Latest KFF Health News Stories
The inspector general report also found that, among other “serious derelictions,” Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin also improperly accepted tickets to Wimbledon. “This was time that should have been spent conducting official V.A. business and not providing personal travel concierge services to Secretary Shulkin and his wife,” Inspector General Michael J. Missal concluded in the report.
First Edition: February 15, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages highlight these and other health care issues.
Perspectives: Drug Prices Problem In U.S. Requires Major Surgery. Trump Just Gave Us A Band-Aid.
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Drugmakers On Edge As States Begin To Target Specific Medicines Using Transparency Laws
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
Media outlets report on news from Georgia, California, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Texas, New Hampshire, Colorado, Wisconsin, Oregon and Missouri.
Oregon Takes Steps Toward Enshrining Right To Health Care In State Constitution
The state’s House of Representatives approved the measure, sending it to the Senate. If the upper chamber passes the bill, the question will go in front of voters on November’s ballot. The legislation declares, “It is the obligation of the state to ensure that every resident of Oregon has access to cost-effective, medically appropriate and affordable health care as a fundamental right.”
Olympian Throws Spotlight On Often-Overlooked Problem Of Eating Disorders In Men
Figure skater Adam Rippon opens up about his relationship with food and weight. In other public health news: the health benefits of chocolate, Alzheimer’s, antibiotics, obesity and dementia.
More Than 320 Counties, Cities And States Are Suing Drugmakers For Role In Opioid Epidemic
Local and state leaders have been turning toward the legal system in their battle against the opioid crisis. In other news, the White House has approved research into which addiction treatments actually work best; doctors say Purdue’s decision to stop marketing OxyContin is “20 years late”; and experts react to Attorney General Jeff Session’s comments that patients should just “take some aspirin sometimes and tough it out a little bit.”
Google Says It Can Predict When Patients Are Going To Die, But Not Many Impressed By ‘Breakthrough’
Predicting adverse events, in and of itself, is old hat for software vendors. Meanwhile, a small business has developed a website to help people navigate end-of-life practicalities, but they’re faced with the problem that few people actually want to think about that kind of stuff.
Colorado Joins Inquiry Into Aetna’s Approval Practices Following Former Medical Director’s Testimony
Dr. Jay Iinuma admitted under oath he never looked at patients’ records when deciding whether to approve or deny care. Instead, he relied on nurses employed by Aetna to review the medical records and feed him pertinent information. California regulators have also launched an investigation into the company’s practices.
Planned Parenthood Is Going On Offense: ‘We Need To Do More Than Just Fight Against Bad Policies’
Planned Parenthood and its partners are set to roll out bills they argue would protect birth control coverage, expand access to abortion and make sex education more inclusive.
Virginia Lawmakers Lay Groundwork For Medicaid Expansion With Work Requirements Vote
The Virginia House of Delegates voted to impose work requirements on the state’s existing Medicaid recipients, with exceptions for the elderly, children, pregnant women and others who are not deemed “able bodied” as part of a compromise to expand the program. The bill goes to the Senate next, which so far has not indicated if it would accept it. Meanwhile, Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich is also preparing to ask federal regulators for a work requirements waiver for the state’s Medicaid program.
Whistleblower Case Alleging UnitedHealth Defrauded Medicare Program Allowed To Move Forward
The Justice Department says the company wrongly retained more than $1 billion from the government. U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald dismissed part of the case, but is allowing the department to move forward with the rest of it.
Bernie Sanders Lambastes OMB Director Mick Mulvaney Over Health Provisions In Trump’s Budget Plan
“Director [Mick] Mulvaney, tell me about the morality of a budget which supports tax breaks for billionaires, throws 32 million people off of the health insurance they have, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of fellow Americans,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Meanwhile, the Office of Management and Budget chief caused confusion when he hinted at the same hearing that he wouldn’t vote for President Donald Trump’s budget if he were in Congress.
Facing Millions In Penalties, Companies Push Back On IRS Decision To Enforce ACA Employer Mandate
The health law imposes a penalty on employers with more than 50 workers who don’t provide qualifying coverage to employees, but the fines weren’t initially enforced. Meanwhile, Blue Cross of Idaho is taking the state up on its offer to sell coverage plans that don’t meet all the health law’s standards.
First Edition: February 14, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Trump’s Budget Breaks Health Care Promises; New Mandate Could Stem Rising Premiums
Editorial pages highlight these and other health care issues.
Media outlets report on the news from California, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Arizona, Maryland, Texas, Michigan and Minnesota.
Ahead Of Vote, Wisconsin Governor’s Reinsurance Plan Gets Support From Medical Community, Insurers
Gov. Scott Walker’s bill would authorize Wisconsin to seek a federal waiver to offer a reinsurance program to lower premium costs. Under the program, the government would provide money to health insurance providers to pay for between 50 percent and 80 percent of medical claims costing between $50,000 and $200,000.
