Latest KFF Health News Stories
Media outlets report on news from Illinois, California, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Texas and Ohio.
Spotlight On Assaults At Minn. Long-Term Care Centers: 97% Of Cases Never Investigated
A series by the Minneapolis Star Tribune examines how state officials handle the hundreds of assaults, rapes and robberies at senior care centers.
San Francisco Wages Quiet Battle Against Hep C With Patched-Together Budget, Determination
The city’s campaign is the result of an alliance among health officials, hospitals, advocates, and clinicians to cobble together funding, coordinate care, and combat the stigma of a disease associated with prison, drug use, and unsafe sex. In other public health news: high blood pressure, immunotherapy, health health and sex, genetic engineering, and soda.
Bill Gates Notes Family History Of Alzheimer’s While Pledging $50M To Help Fight Disease
“I know how awful it is to watch people you love struggle as the disease robs them of their mental capacity, and there is nothing you can do about it,” Bill Gates said. “It feels a lot like you’re experiencing a gradual death of the person that you knew.”
The app lets law enforcement officials track overdoses in real time, a rarity in the data-starved landscape of the opioid epidemic. Media outlets report on the crisis out of New York and Massachusetts as well.
Data Is Starting To Pull Curtain Back On Health Costs, But There’s Still A Long Way To Go
Experts hope the extra transparency, though, will change Americans’ behavior as consumers. In other news on medical costs, the toll of the Las Vegas shooting, Medicare billing and virtual doctors.
Vets Who Are Denied Benefits Face Antiquated Appeals System That Can Take Decades
The Department of Veterans Affairs pays benefits to about 5 million people, but more than 470,000 veterans have been denied and are appealing. Those appeals can be mired in bureacracy for years. Also in the news, an Arizona-based company that oversees care for some veterans is hoping to extend its contract — even as it’s a target of a federal grand jury investigation.
Digital Pill Approved By FDA, But Some Worry It’s The Medical Equivalent Of A Tattletale
The pill has sensors that alert doctors to when patients take their medication. But some warn the device could breed mistrust.
Senate Keeps Medical Expense Deduction, But It Could Still Be Cut During Tax Bill Negotiations
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is once again calling for lawmakers to include the repeal of the health law’s individual mandate in their tax plan.
Decades-Old Law Lets Insurer Skirt Health Law Regulations, Providing Tempting Model For GOP
Tennessee Farm Bureau Health Plans is still allowed to use patients’ health status to determine their rates and eligibility, which is illegal elsewhere under the Affordable Care Act. In other news, The New York Times looks at how red states have been subsidizing blue states’ health insurance for years.
Supreme Court To Hear Free Speech Case Involving Calif. Pregnancy Centers
A California state law requires pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion options to its patients. The centers say the law violates their right to free speech by forcing them to convey messages at odds with their beliefs.
Former Pharma Executive, Health Law Critic Tapped For Top HHS Spot
President Donald Trump, in announcing the nomination, says Alex Azar will be “a star” at lowering drug prices, but his ties to the industry raise immediate concerns from critics.
First Edition: November 14, 2017
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Former Pharma Executive Alex Azar Tapped By Trump To Lead HHS
President Donald Trump, in announcing the nomination, said Alex Azar’s would be “a star” at lowering drug prices.
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Media outlets report on news from Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Tennessee, California, Texas and Ohio.
Medical Practices Borne On The Battlefield Can Become Standard Care For Civilians
A look at six common practices that have their roots in war-time care. In other public health news: falling, Alzheimer’s, ankle replacements and racism.
A Stat and Boston Globe investigation found that these workers are bused into these facilities and can be cut off from their family and friends. “I felt like a prisoner,” said Michael Barone, a special education aide in a New Jersey public school. In other news: scientists try to find ways to combat chronic pain without opioids; experts are trying to figure out how people with chronic pain can be treated with opioids but avoid addiction; and more.
Advocates Worry GOP’s Plan To Cut Orphan Drug Tax Credit Will Hurt Patients
The credit reimburses drug developers for half of their research costs on treatments meant for diseases with patient populations fewer than 200,000 people.
Fallout From Price: Internal Feuds, Pressure From Congress Rock HHS Long After Secretary’s Departure
Tom Price stepped down from the top position at the Department of Health and Human Services after information came out about his use of taxpayer-funded private jets. But the investigation didn’t end with his resignation.
