Latest KFF Health News Stories
Aggressive Battle To Defund Planned Parenthood Being Fought On State Level
Instead of trying to push defunding through on a national level, activists have taken their strategy to the states, and laws aimed at blocking money to the nation’s largest abortion provider and creating more restrictions on clinics are piling up across the country.
FBI Investigating Cyber Virus That Paralyzed Major Hospital Chain Medstar
The breach comes just weeks after similar cyberattacks on at least three other medical institutions in California and Kentucky, and The Washington Post looks at the reasons why hackers target health care providers.
As Medicare Stifles PSA Testing Penalties, It Signals Interest In Reviving The Issue Later
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services says in its statement that it will continue to solicit input “to determine whether a restructured, appropriate-use PSA measure should be developed.” Also, a look at new efforts by the agency to make sure beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage plans can keep their doctors.
Blood Test Could Clear Uncertainty That Envelops Concussion Diagnosis
Researchers have discovered that the levels of a certain biomarker changed with a traumatic head injury, which has always been tricky to diagnose because of, among other things, delayed symptoms.
Special Clinics Emerge To Help Children With Complex Medical Conditions
“Care for these kids is unbelievably time-consuming and labor-intensive, and there is no way in the current system there is enough financial incentive for providers to do this,” says Dr. Jay Berry, a physician and researcher in the Complex Care Service at Boston Children’s Hospital and assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. In other news, new studies find that preemies face struggles even after infancy.
A Troubled New York Hospital Seeks To Rebound
Elsewhere, the Federal Trade Commission will pause its challenge of a proposed West Virginia hospital merger while it examines a state law which would protect the arrangement from anti-trust issues, and a new study finds the number of out-of-hospital births in the U.S. is on the rise.
Outgoing Valeant CEO To Testify At Senate Drug Pricing Hearing
In other Valeant news, investors in Sprout — the female libido pill — are charging that the company, which bought the product, failed to properly commercialize it. Also, the federal government is seeking records from Novartis regarding physician “wining and dining” related to cardiovascular drugs and the first case of HIV infection in someone taking the preventive Truvada has been recorded.
Idaho Governor Rules Out Special Session Or Executive Action For Medicaid Expansion
Gov. Butch Otter says instead he will work with a legislative committee studying the issue. Also, news on expansion issues in New Hampshire and Virginia.
HHS Touts Drug Treatment, Mental Health Benefits Of Medicaid Expansion
A new report released by the Department of Health and Human Services says there are 2 million people with either a mental illness or a substance abuse disorder that could be helped in the 20 states that have not expanded Medicaid. Media outlets from Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, Idaho and Utah also offer coverage of report.
Obama To Announce Plan To Combat Opioid Epidemic
The proposed rule would double the number of patients to whom physicians can prescribe buprenorphine, a medication used to help addicted people reduce or quit their use of heroin or painkillers.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Obamacare As An Election Issue; The Health Industry As Job Creator?
A selection of opinions from around the country.
News outlets report on health issues in Illinois, Delaware, Oklahoma, Ohio, California, Wisconsin, Florida and Connecticut.
Kansas Lawmakers Adjourn Without Vote On Medicaid Funding Bill To Help Nursing Homes
The legislature may take up the bill when it returns for a veto session. At the same time, state officials announced a plan to help the nursing homes by improving the processing of Medicaid applications for the facilities’ residents.
Rural Areas Face Health Challenges
A NewsHour report examines the difficulties in eastern Kentucky — ranging from limited access to care to poverty and unhealthy lifestyles — that add to the uphill nature of public health strategies to reverse a trend in which the region’s low life-expectancy is five years lower than the rest of the nation. Wisconsin’s rural counties, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, also fare poorly when compared with the rest of the state’s health statistics.
Report Links More Patients’ Illnesses, Deaths To Medical Scopes’ Contamination
A regulatory report by device manufacturer Olympus Corp. found that hospitals have continued to use the medical device that was recalled in January. Meanwhile, a lawsuit is filed against another company’s medical device used to treat aneurysms.
Studies Find High Rates Of Errors In Medical Billing
Some employers are offering advocacy services to help consumers monitor their bills and deal with mistakes. Also in the news, a look at the cost of a shingles vaccination and how that plays out for Medicare beneficiaries versus private insurance consumers.
Medicaid Safety Net, Family Dynamics Play Into Decline Of Long-Term Care Insurance
Only about 8 million Americans, of the almost 45 million who are 65 and older, have such long-term care insurance. Meanwhile, mental and emotional stumbling blocks may be preventing people from opening health savings accounts.
Physicians Concerned Indiana’s Fetal-Defect Abortion Ban Could Imperil Their Patients’ Lives
Last week, Gov. Mike Pence signed the bill, under which doctors could face a wrongful-death lawsuit if they grant an abortion to a woman after she’s heard about a health complication with the fetus. They say the legislation could lead to patients withholding information from their health care providers. In other news from the states, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed a law that blocks funding to clinics for preventive services if they also provide abortion, and a federal judge strikes down Alabama’s admitting privileges law.
Scientists Worry Rising Tide Of State Anti-Abortion Laws Could Stymie Zika Research
They say the information they need to battle the outbreak is tied to fetal tissue, but the list continues to grow of states that are enacting restrictions on the donation of the tissue. In other Zika news, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issues new guidance on how long people should wait to try to conceive after they’ve been infected, Brazil is seizing abortion drugs meant for women who are at risk, and San Diego has its first case where the virus was transmitted sexually.
