Weekly Edition: April 6, 2018
Patient Advocacy Groups Take In Millions From Drugmakers. Is There A Payback?
By Emily Kopp and Sydney Lupkin and Elizabeth Lucas
Kaiser Health News launches “Pre$cription for Power,” a groundbreaking database to expose Big Pharma’s ties to patient groups.
Medicaid Minus Stigma: In Indian Country, It’s Part Of The Fabric Of Life
By Phil Galewitz and Heidi de Marco
McKinley County, N.M., has the nation’s highest rate of Medicaid enrollment, and people there say it is vital to battle daunting economic and public health challenges.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Alive And Limping: ACA In The Age Of Trump
In this special episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo take a deep dive into the state of the federal health law, what happened in 2017 and the Affordable Care Act's viability going forward.
Timeline: Despite GOP’s Failure To Repeal Obamacare, The ACA Has Changed
By Julie Rovner
A look at the most consequential events that have reshaped the federal health law since President Donald Trump was inaugurated.
Americans Have Mixed Feelings About The ACA’s Future — But Like Their Plans
By Rachel Bluth
Most people who buy insurance on the individual market say they are motivated by concerns about high medical bills and a desire for peace of mind — not the law’s requirement that they have coverage, according to a new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Older Americans Are Hooked On Vitamins Despite Scarce Evidence They Work
By Liz Szabo
Sixty-eight percent of those 65 and older take vitamin supplements. Much of what we once believed about the benefits is wrong.
Medicare Advantage Plans Cleared To Go Beyond Medical Coverage — Even Groceries
By Susan Jaffe
Under new federal rules unveiled this week, these privately run alternatives to traditional Medicare might provide air conditioners, rides to medical appointments and home-delivered meals.
Don’t Get Tripped Up By The IRS Tweak To Health Savings Accounts
By Michelle Andrews
A new federal calculation reduces by $50 the amount a family can put aside in 2018 in these accounts to pay medical bills. Anyone who has already funded the account at a higher level will need to adjust or deal with the tax consequences next year.
‘Nightmare Bacteria’ Stalk U.S. Hospitals
By Liz Szabo
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found antibiotic-resistant bacteria whose spread has “outpaced” efforts to contain them.
Psychiatrist Stays Close To Home And True To Her Childhood Promise
By Anna Gorman and Heidi de Marco
Yamanda Edwards is the only psychiatrist at Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital, caring for residents in South Los Angeles, a community with a shortage of mental health care.
Staying Alive: How To Fight An Opioid Addiction
By Emily Bazar
First of all, make sure you have an overdose reversal drug handy. Then prepare for years of vigilance and long-term medication.
Atlanta Struggles To Meet MLK’s Legacy On Health Care
By Virginia Anderson
Fifty years after the death of Martin Luther King Jr., his hometown still has major disparities in mortality and other measures of health.
To Treat Pain, PTSD And Other Ills, Tennessee Vets Try Tai Chi
By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio
In hopes of reducing an over-reliance on pills for anxiety and pain, the Department of Veterans Affairs has taken a turn toward alternative medicine.