Latest KFF Health News Stories
For First Time, Majority Of Physicians Don’t Own Their Practice
The changing economics of the health care industry in the country has shifted doctors toward joining larger practices or health systems.
Louisiana Gambles On Experimental Cancer Proton Therapy In Hopes Of Becoming Medical Tourism Hub
The state promises $10.6 million to two companies to help subsidize the construction of centers in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. In other cancer treatment news, KHN reports on a substantial decline in research supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Scientists May Have Cracked The Code On How We’re So Good At Recognizing Faces
The researchers studied the parts of the brain that are triggered by aspects of a face, and were able to map out a predicted picture of the person based on just looking at those cells that lit up.
Using Stem Cells To Reverse Death: Cruel Quackery Or A Glimmer Of Hope For The Hopeless?
One company wants to pursue research on such a treatment for patients who are declared brain dead, but legal and ethical questions abound. In other public health news: music and grammar, strokes in young adults, brain stimulation, Ebola, Zika and more.
Recovery Coaches Tap Into Own Experience To Help Those With Opioid Addictions
Several states are implementing programs centered around counselors who have been through the experience themselves. “My job is to open myself up and be like a toolbox for them,” Tarik Arafat says. In other news, a son’s final letter to his parents reveals the painful struggle of getting sober, and Ohio’s lieutenant governor talks about how the epidemic has hit close to home for him.
Public Health Experts Dismayed At Trump’s ‘Reckless’ Decision To Pull Out Of Paris Accord
A warmer planet will bring more air pollution, fuel the spread of infectious diseases and increase the incidence of certain cancers, among many other things, they warn. “Climate change is perhaps the most important public health issue of our time,” said Mary Pittman, the president and CEO of the Public Health Institute.
Price, Who Owned Drug Stocks, Allegedly Pushed Australians On Policies To Benefit Drugmakers
A congressional aide tells ProPublica that Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, while still in Congress in 2016 and visiting Australia, put pressure on officials there to change their position so that drugmakers could keep their data protected for 12 years instead of five.
Single-Payer Marches Forward In California, But Sky-High Price Tag Threatens To Trip It Up
The proposal passed the state Senate and now heads to the Assembly, but with few details on how to foot the $400-billion-a-year cost for the plan, the prospects don’t look too sunny.
GOP Senators From States With Large Medicaid Populations Face Tough Choices On ACA
As the Senate prepares for a debate on replacing the Affordable Care Act, some Republican senators will be torn between their party’s strong stand against the law and the benefits it has brought to their states. In other news, The Wall Street Journal analyzes how President Donald Trump’s budget will affect Medicaid.
Pa. Insurance Chief Says Low Premium Rate Requests Show State’s ACA Market ‘Is Stabilizing’
Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller announces that the average increase sought by plans on the Obamacare marketplaces in Pennsylvania is 8.8 percent but that could go up to 36 percent if the Trump administration fails to continue to enforce the health law’s individual mandate or pay subsidies to insurers for low-income customers. Insurers in other states are also weighing how events in Washington will affect their rates.
Republican Senator: ‘I Don’t See A Comprehensive Health Care Plan This Year’
Sen. Richard Burr (R., N.C.) paints a pessimistic picture of the upper chamber’s chances of moving forward on health care when members get back from recess. Meanwhile, some lawmakers mull taxing employer-sponsored health plans, but that idea would meet fierce resistance from companies. And past promises to lower premiums may come back haunt senators.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Improving On A ‘Good’ Death; Connecting Mental And Physical Health
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Perspectives: Much Ado About Medicaid; Undermining Obamacare’s Support
Opinion writers examine Medicaid issues from state and federal angles and offer their thoughts on a range of other health policy issues.
Longer Looks: West Va. Comes To Grips with Opioids; Aid In Dying
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from California, Georgia, Texas, New Hampshire, Florida, Kansas, Vermont and New York.
While Home Health Monitoring Tech Develops Quickly, Doctors And Hospitals Are Slower To Adopt
Market research firms predict that home health devices will grow into a $100-billion industry over the next five years. In related IT news, St. Louis Public Radio spotlights another device aimed at helping stroke patients.
VA Secretary Says Inability To Quickly Fire Staff Is A Vulnerability For Agency
Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin is asking Congress to draft accountability legislation to make the process easier. “Our accountability processes are clearly broken. We have to wait more than a month to fire a psychiatrist who was caught on camera watching pornography using his iPad while seeing a veteran,” Shulkin said.
As Sens. Portman And Toomey Seek To Forge Accord On Medicaid, Drug Treatments In Peril
The Republican senators are from two states heavily impacted by the opioid epidemic but have been found that the Medicaid expansion is helping cover treatment expenses. Overdose deaths rose 20.5 percent in 2015 in Ohio to 3,050 and 30 percent in Pennsylvania, to 3,500. Meanwhile, In Kansas, some people with disabilities fear possible cuts in Medicaid.
Consumer Protections Have Failed To Keep Up With IVF Technology, Leaving Patients Vulnerable
The emotion-ridden process is extremely expensive, but there’s little way for consumers to tell the reputable clinics from the ones that aren’t, which can create a devastating experience for the couples. In other public health news: depression in teenage girls, music and hearing, blood pressure, aging, and listeria.
