Latest KFF Health News Stories
Taking Stock Of The Repeal-And-Replace Effort
Editorial writers and columnists detail how this push by the Trump administration and the new GOP Congress is moving forward.
Perspectives On The Price Nomination
The debate over the ethical issues in play continue as Congress considers President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Longer Looks: Repeal And Replace; IUDs After Trump; And Ultrasound Politics
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Outlets report on news from Pennsylvania, California, Virginia, Minnesota, Kansas, Texas, Louisiana, Arizona and Florida.
States Reconsider Traditional Sobriety Tests For Identifying Drivers High On Marijuana
Flunking tests like walking a straight line can identify drunkenness, but defense attorneys dispute their ability to identify someone driving under the influence of pot. Meanwhile, Colorado and Florida consider medical marijuana rules.
Health Leaders Push To Get Naloxone Into Hands Of Those Who Use Opioids
“They are the ones most likely to save someone,” Savannah O’Neill, a coordinator of an Overdose Prevention Education and Naloxone Distribution Project in California. In other news on the crisis, a woman in New Hampshire is suing the physician’s assistant that prescribed her a powerful painkiller.
After Years Of Progress In Cutting Back, Americans’ Soda Drinking Habits Plateau
Children are getting the same amount of calories from sugary beverages today that they were in 2009.
Lawmakers Seek To Relax Gun Restrictions For Those Deemed Mentally Impaired
The rule, issued in December in response to the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, applies to recipients of disability insurance and supplemental security income who require a representative to manage their benefits because of a disabling mental disorder, ranging from anxiety to schizophrenia. In other public health news, a common test for herpes is leading to false diagnoses, a study looks at what factors may contribute to early menopause, officials warn of a possible outbreak of the bird flu and the National Hockey League turns a blind eye to chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
Judge Temporarily Blocks HHS Rule On Charity Payments For Insurance To Cover Dialysis
U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant in Sherman, Texas, is holding the rule up while he considers a case brought by dialysis providers and patients. In his order, he says the groups are likely to win the case because the rule, issued by the Obama administration last month, was “arbitrary and capricious.”
Advocates In Maine File Petitions To Put Medicaid Expansion Referendum On Ballot
An expansion measure has passed the Maine legislature five times but has been vetoed by the governor repeatedly. Also, Georgia lawmakers are considering renewing a fee on hospitals to help cover Medicaid costs, and Bloomberg examines what Medicaid might look like under Republican proposals.
Insurers, Health Care Providers Press Congress To Keep Medicare’s Value-Based Payments
The coalition is seeking to continue a move away from Medicare’s traditional fee-for-service model. Also, several groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association, announce plans to lobby insurers to streamline prior authorization procedures.
Trump’s ‘Mexico City’ Abortion Order Could Affect 15 Times The Funding Of Previous Ones
Because of the broad language used in the executive order, the ban on federal funds could apply to all global health assistance programs instead of just family planning programs funded by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Meanwhile, Democratic senators are trying to block the order.
Trump Flexing Executive Muscle, But Lack Of Communication With Agencies May Undercut Orders
The president has signed a flurry of executive orders, but the agencies responsible for carrying them out, including the Department of Health and Human Services, have been left mostly in the dark. Meanwhile, Environmental Protection Agency officials say Flint funding won’t be affected by the freeze on the agency.
Vulnerable D.C. Stands To Lose Billions If Health Law Is Dismantled
Nearly 40 percent of the District’s population relies on Medicaid, so if it loses federal aid, the results would be devastating to the city and its residents. Outlets report on the potential impact of the health law’s repeal in Connecticut and California as well.
15% Of Primary Care Doctors Favor Repeal
The post-election survey shows little support among primary care doctors for the Republicans’ plans to dismantle the health law, although many physicians want changes in the current law.
Republicans Promise To Tackle Repeal And Replace By End Of March
Congressional Republicans are meeting with the president in Philadelphia to discuss plans to dismantle the health law. They’ve set an aggressive timetable, after admitting they’re going to miss the previous one — Jan. 27 — that they set for themselves.
First Edition: January 26, 2017
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Thoughts On Tom Price’s Stock Holdings And Congressional Ethics
Opinion writers scrutinize how health industry investments held by Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., as a member of Congress impact his nomination to be the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Repealing, Replacing And What About Medicaid?
In opinion pages across the country, editorials analyze the directions in play regarding effort to repeal and replace the health law, and how Medicaid could become a tool in GOP efforts to overhaul the health care system and the safety net.
