Latest KFF Health News Stories
Head Of CMS Accused Of Offering Insurers Quid Pro Quo For Support Of GOP Health Bill
According to a Los Angeles Times investigation, during a meeting with industry officials, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services head Seema Verma linked payment of the insurers’ subsidies to providers’ support of the American Health Care Act.
Administration Asks For More Time In Insurer Subsidy Case, Keeping Destabilized Marketplace In Limbo
House Republicans, who filed the suit against the Obama administration, say the subsidies paid to insurers for reducing deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs for low-income consumers are unconstitutional because Congress did not specifically authorize the payments.
Trump’s Struggle With Syntax, Sentence Structure Could Signal Cognitive Decline, Experts Say
Stat talked with experts in neurolinguistics and cognitive assessment, as well as psychologists and psychiatrists, to analyze President Donald Trump’s changing speech patterns and what they might mean about the health of his brain.
Medical Research, Disease Prevention Programs Would Be Casualties Of Trump’s ‘Skinny Budget’
The budget for the Health and Human Services Department, which was briefly posted online and then removed, shows deep cuts to a variety of health care programs. The National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration would also be strongly impacted.
Trump’s Proposed Budget Slices Safety Net For Poor, Disabled
President Donald Trump wants to slash Medicaid by more than $800 billion and slim down the Children’s Health Insurance Program, as well.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Problems In The Meat Industry; Trump’s ‘Global Gag Rule’; Opioid Fight Stumbles
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Thoughts On Health Reform: Decision On Subsidies Due Today; Protect Kids In Medicaid
Opinion writers reflect on changes for the nation’s health care system.
Media outlets report on news from Virginia, Texas, California, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Georgia, Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin.
Merger Would Make Steward Health Care The Largest Private For-Profit Hospital Operator
Boston-based Steward Health Care System announces that it will acquire Franklin, Tenn.-based IASIS Healthcare for $2 billion.
Dwindling Supply Of Vital But Simple Drug Setting Hospitals On Edge
Because of the shortage, doctors are having to make tough decisions on how they treat their patients. “Does the immediate need of a patient outweigh the expected need of a patient?” one asked. “It’s a medical and ethical question that goes beyond anything I’ve had to experience before.” In other public health news: infertility, pumping breast milk, services for deaf patients, neuroscience, probiotics and more.
Pediatricians: Babies Shouldn’t Drink Juice In First Year Of Life
The doctors want to battle the misconception that children need the sugary drinks.
Carfentanil Intensifying Already Deadly Opioid Epidemic
The synthetic drug is 10,000 times more potent than morphine.
Hospital Sepsis Protocols Can Increase Survival Chances, Study Finds
Many doctors have been skeptical about proposed regulations for screening and treating the life-threatening complication that afflicts tens of thousands of Americans.
The legislation bans a commonly used procedure for second-trimester abortions, similar to laws that courts have blocked in other states. And Missouri asks an appellate court to step in over a judge’s decision to block the state’s abortion restrictions.
Georgia Appears To Dodge A Bullet As Blue Cross Doesn’t Signal Plans To Pull Back Operations
In its initial filings with the state, the company says it will continue to sell individual policies in all 159 counties. In other news, a New Hampshire paper reports indications that premiums could go up significantly and California Healthline examines which companies are enticing customers on that exchange.
Senators Mull Short-Term ‘Rescue’ Bill For Health Law To Stabilize Marketplace
The upper chamber is quietly working toward coming up with their own version of a plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. And Congress awaits the Congressional Budget Office’s score for the revised bill that passed the House.
‘Why The Hell Would We’ Continue Insurer Subsidy Payments, Trump Reported To Ask Advisers
Despite the potential political blowback, President Donald Trump is leaning toward cutting off billions in cost-sharing subsidies, according to sources who spoke to Politico. On Monday, there will be a hearing in the court case about the payments.
Hiring Freeze Leaves Nearly 700 Jobs Unfilled At CDC
The vacancies impact public health emergency readiness, infectious disease control and chronic disease prevention programs, The Washington Post reports. Other Trump administration moves at the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health also make headlines today.
Trump Budget Slashes Medicaid Funding, Rejecting Some Conservatives’ Pleas To Save Expansion
The White House also wants to give states more flexibility when it comes to imposing work requirements for people in the program.
