Morning Breakouts

Latest KFF Health News Stories

As Exhausting As Hospice Work Is, These Caregivers Describe Their Roles As Sacred, Deeply Fulfilling

Morning Briefing

At the nonprofit Hospice of the Western Reserve in Cleveland, which serves 1,200 dying patients daily, many employees and volunteers have great job satisfaction and readily answer a common question: “How do you work here?” In other public health news: Alzheimer’s, HIV outreach, hip replacement research, all-plant burgers, carcinogenic chemicals and racial profiling.

Judge Orders Wisconsin To Pay For Transgender Surgery For Medicaid Recipients

Morning Briefing

“The likelihood of ongoing, irreparable harm facing these two individual plaintiffs outweighs any marginal impacts on the defendants’ stated concerns regarding public health or limiting costs,” U.S. District Judge William Conley said. In other news, the Trump administration will continue approving work requirement requests, despite a judge blocking Kentucky’s waiver.

Coalition Of State Attorneys General Sues To Block Association Health Plans Rule

Morning Briefing

The Trump administration says the regulation would help small businesses and self-employed workers to afford insurance, but the 12 Democratic state attorneys general contend that the plans would undermine patient protections put in place by the health law. Meanwhile, House Democrats are pushing Republicans to agree to protect preexisting conditions coverage.

Progressive-Favorite ‘Medicare For All’ Takes A Battering From Trump Administration Health Officials

Morning Briefing

HHS Secretary Alex Azar criticized the plan only a day after CMS Administrator Seema Verma said that it would become “Medicare For None” if the system were enacted. “Medicare is running out of other people’s money, and those other people happen to be our children,” Azar said. The secretary also spoke about plans for overhauling the Medicare billing structure.

As Number Of Psychiatrists Slips, Des Moines Hospitals Invest $825,000 In Mental Health Residency Programs

Morning Briefing

Iowa, which has nearly 40 percent fewer psychiatrists per capita than average, is revamping its mental health care. “There’s a lot of energy and focus on this. It’s exciting,” said Tyler VanMilligen, one of the new psychiatric residents. News about hospitals comes out of New Orleans, Washington, D.C., California and Texas, as well.