Latest KFF Health News Stories
The company won glowing praise from the White House after it decided to delay its price hikes, but experts say the move is not going to make a big difference to any of the players involved — including the consumers. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats want more information on the deal between Pfizer and President Donald Trump. And, while the president had success with one company doesn’t mean the rest aren’t going ahead and raising their prices.
Medical Tourism Is A $68 Billion A Year Industry, And More And More Startups Want In
Tech companies are looking to emulate Airbnb or Hotels.com, but for people looking for medical services in a different country. In other industry news: cost control has become a top priority for health system executives, health care acquisitions are proving too expensive for private equity firms, and Amazon wants to nudge even further into the health care landscape.
Attorney General Mike DeWine said he wanted to include a reasonable work requirement for the program, as well as wellness incentives, but that he favors maintaining the expansion. Medicaid news comes out of Texas, Kansas and California as well.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Editorial pages focus on these and other health issues.
Opinion writers express views about the Trump administration’s changes to the health law.
Opinion pages focus on the impact the new makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court will have on abortion.
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Why Cities Even In The Same State Can Have Wildly Different Drug Prices
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
Media outlets report on news from New York, California, Texas, Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Massachusetts, Kansas, Tennessee and Washington.
The clinic directed patients to Planned Parenthood sites in Elkhart and Mishawaka, both cities roughly a two-hour drive north of Fort Wayne.
Lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Baker are looking to build on a March 2016 law aimed at slowing the public health crisis that kills dozens of state residents weekly. News on efforts to curb the epidemic comes from Ohio, also.
Cancer Mortality Rates Would Plummet More Than 20 Percent If Everyone Had Access To Quality Care
There’s already a hint of this happening with the implementation of the health law and the expansion of Medicaid. When patients have access to preventive medicine and screenings, cancer can be caught earlier, improving the chance of a better outcome. In other public health news: medical research, diabetes, anti-depressants, incarceration and the mentally ill, Alzheimer’s, and telehealth.
Only Democrat In Kentucky’s Congressional Delegation Demands Answers Over Cuts To Medicaid Benefits
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) had announced that, in response to a judge’s ruling on the state’s request to add work requirements to its Medicaid program, he was canceling dental and vision coverage for almost 500,000 enrollees. Medicaid news also comes out of Arkansas and Kansas.
Nominee For VA Secretary Chief Sails Through Committee And Is Headed For Full Senate Confirmation
Robert Wilkie was grilled during his confirmation hearing about whether he will seek to privatize the troubled Veterans Affairs Department. He promised that he won’t. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was the only lawmaker on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee to vote against Wilkie.
Pfizer To Temporarily Roll Back Drug Price Increases Following Talk With Trump
The company came under fire from President Donald Trump and others when it announced steep price hikes on many of their drugs. “Pfizer & others should be ashamed that they have raised drug prices for no reason,” Trump said in a tweet prior to the company’s about-face. “They are merely taking advantage of the poor & others unable to defend themselves, while at the same time giving bargain basement prices to other countries in Europe & elsewhere. We will respond!”
Government officials defended the process, pointing to safety concerns as to why it shouldn’t be rushed. Meanwhile, as the reunions slowly begin, there’s relief, joy and heartbreak as some children don’t recognize their parents.
In states where the upcoming battle over Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court could help Senate Republican candidates, it could also hurt the party’s chances in the House. Unlike in the upper chamber, where the vulnerable seats are mostly Democrats in red-state districts, the fight for control of the House is taking place in swing-districts across the country.
Ten Democrats face re-election this year in states that President Donald Trump won in 2016, and four of those battlegrounds lean against abortion rights. So instead of making abortion their key issue in the Supreme Court nomination fight, Democratic leadership is focusing on the broader threat to health care access in general. Meanwhile, outlets take a look at where Brett Kavanaugh stands on various other health care issues.
The Trump administration is also directing the insurance counselors, for the first time, to help people enroll in health plans that do not comply with the consumer protection standards and other requirements of the Affordable Care Act. The move comes just days after CMS froze a program that gave money to insurers to help stabilize the marketplace.
