Latest KFF Health News Stories
Tenet Healthcare Reports Third-Quarter Loss Of $366 Million
The company has implemented new cost controls and 1,300 job cuts. It attributes part of the loss to less volume because of the hurricanes that struck Texas and Florida.
Valeant Is Selling Female Libido Pill Back To Former Owner, But Is Drug ‘Dead In The Water’?
The drug, Addyi, garnered lots of attention and controversy when it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration, but then it flopped.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) points to reports that pharmaceutical company Alkermes has attempted to increase sales of Vivitrol — a monthly shot to treat opioid addiction — by playing up misconceptions about other medications and trying to limit their availability.
End-Of-Life Guidance For Heart Disease Stuck In The Past When It Used To Kill Quickly
Heart disease has become a chronic condition, but unlike cancer, many doctors don’t know how to deal with patients they can no longer help but are still alive. In other public health news: Alzheimer’s, diabetes, sleep, vaccines, genetic tests, and more.
Saying mental illness is to blame for mass violence incidents not only misses the complexities at the root of the motivation, but also besmirches millions of non-violent mentally ill people, experts say in the wake of the Texas shooting which left 26 dead. President Donald Trump said the shooting was a “mental health” problem and not a “guns situation.”
Pa. Officials Delay Shift To Medicaid Managed Care For Some People In Philadelphia
The implementation for elderly and disabled enrollees needing long-term care services is put back a year. In other Medicaid news, Arkansas officials say the wait for federal approval of a new waiver is delaying plans to change eligibility standards, Virginia lawmakers get an estimate of costs for next year, Iowa officials assert that a lawsuit brought by disabled enrollees is now moot and a Republican lawmaker running for governor in Oregon seeks a probe of overpayments.
Maine Voters Set Today To Decide Whether To Expand Medicaid Enrollment
Lawmakers have five times passed bills to expand the state’s Medicaid program under the federal health law, but the governor has vetoed the measures.
Trump Administration Keeping Executive Order To Repeal Individual Mandate In Its Back Pocket
The draft order would broaden the “hardship exemption” that the Obama administration established for those who face extraordinary circumstances.
GOP Lawmakers Don’t See Repeal Of Individual Mandate Getting Added To House Version Of Tax Bill
“It hasn’t ever been in the [House] bill,” said one Republican on the Ways and Means Committee. “I expect that it will be added somewhere down the sausage-making venture.” Meanwhile, lawmakers may be considering changes to taxes on health savings accounts.
Health Law Signups, Traffic To Healthcare.gov Surge In First Few Days Of Open Enrollment
Despite fears that Trump administration’s actions to cut the outreach budget for the health law would undermine sign ups, the numbers spiked over last year according to a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity. However, usually signups this early are consumers renewing coverage, not new customers. Meanwhile, insurers are opening their own wallets to make up for the lack of federal marketing for the health law.
First Edition: November 7, 2017
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Alzheimer’s Heavy Toll; Missouri Owes Its Blind Citizens
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Parsing Policies: Tax Reform And The Individual Mandate — Republicans Could Have It Wrong
Opinion writers offer thoughts on a range of health issues, including how the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate is playing into the current debate regarding tax reform, the ongoing efforts by health law opponents to sabotage Obamacare and a dark view of Medicare for all.
Media outlets report on news from Massachusetts, Virginia, Tennessee, the District of Columbia, Missouri, Colorado, Minnesota, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio.
FDA Chief On Regulations: Some Need To Be Re-Regulated. Others ‘Sort Of Ignored, Not Followed.’
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb discusses the way his agency can approach old and new rules to achieve its pharmaceutical industry goals. Meanwhile, other news outlets cover the Ohio drug pricing ballot measure and the specter of Amazon’s entrance into the marketplace.
Authorities Release 10-Year-Old Immigrant Girl With Cerebral Palsy
Border Patrol agents had taken the girl into custody following emergency gallbladder surgery and held her at a facility in San Antonio, Texas for unaccompanied immigrant minors.
Koch Group To Launch Massive Campaign To Increase Private Sector’s Role In VA Care
But the debate over privatizing VA care is fraught with tension — from advocates who are concerned civilian hospitals wouldn’t be prepared for veterans’ unique needs to lawmakers who don’t want to see the agency undercut.
Americans Are Often Clueless About Their Own Obesity, Survey Finds
And doctors are too busy, to embarrassed or ill-equipped to help them. In other public health news: arthritis, diabetes, genetic tests, the shingles vaccine, sickle cell, and soda.
On The Hunt For Monkeypox: Tracking A Fatal Virus Before It Spreads Across The Globe
As reports of cases flare across Africa, scientists work hard to understand the deadly virus that has no cure.
Drug Overdoses Now Leading Cause Of Death For Americans Under 50
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drug overdose rates spiked by 17 percent last year. Meanwhile, China says the U.S. has been too aggressive in pinning blame for the fentanyl flooding into the country.
