KFF Health News Weekly Edition: Dec. 15, 2023

‘Until It Is Fixed’: Congress Ramps Up Action on Social Security Clawbacks
By David Hilzenrath and Jodie Fleischer, Cox Media Group Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, vowed to meet monthly with Social Security officials until the problems surrounding overpayment demands are fixed.

Republicans Once Championed Public Health. What Happened?
By Julie Rovner It wasn’t that long ago that Republicans were all-in on boosting public health spending. “The highest investment priority in Washington should be to double the federal budget for scientific research,” former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) wrote in a 1999 op-ed in The Washington Post. Big spending increases for the National Institutes of Health soon […]

Millions in Opioid Settlement Funds Sit Untouched as Overdose Deaths Rise
By Katheryn Houghton and Aneri Pattani Some states haven't begun using opioid settlement funds intended to help curb the opioid epidemic. Meanwhile, more than 100,000 Americans died of an overdose last year.

As Foundation for ‘Excited Delirium’ Diagnosis Cracks, Fallout Spreads
By Renuka Rayasam and Markian Hawryluk and Samantha Young Major policy changes and disavowals have made this a watershed year for curbing the use of the discredited “excited delirium” diagnosis to explain deaths in police custody. Now the ripple effects are spreading across the country into court cases, state legislation, and police training classes.

LA County Invests Big in Free Virtual Mental Health Therapy for K-12 Students
By Molly Castle Work California is spending almost $5 billion to address a growing youth mental health crisis. In Los Angeles County, a contract with teletherapy provider Hazel Health is funding free therapy sessions for all interested students. School districts are grateful for the additional support, but express concerns about the remote arrangement.

Biology, Anatomy, and Finance? More Med Students Want Business Degrees Too
By Samantha Liss A majority of medical schools now offer dual MD-MBA programs, compared with just a quarter two decades ago. The number of medical students seeking a business degree has nearly tripled. This begs the question: Whom will these doctors serve more, patients or shareholders?

Millions of Dollars Flow From Pharma to Patient Advocacy Groups
By Rachana Pradhan Pharma money is all over the place — in universities, companies doing continuing medical education for doctors and in prominent patient advocacy organizations that are household names across America. Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy nonprofit, reports today that between 2010 and 2022, the drug industry’s main lobbying group and member companies provided at least $6 […]

Listen: What Our 2-Year-Long Investigation Into Medical Debt Reveals
By Noam N. Levey An award-winning project by KFF Health News and NPR found that at least 100 million people in the United States are saddled with medical bills they cannot pay — and exposed a health care system that systematically pushes people into debt.

Rift Over When to Use N95s Puts Health Workers at Risk Again
By Amy Maxmen The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering fuzzy guidelines on infection control in hospitals, critics say, leaving employers free to cut corners on N95 masks and other protective measures.

Gun Violence Is a Plague. Could Medicaid Help?
By Samantha Young To tackle America’s gun problem, a growing number of states are allowing Medicaid dollars to fund community-based violence programs intended to stop shootings. The idea is to boost resources for violence prevention programs, which have been overwhelmed in some cities by a spike in violent crime since the covid-19 pandemic.  An infusion of reliable funding, […]

People With Disabilities Hope Autonomous Vehicles Deliver Independence
By Tony Leys A pilot project in northern Minnesota aims to pave the way for fully autonomous vehicles to offer independence for people who can’t drive.

An Arm and a Leg: When Hospitals Sue Patients (Part 1)
By Dan Weissmann Some hospitals sue patients over unpaid medical bills. But is this even an effective way for hospitals to recoup lost revenue? On this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann speaks with medical-debt experts to explore a different solution.

What the Health? From KFF Health News: Abortion and SCOTUS, Together Again
The Supreme Court agreed this week to hear its first major case on abortion since overturning Roe v. Wade — one that could restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone, even in states where abortion remains legal. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers in the House and Senate finally moved to renew health programs that expired in October — but it’s likely too late to finish the job in 2023. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Riley Griffin of Bloomberg News, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews Jen Golbeck, a University of Maryland professor and social media superstar, about her new book, “The Purest Bond,” which lays out the science of the human-canine relationship.

‘Financial Ruin Is Baked Into the System’: Readers on the Costs of Long-Term Care
By Jordan Rau and Reed Abelson, The New York Times Thousands of people shared their experiences and related to the financial drain on families portrayed in the “Dying Broke” series, a joint project by KFF Health News and The New York Times that examined the costs of long-term care.

Journalists Delve Into Gun Violence, Medicaid’s ‘Unwinding,’ Opioid Lawsuits, and More
KFF Health News and California Healthline staffers made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

Watch: She Had a Home and a Good-Paying Job. Then Illness and Debt Upended It All.
By Noam N. Levey and Hannah Norman A chronic health diagnosis and medical debt reordered Sharon Woodward's life.

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