Latest KFF Health News Stories
Washington state health officials urged lawmakers to pass the bill to eliminate personal or philosophical exemptions, noting the current measles outbreak, which has sickened at least 56 people in Washington and Oregon, is more alarming than the state’s three previous ones. But parents and other advocates turned out in droves to protest. Meanwhile, a teenager whose parents are antivaccination activists staged a defection from the beliefs in a new trend of kids seeking out vaccines for themselves.
Consequences Of Hospital Mergers Go Beyond Higher Prices–Quality Of Care Is Suffering As Well
For many goods, the common thought is that competition leads to lower prices and better quality. But people often think of health care as different — that it somehow shouldn’t be “market based.” Studies, however, prove otherwise.
Mexico has long treated the New River as a drain rather than a river, discharging raw, untreated sewage directly into the water. Americans in the California border town of Calexico are paying the price. Meanwhile, ICE confirms that seven detainees in a U.S. facility have been diagnosed with mumps.
Following the elections that flipped seven governorships, this could be a pivotal year for CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “Does flexibility go to everyone or is it just for cheaper, less regulated insurance?” said Chris Sloan, a director at Avalere, a health-care consulting firm. “That has yet to be decided.” Meanwhile, Democrats want the administration to crack down on state that aren’t fully complying with Medicaid abortion rules.
Lawmakers who have been worrying about the long-term costs of expanding Medicaid have been quickly working to roll back some of the changes that Utah voters approved through a ballot initiative in November’s elections. Other Medicaid news focuses on waivers, delays in payment and mental health services.
President Donald Trump underwent his second physical exam as president at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, this time with White House physician Sean Conley.
But HHS’s Office of Civil Rights argues that some of the country’s oldest religious agencies in places have gone out of business because of nondiscrimination requirements that are themselves discriminatory. Other Trump administration health news comes out of the FDA and the EPA.
For Some HIV Advocates The Trump Administration’s Past ‘Actions Speak Louder Than It’s Words’
Although many remain cautiously optimistic that President Donald Trump’s pledge to end new HIV transmissions by 2030 will move the cause forward, others say the administration’s repeated efforts to cut AIDS funding and roll back protections for patients with HIV and other preexisting conditions show otherwise.
Speaking out on gun control issues used to be a gamble for all but the safest incumbents, but there seems to have been a shift in the atmosphere as of late. In other news: gun seizure laws, school shooters, and death rates.
Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), the new Democratic chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, requested documents and “information about alleged improper influence” by Isaac Perlmutter, Bruce Moskowitz and Marc Sherman “over policy and personnel decisions of the Department of Veterans Affairs.” But some lawmakers caution against going too far down that path, when there are so many other important issues for the committee to address.
Louisiana Abortion Case Tests Chief Justice Roberts’ Commitment To Guarding His Court’s Legacy
Chief Justice John Roberts, in a surprise move, joined the Supreme Court’s liberal justices by voting to temporarily block a restrictive Louisiana abortion law from going into effect. While the decision isn’t a guarantee that Roberts will protect abortion as a constitutional right, “it does suggest that he is at least in a go-slow mode,” court watchers say. Meanwhile, as abortion action has moved to the state-level, red and blue states are getting further and further apart on the issue.
GOP lawmakers are eager to get Democrats to agree to have a hearing on the issue, which has become somewhat of a litmus test for progressive 2020 hopefuls.
First Edition: February 11, 2019
Mark your calendar: Join our Facebook Live chat, “Helping People Age With Independence,” with KHN columnist Judith Graham on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 12:30 p.m. Share your questions or experiences ahead of time, or ask questions on Facebook during the event.
Opinion writers weigh in on these health topics and others.
Editorial pages focus on these and other aspects surrounding the costs of health care.
Longer Looks: Medicare For All; Magic Mushrooms; And Stopping HIV
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from Pennsylvania, Texas, Massachusetts, Virginia, Connecticut, Arizona, Colorado, Wisconsin, Ohio, California and Florida.
Nobel Prize Winning Economist Develops Kidney Transplant ‘Chains’ That Are Saving Lives
Nobel laureate Alvin Roth deserves much of the credit for coming up with a solution for increasing the number of donors and getting people off dialysis sooner. Other public health news focuses on self-harming images; Duchenne muscular dystrophy; hangover prevention; cocktail safety; living alone; breast implants and more.
First Attempt To Use Gene Editing To Cure Patients With Rare Disease Offers Sobering Reality Check
But scientists are still hopeful that they’re at the “cusp” of a breakthrough.
Philadelphia Council Strikes Down Bill Designed To Regulate Pharmaceutical Sales Reps
The controversial bill was introduced last fall as a means to curtail the influence sales reps have over doctors — which many believe has contributed to the overuse of opioid pain killers. News on the opioid epidemic comes from Tennessee, Ohio and New York, as well.
