal trust relationship,” the 10 senators — led by Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) — wrote HHS Secretary Alex Azar. Medicaid news comes out of Ohio and Illinois as well.
Transgender Advocates Say Trump Administration Is Gutting Their Rights
The most recent example, they say, is the administration’s rewrite of a federal rule that bars discrimination in health care based on “gender identity.”
CDC Director’s $375,000 Salary Called Into Question By Democratic Senator
CDC Director Robert Redfield’s salary is nearly double what his predecessor made.
Ronny Jackson To Stay On White House Staff, But Won’t Resume Role Of President’s Personal Physician
Some names being tossed around for the VA spot now that Dr. Ronny Jackson has withdrawn are: Ascension President and CEO Anthony Tersigni, Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove, Rep. Phil Roe (R-Tenn.), and former Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.). Meanwhile, President Donald Trump defended his former nominee over the weekend.
