Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health issues and others.
Research Roundup: ‘Medicare For All’; Surprise Medical Bills; And Contraception
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
Media outlets report on news from California, Louisiana, Utah, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts and Florida.
News from state legislatures comes out of New York, Tennessee, Georgia, Texas and California.
The head of the Oregon Psychiatric Security Review Board Alison Bort, in responding to public scrutiny over the state’s failure to properly oversee inmates who are discharged, said that the board needs to do better. Bort said she hopes a task force can examine four areas: how defendants get into the system, their treatment while under state jurisdiction, the process for early discharges and then dealing with people once they have been freed.
Arkansas Senate Approves Bill Banning Abortion At 18 Weeks By 86-1 Vote
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he supports the measure that adds exceptions for rape and incest. Another 18-week ban is pending in Utah. These are among the most restrictive anti-abortion bills being considered across the nation. Abortion news comes out of Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Ohio, as well.
At the upcoming annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology, researchers will unveil the first results of a study of 400,000 people wearing the device. Cardiology is becoming a testing ground for new tech. Other health technology stories include news on the Cleveland Clinic’s new artificial intelligence center and Amazon’s latest product for sale–modular hospital rooms.
There’s billions of dollars at stake, with each company having “shot for the moon” in their damages requests. The court proceedings peeled back the curtain on large-scale mergers in the health industry, and aired a lot of dirty laundry along the way. In other health industry news: dental insurance, profit reports and federal tax refunds.
Advocates on social media are targeting scientists who release studies that don’t fit into their views on the diseases, going so far as to wishing for the demise of their careers because of a research paper. Scientists say it can dissuade researchers for wanting to do work on certain diseases, setting off a vicious cycle where patients are the ones who suffer. In other public health news: memory, drug side effects, dieting and aging.
Measles outbreaks in New York prompted health officials to take what they say is the unprecedented step of banning unvaccinated children from attending certain schools that had vaccination rates lower than 95 percent. The parents of more than 40 banned children at Green Meadow Waldorf School sued, but Federal District Court Judge Vincent Bricetti ruled that it wasn’t in “public interest” to allow the children to go back to school. Meanwhile, Amazon has pulled two books that promote the antivaccination movement.
Call For World-Wide Moratorium On Gene-Edited Babies Exposes Ethical Divide In Scientific Community
The debate over gene-editing human embryos boiled over after a Chinese scientist sent shock waves through the community with news that he’d already accomplished such a feat. While many were appalled, others remain more cautious on calling for a moratorium, saying that there are better ways to stop rogue scientists than limiting everyone’s research.
Senator Seeks Information On Patient Advocacy Group’s Financial Link To Opioid Makers
“I remain concerned about the appearance of conflicts of interest by individuals associated with AAPM, including yourself, on committees and panels related to pain treatment and opioid prescribing that are convened throughout the federal government,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote to the American Academy of Pain Medicine’s president, Dr. Jainguo Cheng. In other news on the opioid epidemic: drugmaker face bankruptcy; investigation into Ohio hospital continues; doctors skeptical about marijuana’s role in curbing epidemic; and more.
Some Rough Waters May Upend Hopes For Smooth Sailing On Bipartisan Push To Lower Drug Prices
Combating high drug costs has been universally looked at as one of the few bipartisan issues that might get through the divided Congress. But the cracks are already starting to show even when it comes to relatively small-scale bills. Meanwhile, lawmakers are calling pharmaceutical benefit manager executives to appear in Congress next month.
Democrats Seek Information On Short-Term ‘Junk Plans’ That Were Expanded By Trump Administration
“Many consumers are being misled to believe that these plans comply with the patient protections of the Affordable Care Act,” said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.). The lawmakers want to know how companies market the short-term plans, what percentage of applicants are denied coverage, and what brokers who sell the insurance are paid.
The American Hospital Association and Federation of American Hospitals project that Medicare buy-in legislation–which would allow Americans to buy into the program instead of moving everyone onto Medicare–would cost hospitals $800 billion over a decade. Meanwhile, candidates are rushing to show their support for “Medicare for All,” but what does the public think?
Up to 10 million people in the country may be drinking water laced with high levels of toxic “forever” chemicals — known as PFAS — including thousands of people who live near military bases. Since the 1970s, the Defense Department has been one of the most frequent users of PFAS, and in 2017, military communities around the country began to report alarming levels of the chemicals in their drinking water. Now the Pentagon is advocating for weaker standards in regulating the clean-up, but the EPA is holding firm. Also, a look at how asbestos is still being used in household products.
FDA To Restrict Sales Of Flavored E-Cigarettes In Latest Step To Curb ‘Epidemic’ Of Teenage Vaping
Convenience stores and gas stations will be barred from selling e-cigarettes in flavors other than tobacco, mint and menthol unless they prevent minors from entering the store altogether or create a separate section of the store that minors can’t enter. Departing FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb issued the rules in the final weeks of his tenure.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health topics and others.
