Weekly Edition April 26, 2019
Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes
By Brianna Labuskes
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes wades through hundreds of health care policy stories each week, so you don't have to.
Patients Caught In Middle Of Fight Between Health Care Behemoths
By Steven Findlay
A legal battle in Pennsylvania is testing the boundaries of health care competition and government action to oversee and regulate it.
Pain Clinics’ Doctors Needlessly Tested Hundreds Of Urine Samples, Court Records Show
By Fred Schulte
Whistleblower lawsuits accuse Tennessee chain of bilking millions from Medicare for unnecessary urine drug tests.
Americans Overwhelmingly Want Federal Protections Against Surprise Medical Bills
By Jordan Rau
Three-quarters of people urge action to keep patients from facing high medical costs when their insurance doesn’t cover the care, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll.
Hospitals Chafe Under Medicare’s New Payment Rule For Off-Campus Clinics
By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez
Under the rule that took effect this year, Medicare will lower payments for clinic visits performed at hospital-owned facilities to a rate that is equivalent to what it pays an independent doctor. Federal officials expect the move will save the government $380 million this year.
Cancer Is Especially Dangerous For Immigrants In South Texas. Here’s Why.
By Charlotte Huff
When an undocumented immigrant in a Texas border county gets a cancer diagnosis, it can be a death sentence because of a lack of public hospitals.
Destination Limbo: Health Suffers Among Asylum Seekers In Crowded Border Shelter
By Heidi de Marco
Asylum seekers from Mexico and Central America, housed in migrant shelters in the border city of Tijuana, Mexico, are often sick and exhausted from their long journeys. Volunteer health workers from Southern California recently sent a mobile clinic to one of those shelters and spent a day tending to its inhabitants.
Hurricane Maria’s Legacy: Thousands Of Puerto Rican Students Show PTSD Symptoms
By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez
A survey of more than 96,000 students finds that 7.2% reported “clinically significant” symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a study in JAMA Network Open.
States Weigh Banning A Widely Used Pesticide Even Though EPA Won’t
By Ana B. Ibarra
The pesticide chlorpyrifos has been linked to developmental problems in children. Some state and federal lawmakers want the chemical banned, but federal regulators are fighting to keep it on the market.
Amid Opioid Prescriber Crackdown, Health Officials Reach Out To Pain Patients
By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio
After dozens of health care workers were charged with illegally prescribing opioids in Appalachia, local health agencies are trying to make sure chronic pain patients don't fall through the cracks.
The Homeless Are Dying In Record Numbers On The Streets Of L.A.
By Anna Gorman and Harriet Blair Rowan
Deaths of homeless people in Los Angeles County have jumped 76% in the past five years, outpacing the growth of the homeless population, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of the coroner’s data. Experts say drug and alcohol abuse are significant factors.
Klobuchar Wants To Stop ‘Pay-For-Delay’ Deals That Keep Drug Prices High
By Emmarie Huetteman
It’s as shady as it sounds.
Newsom: California Leads On Prescription Drugs
By Samantha Young
California Gov. Gavin Newsom claims that his state is “leading the nation in holding drug companies accountable and fighting prescription drug prices.” Is that really the case?
Researchers Seek Sage Advice Of Elders On Aging Issues
By Judith Graham
The Bureau of Sages, a group of frail, older adults, gives feedback to researchers about what matters to older adults.
In 10 Years, Half Of Middle-Income Elders Won’t Be Able To Afford Housing, Medical Care
By Victoria Knight
An eye-opening study of demographics and income finds that the costs of assisted-living care will soon be out of reach for people on fixed incomes — and their children.
Association Insurance Pushes On Despite Court Ruling
By Julie Appleby
Judge cited an attempted “end-run” around the Affordable Care Act in rejecting large chunks of a new rule expanding access to such plans for small businesses and single proprietors.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ The Abortion Wars Rage On
Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss the latest news about women’s reproductive health policy and the latest skirmish in the debate over “Medicare-for-all”: how hospitals should be paid.