Latest KFF Health News Stories
Sensitive Personal Data Of About 75,000 People Exposed In HealthCare.Gov Breach
The system hacked is used by insurance agents and brokers to directly enroll customers. All other signup systems are working.
A look at some of the measures that will be in front of voters in Georgia, Massachusetts and California.
In Tight Georgia Race, Stacey Abrams Reframes Medicaid Expansion As A Smart Business Move
“Raise your hand if you would say no to someone who said, ‘Give me a dollar and I’ll give you $9 back,’” said Stacey Abrams, the Democrat in Georgia’s gubernatorial race. “It is economically false, a falsehood over all, to say we can’t afford to expand Medicaid.” The expansion would bring jobs to rural areas because it would save hospitals teetering on the brink of closure, she says. Abrams’ choice to focus on Medicaid expansion reflects a broader trend from Democrats on the trail who see health care as a winning issue.
Trump Administration Mulls Rule That Would Eradicate Government Recognition Of Transgender Americans
HHS is spearheading an effort to establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans gender discrimination in education programs that get government funds. “Sex means a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth,” the department proposes in the memo obtained by The New York Times.
First Edition: October 22, 2018
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages weigh in on these health topics and others
Perspectives: Health Care Sabotage; Patient-Centered Cancer Research; And Quality Nursing Home Care
Editorial writers focus on these health topics and others.
Media outlets report on news from New York, Texas, Georgia, Delaware, Arizona, Tennessee, Michigan, Illinois and Massachusetts.
Energy Department Officials Making Shift To A Top Adviser Spot At Veterans’ Affairs
John Mashburn has previously served as the policy director of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
Report Suggests Hospitals Could Save $25.4 Billion By Improving Their Supply Chain Operations
Modern Healthcare reports on a new analysis that finds the highest-performing hospitals focus on ways to standardize the use of “physician-preference” items and medications that produce clinically equivalent outcomes at a lower cost.
Nearly 100 More Women Sue USC With Accusations Of Sexual Abuse By University’s Longtime Gynecologist
With the additions, the number of women now suing the University of Southern California with allegations against Dr. George Tyndall rises to over 400. Meanwhile, a respected research hospital in New York says it knew about allegations of child sexual misconduct against one of its pediatric doctors.
This is the first time the agency has cracked down on clinics saying, “There are no human clinical studies in the scientific literature showing that amniotic stem cell therapy cures, treats, or mitigates diseases or health conditions in humans.” In other public health news: cyborgs, whole-genome sequencing, a mysterious illness in children, Ebola, equality, sunlight and more.
Cancer Treatment Can Often Come Too Late, But What If You Could Get Ahead Of The Disease?
A new study, called Project Baseline, is trying to pinpoint the transition from normal health to disease. Researchers hope that the project could lead to the identification of new markers in the blood, stool or urine of healthy people that help predict cancer, cardiovascular disease and other leading killers of Americans. In other news, why don’t all cancer-linked mutations in cells turn into tumors?
Novartis Plans To Pay $2.1 Billion For U.S. Company Developing New Prostate Cancer Treatment
With the purchase, the Swiss company is adding to its arsenal of radiopharmaceuticals, a new group of drugs designed to more closely target cancer cells.
Judge Orders Ohio Cities Suing Purdue Over Opioid Crisis To Come Up With Proof Of Specific Harm Done
The court has ordered that four Ohio cities and counties must identify 500 medically unnecessary prescriptions and 300 residents who became addicted or were harmed from opioid prescriptions. Meanwhile, the chair of a FDA panel is speaking out against his concern over the panel’s recommendation for a powerful opioid.
‘A Long Time Coming’: After Years Of Strife, Virginia’s Medicaid Expansion To Kick Off In November
The state’s General Assembly voted earlier this year to add up to 400,000 uninsured, low-income Virginians to the state’s Medicaid rolls after a deal was struck over work requirements. Republican resistance in the state has long stymied advocates’ efforts to expand the program. Meanwhile, other states that haven’t approved expansion yet might have to bend to the will of their voters if ballot measures pass.
Length Of Time Detained Immigrant Children Are Being Held By Government Is Climbing
The Trump administration defends the increasing number of days that the children are being held, saying it is a result of both the large number of kids passing through the shelters and the increased scrutiny given to potential sponsors to ensure children are placed in safe environments. But critics raise concerns about ongoing safety issues.
President Donald Trump weighed in on the issue that has been used frequently against Republican candidates on the trail who supported getting rid of the health law.
In recent days, both Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Rep. Steve Scalise, the House majority whip and possible next speaker, have said that health law repeal may be revisited after the elections. Republicans on the trail, though, have been on the defense for months, scrambling to counter Democrats’ attack ads saying that the GOP wants to strip away protections for preexisting conditions. The dichotomy is causing tension within the party just a little over two weeks out from the midterms. Meanwhile, McConnell is defending the lawsuit that is at the heart of much of the rhetoric against the GOP candidates, saying, “It’s not secret that we preferred to start over.”
Research Roundup: Epilepsy And Pregnancy; Illness In America; And Gun Violence
Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.
