KFF Health News Weekly Edition: June 9, 2023

Dental Therapists Help Patients in Need of Care Avoid the Brush-Off
By Christina Saint Louis Dental therapists are licensed providers who offer basic care traditionally provided by dentists, including fillings and simple tooth extractions. But opposition from interest groups and the profession’s relative newness mean more than two-thirds of states don’t yet have them.

How the Mixed Messaging of Vaccine Skeptics Sows Seeds of Doubt
By Darius Tahir Some GOP members of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic have two-stepped around vaccine skepticism, proclaiming themselves to be pro-vaccine while also validating the beliefs of people who oppose vaccine mandates. The result could have serious public health consequences.

Massage Therapists Ease the Pain of Hospice Patients — But Aren’t Easy to Find
By Kate Ruder The pandemic disrupted the massage industry. Now those who specialize in hospice massage therapy are in demand and redefining their roles.

KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Debt Deal Leaves Health Programs (Mostly) Intact
The bipartisan deal to extend the U.S. government’s borrowing authority includes future cuts to federal health agencies, but they are smaller than many expected and do not touch Medicare and Medicaid. Meanwhile, Merck & Co. becomes the first drugmaker to sue Medicare officials over the federal health insurance program’s new authority to negotiate drug prices. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Lauren Weber of The Washington Post, and Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News senior correspondent Sarah Jane Tribble, who reported the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month” feature, about the perils of visiting the U.S. with European health insurance.

Personal Medical Debt in Los Angeles County Tops $2.6 Billion, Report Finds
By Molly Castle Work Medical debt is a leading public health problem, researchers say. Despite the county’s ongoing expansion of health coverage, the prevalence of medical debt remained unchanged from 2017 to 2021.

A Windfall in Health Insurance Rebates? It’s Not as Crazy as It Sounds
By Julie Appleby The billion-dollar amount cited by former Sen. Al Franken, while an estimate, is likely very close to what insurers will owe this year under a provision of the Affordable Care Act that compels rebates when insurers spend too little on actual medical care.

Burnout Threatens Primary Care Workforce and Doctors’ Mental Health
By Lauren Sausser Burnout is a widespread problem in the health care industry. Although the pandemic made things worse, burnout among doctors is a long-standing concern that health systems have become more focused on as they try to stop doctors from quitting or retiring early.

An Arm and a Leg: A ‘Payday Loan’ From a Health Care Behemoth
By Dan Weissmann UnitedHealth Group is the largest health insurer in the United States. And it keeps growing. This has led some health care experts to call for antitrust regulation of this “behemoth” company.

Recovery From Addiction Is a Journey. There’s No One-and-Done Solution.
By Bernard J. Wolfson Drug use has become a major public health crisis, but effective treatment remains hard to find. It does exist though. Columnist Bernard J. Wolfson offers advice on finding help and says not to expect a quick solution.

As Fewer MDs Practice Rural Primary Care, a Different Type of Doctor Helps Take Up the Slack
By Tony Leys The number of DOs is surging, and more than half of them practice in primary care, including in rural areas hit hard by doctor shortages.

Will a ‘National Patient Safety Board,’ Modeled After the NTSB, Actually Fly?
By Mary Chris Jaklevic A push is underway to create a National Patient Safety Board modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board, an independent federal agency that investigates plane crashes and other transportation disasters. But unlike the NTSB, some patient safety advocates say, the current proposal is toothless and wouldn’t provide transparency about the nation’s hospitals.

California Confronts the Threat of ‘Tranq’ as Overdose Crisis Rages
By Brian Rinker California officials are stepping up efforts to combat the spread of xylazine, a powerful animal sedative that’s increasingly being used by people, often with devastating results. It’s mostly been an East Coast phenomenon, but ‘tranq,’ as it is known, is beginning to appear in the Golden State.

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