Latest KFF Health News Stories
Iowa Proposes Stopgap Plan To Save Its ‘Collapsing’ Marketplace As Congress Works On ‘Repeal’
The proposal would rewrite major parts of the Affordable Care Act for the state, and needs approval from the administration.
Kasich, A GOP Moderate Who Has Criticized Hill Efforts On Health Overhaul, Offers Olive Branch
Ohio Gov. John Kasich says he could accept the phaseout of the health law’s Medicaid expansion if Republicans writing the bill add more money for states and make the pull back more gradual. In other Medicaid news, a look at how states are remolding the program for low-income residents, concerns among nonprofit insurers about proposed changes to the law, and developments in Indiana, Wisconsin and Ohio.
As Senators Write Health Overhaul Behind Closed Doors, Health Groups Fight To Get Access
Patient and industry groups are organizing rallies, ad campaigns and lobbying efforts while conservatives are trying to make sure the health law’s taxes are repealed.
Rank-And-File Senators Kept In Dark As GOP Leaders Claim They Are Getting Close To A Bill
“[T]his is not the best way to do health care, but it’s the way we’re having to do it,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). Republicans, though, are trying to rein in expectations about when the vote will come.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Problems With E.R. Care; For Dayton, Heroin Epidemic Is Drug-Addiction Déjà Vu
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Opinion writers parse a variety of issues related to the Affordable Care Act, the American Health Care Act, Medicaid’s ups and downs, the future of single-payer proposals and other health policy developments.
Media outlets report on health-related news from Georgia, Ohio, California, Massachusetts, Colorado, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Texas.
News outlets report on these and a variety of other state-related mental health developments.
Traces Of Legionnaires’ Disease Found In Water At New York Police Department
Officers can still work in the building, but the Health Department has advised them to avoid taking showers there.
‘Brain Hackers’ Turning To Smart Drug To Enhance Cognitive Abilities
These drugs — nootropics — are said to improve memory, attention, creativity and motivation. But researchers say there is no evidence that the drugs help in the long-run. In other public health news: baby boxes, genital mutilation, day passes at psychiatric hospitals, gene editing, and cancer.
Emotional Wounds From Pulse Shooting Have Yet To Heal For Some First Responders
Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan says there are people who go to war and don’t see what officers saw inside Pulse.
Zika Threat Retreats, But Localities Still Look For New Ways To Fight Mosquito-Borne Diseases
Health officials say that the risk of contracting the virus in the Americas is receding, but that there is still a danger. Meanwhile, researchers look for easy, low-cost Zika testing as well as at the health impact of pesticides being used to combat mosquitoes.
At Front Lines Of Opioid Battle, Police Embrace Role Of Ally Over Enemy
Departments across the country are taking on different ways to help fight the crisis that don’t involve mass arrests. In other news, the drug epidemic is causing death rates to spike in the U.S.
Amazon To Make A Move In The Medical Supply Industry
Meanwhile, in other health IT news, health care leaders focused on ways to bring state-of-the-art technology to patients and on how health care providers should focus on the nexus of data and medicine at the University of Miami’s fourth-annual Latin American Innovation Forum.
States Weigh Changes To Medicaid As They Struggle ‘To Pay For Their Share’
Both states that expanded the health care program for low-income residents and states that didn’t are looking for creative ways to keep costs down. News outlets also report on the American Medical Association meeting and doctors’ views of the Medicaid expansion, a Missouri hospital study and prospects for an extension of the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Delaware Becomes First State Under Trump To Ensure Abortion Remains Legal
President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to overturn Roe v. Wade.
States Taking Steps To Protect Birth Control Coverage From Trump Administration Threats
“The feds can set a floor,” said Andrea Miller, president of the National Institute for Reproductive Health. “States can decide to do better.”
During Its Move To Electronic Records, Medicare Erroneously Paid $729M To Health Professionals
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should review its incentive payments, recoup any money erroneously paid and do more to scrutinize spending, the inspector general audit recommended.
Entrepreneurs, Early Retirees Among 70,000 Iowans Threatened By Possible Insurer Pullout
State officials are working to convince the three carriers serving the individual market to stay in Iowa. In Washington state, two counties face the prospect of no insurers next year, and in Florida BlueCross BlueShield officials say the company will continue to operate next year.
