Latest KFF Health News Stories
Republicans Will Use Reconciliation Bill To Try To Repeal Health Law Taxes, Insurance Mandate
The procedural tool fast tracks the measure, avoiding a potential Senate filibuster. President Barack Obama would all-but-certainly veto the legislation. In other Obamacare news, Minnesota reveals 2016 premiums, a Louisiana co-op gets no relief from a federal program aimed at helping it survive and more health systems are jumping in to the insurance business.
Planned Parenthood Official, House GOP Lawmakers To Duel At Hearing
Tuesday’s hearing will be the first congressional appearance for representatives of the reproductive health organization since controversy emerged over its provision of fetal tissue for research.
Senate Clears First Hurdle To Averting A Government Shutdown
The Senate easily overcame a filibuster regarding a short-term spending bill that does not include a provision to defund Planned Parenthood. The chamber could vote as soon as today on that measure, and then send it to the House. The legislation must be passed by Oct. 1 in order to avoid a government shutdown.
Congressional Democrats Push For Answers On Valeant’s Price Hikes
The Canadian drug maker increased the price of two heart drugs by 525 percent and 212 percent the day it acquired their rights, prompting U.S. lawmakers to seek answers on the hikes.
First Edition: September 29, 2015
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Owner’s Price Hike For Drug Spotlights Concerns; Ky. Gov. Hails Medicaid Plan
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Health care stories are reported from California, Texas, Oklahoma, Connecticut, New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.
Community Health Groups Unsure Of Their Role In N.Y. Medicaid
In the meantime, firms in Iowa that want to help run the Medicaid program there face questions of fraud or unethical medical practices.
Illinois Hospital’s Plan To Merge Pediatric, Adult ERs Scrutinized
Elsewhere, a Cleveland Clinic lab — at Marymount Hospital — gets an overhaul after problems, women’s health is targeted in new Minnesota medical facilities and trauma workers’ spend time reflecting after a death at one Virginia hospital.
Abortion Rights Group Asks Okla. Supreme Court To Stop Forthcoming Abortion Law
The group says the law, which goes into effect Nov. 1, is unfair to doctors and medical facilities. In St. Louis, abortion opponents seek transcripts from 911 calls and ambulance reports from the city fire department’s dealings with a Planned Parenthood clinic, and the Supreme Court may take up a Texas abortion case on abortion restrictions there.
Safe Drinking Water Was A Public Health Achievement. Now, Decaying Systems Need Replacement
The Associated Press launches a special report on how failing infrastructure, mismanaged funding and local government troubles have endangered the U.S. water system.
ACOs Produce Mixed Results In Arizona
Sixty percent of the experimental partnerships between doctors and hospitals to coordinate care did not save Medicare money in 2014, the Arizona Republic reports. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal has an interview with the new chief executive of the Geisinger Health System.
Growth In Elderly Population Spurs Concerns About Lack Of Caregivers And Services
The Wall Street Journal and New York Times offer articles analyzing the challenges seniors face.
Paperwork, Insurance, Monitoring Changes Coming In New Medical Coding System
The switch to the new ICD-10 system will mean more than 70,000 classification descriptions that doctors must choose from in order to get paid. In other medical practice news, The Wall Street Journal looks at how doctors may approach end-of-life conversations, and a researcher looks at stopping medical diagnostic errors.
Health Care Stocks Tumble, Lead Overall Market Drop
Among the losses are drugmakers’ stocks, after Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton proposed reining in drug prices. In the meantime, a unit of Johnson & Johnson accuses a company that finances hip surgeries of price gouging.
Can Feds Do A Better Job Negotiating Drug Prices Than Insurers?
CNN Money examines the pros and cons of the government gaining bargaining power with pharmaceutical companies. In other drug industry news, The Boston Globe reports on biotech firms’ adoption of a Hollywood model for developing new medicines while The Associated Press looks into the complicated formulas that drive drug costs.
As John Roberts marks his 10th year on the bench, news outlets examine growing concerns from right-leaning pundits and activists that the chief justice is moving to the left, despite his conservative record. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court will decide whether to take up the case challenging Obamacare’s contraception mandate in the upcoming term.
Insurers Escape Paying Penalties That Should Have Been Levied By IRS, Report Finds
Meanwhile, news outlet report on the challenge of reaching the remaining 33 million uninsured, Rep. Elijah Cummings’ speech on universal health care, Alaska lawmakers’ meeting to reconsider their Medicaid-expansion lawsuit and the expected premium announcements in Minnesota.
Regulators Shut Down N.Y. Health Co-Op
Health Republic Insurance of New York, the nation’s largest nonprofit insurer that grew out of a provision of the 2010 health law, lost $52.7 million in the first six months of this year on top of $77.5 million in losses in 2014. It is the fourth such co-op to collapse in recent months.
Boehner Lashes Out At Republican Hardliners, Says The Gov’t Will Stay Open
News outlets report on House Speaker John Boehner’s Sunday morning talk show appearances during which he talked about his decision to resign from Congress and his frustration with others who encourage members to pursue strategies that “are never going to happen.”
