Latest KFF Health News Stories
Perspectives: Drug Development Doesn’t Come Cheap, But Does It Really Justify Those Sky-High Prices?
Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.
Pharma Trade Groups On Track For Record Lobbying Year, But They Weren’t Talking About Health Bill
News outlets report on stories related to pharmaceutical pricing.
Media outlets report on news from Massachusetts, New York, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Kansas and Arizona.
Single-Payer Is Hot-Button Topic In Otherwise Agreeable Calif. Gubernatorial Race
The four candidates are divided over universal health care, much like the national Democratic Party.
With Dress Rehearsals, World Leaders Aim To Counter Chaos Of Previous Pandemics
The World Bank hosted a practice scenario for participants that included finance, health and tourism ministers from about a dozen countries, and officials from organizations including the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the International Air Transport Association. In other public health news: selling dead bodies; arsenic in drinking water; the backstories of seven diseases; a flu vaccine patch; and more.
Five-Year-Old Campaign To Curb Low-Value Care Shows Disappointing Results
The Choosing Wisely campaign, started by the American Board of Internal Medicine Foundation, hasn’t gained traction with physicians.
Lawmakers Face Deadline To Extend Private Health Care Access For Vets
Funding for the program is projected to run out in two months. In other news, a Massachusetts senator calls for the Veterans Affairs secretary to investigate a Vietnam veteran’s death at a VA medical center in Bedford, Mass.
Texas And Federal Medicaid Responses To Hurricane Harvey Less Generous Than Katrina
Since Harvey hit in August, the state has not extended a special disaster benefit to storm victims, loosened financial eligibility guidelines or created a funding pool to help health care providers, according to the Dallas Morning News. In other Medicaid news, officials in both Texas and Virginia warn about the consequences of running out of federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announces a plan to offer higher reimbursements to mental health professionals.
The Trump administration plans to officially declare a national emergency for the opioid crisis months after President Donald Trump said he would. But experts are worried there won’t be any money to back it up. In other news on the crisis: the challenges of curbing the spread of fentanyl; how the epidemic is affecting older Americans; a special legislative task force is address opioid’s impact in New York; and more.
Undocumented Pregnant Girl Allowed To Get Abortion After Full Court Overturns Panel’s Decision
A three-judge panel of the appeals court had earlier ruled that the government has 11 days to find a sponsor for the girl so that she could obtain an abortion outside the government’s care. The full court, however, said its decision “rights a grave constitutional wrong by the government.”
Massachusetts is just the latest state to effectively be denied a waiver. Some say it’s the administration’s attempt to sabotage the Affordable Care Act, but others see the rejection as something else.
Top GOP Lawmakers Try To Chip Away At ACA With Alternative Plan To Bipartisan Health Bill
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) introduce a measure they say would get rid of the individual mandate and offer unspecified “pro-life protections.”
Trump Praises Bipartisan Efforts, But Doesn’t Offer Actual Guidance On Health Bill Stalled In Senate
President Donald Trump joined Republican senators for their weekly lunch on Tuesday. They’ve been anxiously awaiting direction from the president — who has given mixed signals on where he stands on the Alexander-Murray health bill — but Trump didn’t provide concrete guidance.
First Edition: October 25, 2017
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: The Costs Of Defective Medical Devices; Holding A Teenager Hostage
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Perspectives On Health Law: Sanders’ Plan Could Upend Democrats; New Lies About Obamacare
Opinion writers offer thoughts about the health care debate in the country.
Media outlets report on news from New Hampshire, Missouri, Massachusetts, New York, California, Florida, Kansas, Oregon, Minnesota and New Jersey.
California’s Strict Gun Show Laws Paying Off In Terms Of Public Safety, Study Suggests
When a gun show is held in California, the state sees no measurable increase in injuries and deaths in the following two weeks. However, when one is held in Nevada, which doesn’t have the same regulations as its neighbor, such incidents jump by nearly 70 percent in California region’s within two hours.
Tracking Of Maternal Deaths So Riddled With Flaws, U.S. Doesn’t Even Publish An Official Rate
ProPublica offers a look at the “embarrassing” state of data collection on maternal deaths in the country. In other public health news: fixing birth defects in the womb; discrimination; Uber for birth control; diabetes; firefighters and cancer; germs; and more.
Experts: Saying Medicaid Expansion Worsened Opioid Crisis Is Confusing Association With Causation
“Just because one event [Medicaid expansion] occurred during a period of increasing opioid deaths, many from illicit sources doesn’t mean that it caused the increase in deaths,” says David A. Fiellin, a professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine.
