Latest KFF Health News Stories
Medical Groups Alarmed By ‘Abortion Reversal’ Promises, Legislation
Anti-abortion groups are promoting bills that require doctors to tell patients who are taking pills to induce an abortion that if they have regrets, they can stop the procedure after taking the first pill. But many in the medical community warn that advice is based on a small anecdotal report and has no serious scientific standing. Meanwhile, the Alabama legislature is debating a ban on a common abortion method.
Novartis Profits Fall With Competition From Generic Cancer Drug
Meanwhile, GlaxoSmithKline is in search of a new CEO and the excitement surrounding a new cholesterol drug is turning into panic over price tag concerns.
Senators Hopeful Zika Funding Agreement Is In Sight
Top Appropriations Committee Democrat Barbara Mikulski of Maryland said the Zika issue is “in play” for a vote at the panel’s Thursday hearing. In other Zika news, a Los Angeles Times reporter takes readers to the frontline of the outbreak in Brazil, and Seattle experts talk about just how severe the birth defects caused by the virus are.
GOP Unveils Documents At Fetal Tissue Hearing, But Dems Say They’re Recycled And Misleading
Wednesday’s Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives hearing on the issue devolved into the two sides arguing whether the evidence was ground breaking or even valid.
Program Targets Residents’ Views And Stresses When It Comes To End-Of-Life Care
Rising doctors learn new skills in dealing with terminally ill patients and their families. Meanwhile, The Associated Press offers the key things to know for doctor-patient conversations on critical care options.
Release Of Hospital Quality Ratings Delayed By Medicare Amid Lawmaker, Lobbying Pressure
This week’s expected release of the latest star ratings by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is postponed until July following congressional and industry questions about the methodology.
Busy Week For Insurance Companies Highlights Evolving Landscape For The Industry
UnitedHealth is pulling out of all but a few Obamacare markets, Cigna is heading in the opposite direction with plans to expand, and Anthem is pursing a collaborative approach to working with hospitals. The changes show a fluid marketplace as companies race to find the best way to cut costs and improve care.
Ark. Senate Passes Bill That Would Allow Governor To Extend Medicaid Expansion
The legislation now goes to the House. Opponents warn that Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s controversial strategy for the bill could invoke lawsuits. Meanwhile, in Kansas, the hospitals and others are frustrated by the lack of progress for a bill to expand the program that provides health coverage to low-income residents.
Health Law Benefits Reaching Poor Americans’ Wallets, Study Finds
New research shows that many poor Americans’ financial woes have been eased by the expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, but experts are unable to show if it has made low-income people any healthier.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
A selection of opinions from around the country.
News outlets report on health issues in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Florida.
Texas Asks Federal Officials To Renew Medicaid Funds For Hospitals
The funding, which helps hospitals cover uncompensated care for patients without insurance, is supposed to be reduced under the health law because Medicaid expansion would cover many of those patients. But Texas did not expand its Medicaid program. Also, a look at how the Labor Department’s new overtime rule is affecting health care providers, and North Carolina officials seek residents’ views on changes to Medicaid there.
Michigan AG To Announce Criminal Charges In Flint Water Crisis, Sources Say
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette could file charges against as many as four people in connection with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the city of Flint.
Cancer Advocacy Groups Come Out Swinging For ‘Moonshot’ Resources
There has long been competition in the cancer community for funds and attention, but now that the nation’s focus has been directed to the cause, the fight to not be left out has intensified.
‘Smokeless Doesn’t Mean Harmless’: FDA Launches $36M Campaign Against Chewing Tobacco
The Food and Drug Administration’s Mitch Zeller, director of the agency’s tobacco program, says smokeless tobacco is culturally ingrained in rural areas as a rite of passage, and that many of those young people don’t fully understand the health effects of the habit.
Opioid Epidemic Casts Shadow On Marijuana Legalization In New England
Marijuana advocates have turned their attention to the fairly liberal enclave of northeastern states, but the region has been particularly hard hit by the opioid crisis making residents and lawmakers skittish on the topic. Meanwhile, Maine regulators are considering marijuana as an alternative to prescription pain killers, and a Minnesota senator is trying to increase access to naloxone, an anti-overdose drug.
Life Expectancy Dips For White Women: Statistical Blip Or ‘Harbinger Of Things To Come’?
Recent reports show an increase in suicides, overdoses and unintentional poisonings — which is mainly alcohol and drug poisoning — but researchers say they need more data in years to come to determine if the drop is significant.
Johnson & Johnson’s Prescription Drug Revenue Boosts Quarterly Earnings
In other pharmaceutical news, a health plan shifts its hepatitis C stance amid outcry that the expensive drug is being covered only when the disease becomes life-threatening, Express Scripts files off a volley of its own in Anthem contract dispute, and the Food and Drug Administration’s new chief says the agency shouldn’t distance itself too far from the industry it regulates.
Massachusetts Physicians Work Around Insurance Companies
Meanwhile, two Wisconsin insurers begin a partnership.
