Latest KFF Health News Stories
Rural Hospitals Still Face Continuing Difficulties
Even though the Capitol Hill repeal-and-replace debate — and its proposed funding cuts — has quieted, worries persist about the future capacity of these facilities to provide services. The Wall Street Journal, for instance, examines the dangers of childbirth in rural America.
Public Health Roundup: Ordering STD Tests Online; Baseball Players And Brain Cancer
News outlets explore these and a range of other public health developments, including ongoing efforts to improve battle plans against vector-borne diseases such as Zika and Lyme; human-genome editing; end-of-life advice on Medicare’s dime; and more.
News outlets also examine efforts to meet the treatment needs of pregnant women as well as recent developments related to the opioid epidemic in Arizona, New Hampshire and Minnesota.
Hospital Officials Question Whether Medicare Readmissions Penalties Have Run Their Course
The program, mandated by the health law, has been credited with helping bring down costly readmissions. But hospital and industry leaders say that has hit a standstill. Also in the news, a new report spotlights a slowing of the increases in health care prices, and WebMD’s CFO talks about plans for the company.
Trump Signs Bill That Adds $2 Billion To Program Giving Veterans Private Medical Care
In addition to the funding for the Veterans Choice Program, the emergency spending legislation provides $1.8 billion for core VA health programs, including 28 new VA medical facilities.
House Expected To Hold Hearings On ‘Right-To-Try’ Bill That Senator Tied To FDA Funding
The Senate quickly passed the bill that would allow dying patients access to experimental drugs after Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) had threatened to slow down consideration of a separate bill to renew the FDA’s fee-collection authority. In other drug industry news, the FDA is implementing new rules about hiring foreign scientists, industry tightens controls to keep out counterfeit drugs, cancer trials are low on patients and costs of old drugs rising quickly for Medicaid.
CBO To Release Analysis This Week On Effects Of Ending Cost-Sharing Reduction Subsidies
President Donald Trump repeatedly has vowed to cancel the payments that help low-income people pay for deductibles and copayments when they buy insurance on the health law marketplaces.
Even as state insurance commissioners attempt to “enter the breach,” reports indicate that Ohio is bracing for increases as high as 48 percent if President Donald Trump opts to stop cost-sharing subsidies paid to insurers for coverage for low-income people and, in Virginia, Anthem announces it will stop selling plans in much of the state. News outlets also detail developments in Florida and Montana.
Collapse Of GOP Health Plan Leaves Insurers, Medical Devicemakers Facing Dreaded Taxes
Republicans were hoping to rescind the health law’s levies on both health insurance plans and medical devices. But with action on their bill suspended for now, the industries are working to find other ways to stop the taxes.
House GOP Lawmakers Contemplate Efforts To Stabilize Obamacare Insurance Markets
Reports indicate that Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Rep. Tom Arthur (R-N.J.) are considering legislation to fund payments to insurers known as cost-sharing subsidies in exchange for increased state flexibility in waiving health law coverage requirements. However, Democrats have a different view. They see must-pass legislation — such as critical spending fights on tap for September — as giving them leverage to secure those subsidies.
With ‘Brutal’ September Looming, Trump Braces For ‘Thorny Issues’ On Capitol Hill
With a number of must-pass legislative items on the agenda, there are also few working days on the congressional calendar — and a possibility that GOP lawmakers may make another attempt at an Obamacare repeal. All the while, news outlets examine how President Donald Trump’s Twitter and verbal attacks on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could further complicate the days ahead. Meanwhile, during the August recess, Republicans faced a lot of health care questions at town hall meetings. And Democrats use the GOP’s failed repeal-and-replace measures to formulate their talking points and political strategies. Abortion politics, though, continue to complicate their message.
Trump Administration Grants Insurers 3 Extra Weeks To Calculate 2018 Rate Requests
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced late last week that the deadline would be extended as insurance companies face uncertainty resulting from President Donald Trump’s threat to cut off some subsidies paid to them on behalf of low-income people. The uncertainty has disrupted planning by insurance companies and led some to either leave or contemplate leaving the Obamacare marketplaces.
First Edition: August 14, 2017
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Research Roundup: FDA Expedited Drug Approvals; Effectiveness Of Flu Vaccines
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Media outlets report on news from Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Washignton, Texas, Missouri, New York, Delaware, Ohio, Wisconsin and Maryland.
In A Place Where Suspicion Has Dug In Roots, Researchers Want To Demystify Science
A small community in Georgia sees a nuclear plant as the source of their health woes. Scientists know otherwise, but getting that message across isn’t going to be easy. In other public health news: natural disasters, mental health clues on Instagram, obesity and depression, sinus cancer, hospital violence and more.
Gene-Edited, Virus-Free Piglets Revive Hope For Organ Transplants Between Animals, Humans
Dr. George Church, a geneticist at Harvard who led the experiments, said the first pig-to-human transplants could occur within two years.
The Cost Of Treating An Opioid Overdose: $92,400
Researchers said the cost highlights a troubling trend: that overdose patients are arriving in worse shape, requiring longer stays and a higher level of treatment. In other news on the opioid crisis: a vaccine for addiction, treatment deserts, sober homes, safe injection centers and more.
As Much Of The Country Sees Insurance Gains Under ACA, Texan Women Are Left Behind
The Commonwealth Fund’s 2016 Biennial Health Insurance Survey reported solid progress for women across the country since the law was enacted, but in Texas the gains for women have been minimal. Meanwhile, state lawmakers are inching toward passing legislation that will require women to buy separate insurance for abortions.
