Latest KFF Health News Stories
The Guggenheim’s decision follows in the footsteps of Britain’s National Portrait Gallery and the Tate Museum in cutting off ties with the family’s charitable arm. The Sacklers are currently mired in a court battle over their role in the opioid epidemic.
Twice in recent months, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has sided with liberal justices in abortion cases–a sign that to some suggests that the court isn’t likely to rewrite its longstanding holding, laid down in Roe v. Wade, that a woman has a constitutional right to an abortion before the fetus attains viability. Meanwhile, there’s a growing push on the Democrats’ side to allow abortion coverage in publicly funded health programs. And in Ohio, health officials cut off funding to Planned Parenthood following court ruling over public money going to the group.
For all the attacks it weathers, the health care system makes up a fifth of the nation’s economy and is quite baked into the country’s landscape. Completely upending that would be a large disruption at the level that experts say is unprecedented. Meanwhile, despite other countries having “universal coverage” in concept, their systems are different enough from the “Medicare for All” proposals that have gained steam in the U.S. that they don’t really serve as helpful models.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health topics and others.
Editorial pages focus on these health policies and others.
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from D.C., Texas, Rhode Island, New York, Wisconsin, Iowa, Arizona, Ohio, Florida, Minnesota, California, Missouri, Louisiana, Maryland and Massachusetts.
News from state legislatures comes out of Louisiana, Iowa, New York, Minnesota, Connecticut, Florida and California.
An analysis finds that 78 percent of all individuals included in genomic studies of disease up to 2018 were of European descent. In other public health news: loneliness in teens, childhood trauma, trigger warnings, cancer and vaccines by mail.
“Fertility issues for kids with cancer were ignored” for years, said University of Pittsburgh reproductive scientist Kyle Orwig. “Many of us dream of growing up and having our own families. We hope our research will help these young patients to do that.” Until now, boys hadn’t had a realistic option to preserve their fertility, but that may be changing.
House Democrats Want More Information On Sackler Family’s Role In Opioid Epidemic
The family that found Purdue Pharma has come under intense scrutiny as of late after it was revealed just how deeply involved some of the members were in the early aggressive marketing tactics pursued by the opioid-maker. Meanwhile, an advocacy group is calling on the FDA to impose a moratorium on approving new opioids.
A report warns that artificial intelligence can be easily duped with tiny pieces of data. The authors say bad actors could hack into records and make it seem like there’s an illness there that isn’t. But more likely is that doctors, hospitals and other organizations could manipulate the A.I. in billing or insurance software in an effort to maximize the money coming their way. In other health technology news: a day of reckoning is coming for digital health, the FDA calls for tighter security of electronic health records following a KHN report, and data breaches from the states.
NYC Mayor and potential 2020 presidential hopeful Bill de Blasio is talking up his plan to tackle mental health issues in the city, but there is little concrete evidence to demonstrate that the expensive proposal has seen any success.
The move toward privatization of veterans health care has been a hot-topic issue for years on Capitol Hill. Now as the Trump administration is preparing for the shift, Democrats are pushing back, saying leaders have left them out of the planning process.
The drug costs $34,000 and women have to stay at a medical center for more than 60 hours to receive the injection. So while many researchers were excited about the new drug, other experts say it is unlikely to help many who need it.
Drug after drug after drug that targeted a brain compound called beta amyloid have failed over the years. “We are running out of excuses” for why beta-amyloid treatments aren’t working, said Zaven Khachaturian, editor-in-chief of the medical journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia. But drugmakers “keep trying, hoping that the path they are on is going to give blockbuster drugs.”
Economists say that part of the reason price transparency won’t do much to the market is not only because consumers don’t pay list prices but they also don’t really choose which medication they’re buying. And, unlike with toothpaste or soda, it’s not easy for a consumer to switch brands of medicine. In other pharmaceutical news: pharmacy benefits managers will have their day getting grilled by lawmakers, how the NAFTA deal may hinge on intellectual property protections for pharma products, and more.
Sixty-nine percent of the 20,700 air ambulance transports–which cost up to $40,600–taken in 2017 by privately insured patients were out of network, meaning that the costs may not be fully covered, a Government Accountability Office report finds. And it will only get worse: Companies have hiked their prices by 60 percent, despite states’ efforts to put controls in place. In other health care costs news: the price tag on treating sepsis, surprise medical bills, and what the U.S. is spending on health care.
Amid reports on women giving birth while shackled to hospital beds, a new report tries to give solid data that looks at the reality of women who are behind bars. “The fact that nobody had collected this data before signals just how much this population is neglected,” said Dr. Carolyn Sufrin of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
