Latest KFF Health News Stories
Hearings Done, Senate Health Panel Now Seeks Common Ground On Stabilizing Marketplaces
The committee’s chairman, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), says he hopes to have a bipartisan bill by early next week that would give insurers more confidence about the market environment.
First Edition: September 15, 2017
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Cancer Drug Revolution; When The Cause Of Death Is ‘Inequality’
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Policy Points: Three GOP Senators ‘Bedside Miracle;’ Immigration As A Public Health Issue
Columnists offer their opinions on a range of health policy topics, including the Obamacare alternative being advanced by Sens. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Dean Heller (R-Nev.), the impact of immigration policy and how to make sense of issues during the upcoming open enrollment period.
Single-Payer Perspectives: An Opening Bid Or A Way To Change The Subject
Editorial writers offer their thoughts on the single-payer approach to health care that appears to be gaining traction in the ongoing policy debate.
Longer Looks: Seven Days Of Heroin; Goop; And Medicare-For-All
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from Massachusetts, Ohio, Georgia, Louisiana, New Jersey and Tennessee.
As Death Toll Climbs In Hepatitis A Outbreak, San Diego Begins Washing Streets With Bleach
San Diego is also giving free vaccinations and installing hand-washing stations to combat the crisis.
One Ohio County Makes Anti-Overdose Drug Widely Available, While Another Rejects That Approach
Bloomberg profiles Hamilton County, Ohio, where officials think the best way to tackle the opioid epidemic is to get Narcan in as many hands as possible, and Butler County, where the sheriff refuses to allow officers to carry the medication. In today’s other public health news: a $25,000 “life-extension test”; anti-smoking efforts; miscarriage risks from flu shot studied; and more.
To Circumvent Patent Challenges, This Pharma Company Made A Deal With A Native American Tribe
Now that the deal has been made public, other drugmakers are taking interest. In other pharmaceutical news, the struggle to create a Zika vaccine highlights a broader public health problem, the Food and Drug Administration is changing the way it approves orphan drugs, the House has begun work on a bill that would boost the agency’s oversight of over-the-counter drugs, and more.
Advocates Pressing Medicare To Promote Advance Directives Among Beneficiaries
Some lawmakers and organizations want the government to help get the word out about advance directives and to encourage people to create them. Also, a look at some of the experimental programs being run by Medicare to change how doctors are reimbursed.
Arizona High Court To Hear GOP Lawmakers’ Suit Challenging Expansion Of Medicaid
The legislators filed suit in 2013 seeking to stop then Gov. Jan Brewer’s decision to expand Medicaid under the federal health law. In other Medicaid news, Iowa officials are considering moving people with serious disabilities out of the state’s new managed care plan and a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit seeking to move more people out of nursing homes in Washington, D.C.
Reproductive Services May Become Harder To Access As More Hospitals Affiliate With Catholic Church
“This alone represents a substantial cost to women, who must subsequently rely on other, more inconvenient suboptimal forms of contraception,” finds a study of the trend toward hospital consolidation. In other industry news: Tenet considers selling, troubles at a D.C. hospital, an infection pattern at a Wisconsin facility, and more.
8 Dead At Nursing Home Where Air Conditioner Failed In Wake Of Hurricane Irma
Dozens more patients were found in distress, as well. The deaths have prompted a criminal investigation.
Forget Congress — Administration Is Quietly Gutting Health Law By Itself
In rolling back Obama-era regulations, the administration has become the chief weapon against the Affordable Care Act.
Senators May Have Reached Deal On CHIP Funding, But Its Path Forward Is Still Uncertain
It is unlikely, though, that Republicans will hold up the funding for the widely popular program.
Graham-Cassidy Bill Proposes State-By-State Block Grants As Solution To Health Insurance Woes
The measure, crafted by Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.), is a last-ditch effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. It has long odds of getting anywhere, although President Donald Trump did applaud their efforts.
What Is Single Payer? Why Now? And More Questions About Sanders’ New Bill Answered
Media outlets take a look at the ins and outs of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ new “Medicare for all” plan.
Sanders Releases Single-Payer Proposal: ‘Health Care In America Must Be A Right, Not A Privilege’
Sixteen Democratic senators support Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as he releases the new bill, throwing their weight behind an idea that’s gaining traction with progressive voters.
Unveiled Health Care Bills Show Just How Far Apart Parties Are Despite Ongoing Bipartisan Efforts
As the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee races to find bipartisan fixes to stabilize the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, two groups of senators release controversial health care bills designed to replace the current system in very different ways. It’s unlikely either will pass, but those continued efforts shine a light on how difficult it will be to get lawmakers to agree on a solution.
