Weekly Edition: Jan. 2-5, 2017
Maine Voters Chose Medicaid Expansion. Why Is Their Governor Resisting?
By Sarah Varney
Even though voters in Maine decided to expand Medicaid through a ballot measure, the law's fate is still unclear. Gov. Paul LePage says the Legislature must find funds for it without raising taxes. Advocates say the law is on their side and expansion must be implemented.
Trump Administration Rule Paves Way For Association Health Plans
By Julie Appleby
Proponents say the proposed regulation will give some consumers more affordable insurance options. Critics warn that the coverage could be less comprehensive.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ While You Were Celebrating …
In this episode of “What The Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Paige Winfield Cunningham of The Washington Post, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss this week’s news, including release of the administration’s new rules on association health plans, as well as some health-related court rulings and other events that happened around the holidays.
Medicare
Half Of Hospitals In Conn., Del. Hit By Medicare’s Safety Penalties
By Jordan Rau
Seven states saw a third or more of their hospitals punished under the federal heath law’s campaign against hospital-acquired conditions.
Trump Administration Relaxes Financial Penalties Against Nursing Homes
By Jordan Rau
Medicare is discouraging regional offices from levying fines for “one-time mistakes” or from using daily fines that seek to put pressure on nursing homes to make changes.
Cloud Of Uncertainty Over Legalized Pot As Feds End Obama-Era Accommodation
By Anna Gorman and Phil Galewitz
Officials in marijuana-friendly states reacted strongly to new guidance from U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions giving federal prosecutors leeway to crack down on cannabis.
High Praise: Pot Churches Proliferate As States Ease Access To Marijuana
By Barbara Feder Ostrov
Churches that offer marijuana as a sacrament are popping up across California and the U.S., vexing state and local officials who say they’re simply pot shops in disguise.
Wrecked And Retching: Obscure Vomiting Illness Linked To Long-Term Pot Use
By Pauline Bartolone
Emergency room doctors are seeing a growing number of marijuana users with a mysterious condition that causes extreme vomiting and abdominal pain.
Pharmacists Slow To Dispense Lifesaving Overdose Drug
By Anna Gorman
Laws in California and most other states allow pharmacists to provide naloxone to patients or their friends without a doctor’s prescription. But many don’t do so, citing lack of demand and awareness among patients, their own fears of insufficient compensation and the challenges of treating opioid users.
From Retirement To The Front Lines Of Hepatitis C Treatment
By Julio Ochoa, WUSF
This doctor came out of retirement with the goal of treating every patient at high risk for hepatitis C he encounters. The problem is finding them.
Sickle Cell Patients, Families And Doctors Face A ‘Fight For Everything’
By Jenny Gold
Premature death, a dearth of treatments, mistreatment in emergency rooms and a woeful lack of funding are just a few of the problems confronting people with sickle cell disease.
Reverberations From War Complicate Vietnam Veterans’ End-Of-Life Care
By April Dembosky, KQED
Vietnam veterans’ wartime experiences — and their lasting psychological toll — can make it harder to treat their physical and emotional pain as they approach death.
‘Put The Fire Under Us’: Church Spurs Parishioners To Plan For Illness And Death
By Melissa Bailey
Pastor Gloria White-Hammond wants to get all 600 congregants to write down their end-of-life wishes and discuss them with their families.
Terrifying Brush With Death Drives Doctor To Fight For Patients
By Michelle Andrews
Dr. Rana Awdish was completing a fellowship in critical care when she became critically ill herself. Now, she helps other doctors understand the patient’s perspective.
Frail Patients Losing Access To Dental House Calls
By Ana B. Ibarra and Heidi de Marco
Dental hygienists who treat frail and elderly residents in nursing homes and other facilities are dropping out of California’s publicly funded dental program for the poor because of recent changes that cut their pay and create more administrative hurdles.
Readers Have Bones To Pick, From Health System Flaws To Covering Pot Beat
Kaiser Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.