Weekly Edition: October 19, 2018
Drugmakers Funnel Millions To Lawmakers; A Few Dozen Get $100,000-Plus
By Emmarie Huetteman and Sydney Lupkin
Drugmakers' contributions to lawmakers have peaked as surging drug prices emerge as a hot-button political issue. In the past decade, Congress has received nearly $79 million from 68 pharma PACs, run by employees of companies that make drugs treating everything from cancer to erectile dysfunction.
Pharma Cash to Congress
By Elizabeth Lucas and KFF Health News Staff
A KFF Health News database tracks campaign donations from drugmakers over the past 10 years.
TV Ads Must Trumpet Drug Prices, Trump Administration Says. Pharma Tries A Plan B.
By Shefali Luthra and Sarah Jane Tribble
Drug pricing is a top issue in the run-up to the midterm elections.
Medicare For All? CMS Chief Warns Program Has Enough Problems Already
By Phil Galewitz
Seema Verma, who heads the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, tells private insurance officials that a push by some Democrats to expand Medicare would only increase troubles the program already faces.
Health Care Tops Guns, Economy As Voters’ Top Issue
By Phil Galewitz
Nearly three-quarters of voters say that health care is the most important issue for them, but fewer than half are hearing much from candidates about it, according to a poll released by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Republicans’ Preexisting Political Problem
In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Stephanie Armour of The Wall Street Journal and Joanne Kenen of Politico discuss how protections for people with preexisting conditions have become a top issue in the elections, Trump administration efforts to make prescription drug prices more public and the start of Medicare’s annual open-enrollment period. Plus, Rovner interviews California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
GOP Gubernatorial Candidate John Cox: Limit Government In Health Care
By Samantha Young
John Cox, California’s Republican candidate for governor, contends that policies on abortion, health insurance and health care access should be guided by the conservative ideals of free market competition and personal responsibility. He hasn’t offered specific policy positions on health care, except that government should largely stay out of it.
Children’s Hospitals Again Cry For Help From Voters. But Are They Really Hurting?
By Ana B. Ibarra
California’s 13 children’s hospitals are asking voters in November to approve $1.5 billion in bonds to help them pay for construction and equipment, the third such measure in 14 years. Some health care experts and election analysts believe the repeated financial requests aren’t justified.
Medicare Advantage Riding High As New Insurers Flock To Sell To Seniors
By Phil Galewitz
The private health plans that are an alternative to government-run Medicare continue to grow despite the Affordable Care Act’s cuts of billions of dollars in funding.
Who Knew? Life Begins (Again) At 65
By Bruce Horovitz
Turning 65 is far more life-changing than turning 21 ever was.
Mysterious Polio-Like Illness Baffles Medical Experts While Frightening Parents
By Carmen Heredia Rodriguez
Federal health officials are investigating 127 cases of the disease, called acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM.
As U.S. Suicide Rates Rise, Hispanics Show Relative Immunity
By Charlotte Huff
Support from family and community appear to shield Latinos from rising suicide rates, researchers say.
Influential Leapfrog Group Jumps In To Rate 5,600 Surgery Centers
By Christina Jewett
In the wake of a KHN/USA Today Network investigation, Leapfrog will check the safety and quality of outpatient centers.
FDA Allows Food Makers To Fortify Corn Masa To Halt Birth Defects, But Few Do
By JoNel Aleccia
The decision aimed at adding folic acid — a vitamin that can prevent devastating defects of the brain, spine or spinal cord — to flours, chips and tortillas hasn’t caught on with many makers of widely used corn products.
States Act To Safeguard Young Cancer Patients’ Chances To Have Children
By Michelle Andrews
Fighting cancer often involves toxic therapies that can cause infertility. In the past couple of years, five states have moved to require that plans pay for services such as egg removal and storage.
As Billions In Tax Dollars Flow To Private Medicaid Plans, Who’s Minding The Store?
By Chad Terhune and Heidi de Marco
Insurance companies profit from government contracts but are subject to little oversight of how they spend the money or care for patients. The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act has only exacerbated the problem.
Facebook Live: What About Those Sky-High Air Ambulance Costs?
This Facebook Live discussion explores an aspect of the health care cost continuum that often flies below the radar.
Listen: Health Care Issues Reverberate In The States
Although many health policies are set in Washington, states also have a big stake in making sure their residents have access to affordable and effective health care. Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News joins a panel on the 1A radio broadcast looking at recent moves by states on health issues.