Latest KFF Health News Stories
From The State Capitols: Health Insurance Subsidies; Genetic Testing; Legalized Marijuana And More.
Health care news comes out of state legislatures in Minnesota, Florida, New York, California, Georgia, Texas and Connecticut.
Trans People Head To Court To Challenge States Where Employer Plans Don’t Cover Their Care
More than two dozen states allow health insurance plans to exclude transgender-related health care from coverage even though the federal law prohibits the discrmination.
Sometimes Dirtier Is Better: How Our Sanitized Lives Are Wreaking Havoc On Our Immune System
Can a clean environment be too clean? Experts say absolutely. Our immune system evolved to have a job and interact with the world around our bodies. In other public health news: HIV, gun safety, breast cancer, the flu, school nurses, and more.
If passed and signed into law, the bill would make New York part of a group of states — ranging from liberal Oregon to conservative South Carolina — that allow minors to ask for vaccinations without parental approval. News on the outbreaks comes out of Arizona and Missouri, as well.
The Trump administration is considering requiring hospitals and insurers to reveal the true costs of medical services, which have always been tightly held, confidential secrets by the parties involved. The industry says the administration lacks the authority to mandate such disclosures, while also pointing out that they wouldn’t do much to help consumers.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) criticized President Donald Trump for not transferring money to other agencies for the opioid epidemic like he has for the border wall. But the Washington Post Fact Checker points out that the situations can’t be compared. Trump wanted almost $6 billion for his wall, which Congress refused, however Congress acted to give the administration more than $6 billion for the opioid crisis, so there was little need for him to transfer funds without congressional authorization.
Republicans See ‘Medicare For All’ Enthusiasm As Democrats’ Waterloo
Although “Medicare for All” has become a rallying cry for many 2020 Democratic hopefuls, Republicans view it another way. GOP lawmakers are eager to use the push to paint their opponents as extremists and socialists. But, really, it’s unclear how the whole debate will play out 21 months from now.
Media outlets highlight the aspects of the budget that relate to health care.
While experts called the increased domestic spending for HIV “quite significant,” they said any progress will be undermined by the deep cuts that were proposed to the health law and Medicaid in other parts of the budget. Meanwhile, critics used the dichotomy between slashing global aid while increasing funding domestically as an example of the administration’s contradicting messages when it comes to fighting the epidemic.
The administration’s budget signals cuts at almost every institute that is part of the National Institutes of Health. However, the agency and its work have become quite popular in recent years on Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, Trump also proposed that the e-cigarette industry should pay $100 million a year in user fees, with the funds going to pay for beefed-up FDA oversight efforts.
Trump’s Budget Encourages State Flexibility In Limiting Medicaid Programs To Save Money
The president’s budget proposes converting all the health law’s funding into block grants. It would also convert Medicaid into a per capita cap system that would dole out funding based on the state’s population. It’s highly unlikely the proposals will make it into law, but it highlights a continued effort by the administration to reshape the Medicaid program. Meanwhile, HHS sees a sharp decrease in funding in the budget.
President Donald Trump, in his budget, called for some belt-tightening when it comes to Medicare in aim to reduce “waste, fraud and abuse” in the popular program. Democrats seized on the proposed Medicare cuts as an example of the GOP seeking to balance the budget on the backs of the elderly and the poor after giving broad tax breaks to the wealthy. Meanwhile, hospitals came out as vocally opposed to the deep cuts.
President Donald Trump released his $4.75 trillion budget, which included a big increase in military spending and deep cuts to other domestic spending. The presidential budget is all but dead-on-arrival on Capitol Hill and can be viewed more as a symbolic roadmap for priorities than a realistic spending plan. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump’s cuts “cruel and shortsighted … a roadmap to a sicker, weaker America,” while other Democrats were also quick to condemn the proposal.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial writers weigh in on these public health issues and others.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health issues and others?
Media outlets report on news from Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Washington, Louisiana, Minnesota, Georgia, Texas, Missouri and Wisconsin.
News from state legislatures comes from Georgia, Montana, Vermont, Ohio, and Florida.
How Game-Theory Economists Changed The Landscape Of Living-Donor Organ Transplants
Kidney donations from living donors require a close biological match, which can be devastatingly rare to find. But organ exchange chains–where one person’s loved one gives to a patient, whose’ loved one gives to another patient and so on–have been opening up a whole world of possibilities for some families. In other public health news: gun control, depression, diabetes, AIDS, the flu, timeout, rape survivors, meat, pregnancy and more.
The push to get rid of standard time has been growing in recent years, as more and more studies highlight the negative health effects of changing the time twice a year.
