Latest KFF Health News Stories
Media outlets report on news from Connecticut, Missouri, Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Texas, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Tennessee.
Colorado Hospital President Resigns After Managing Transition To New Owner
News outlets look at hospital news across the country, including an analysis of how Tianqiao Chen’s purchase of a large stake in Community Health Systems could affect that large chain.
Large Mass. Health Care System Drops Out Of Networks Being Planned For Medicaid
UMass Memorial Health Care said it will continue to care for MassHealth patients but it won’t join in the accountable care organizations being formed as the state revamps Medicaid. Meanwhile, a California health care system is moving some of its Medicaid patients to clinics instead, and Utah formally submits a request to the federal government for a limited Medicaid expansion for some homeless people.
Trump Signs Law To Aid WWII Vets Exposed To Mustard Gas
The legislation was advanced through Congress by Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to reconsider denied disability benefits for those who claimed the testing caused health problems.
Guns Account For Higher Suicides Rates In Rural Areas Over Urban Ones, Study Finds
Suicides-by-firearm are 66 percent higher in thinly populated counties than in urban counties. There is little regional disparity in non-firearm suicide rates. In related news, experts target teens in suicide prevention efforts while the California prison system reports an increase in suicide attempts among women inmates.
‘DNA Surgery’: Scientists Try Gene Editing In Human Embryos
NPR goes inside the lab that is working on embryonic research. In other public health news today are developments related to HIV, tuberculosis, Alzheimer’s, maternal mortality and nicotine addiction.
Post-Surgical Patients Are Rarely The Ones Who Start Long-Term Opioid Use
Its more common for those who receive their first prescription for back pain or “other ill-defined conditions” to go on to use painkillers for six months or more, according to new research. In other news related to the national epidemic, the Cherokee Nation asks a judge to allow its lawsuit against opioid distributors and retailers to be heard in the tribe’s own court. And KHN reports that the public health crisis is taking a toll on the nation’s foster care system.
Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Club Loses Fundraising Galas Of Cleveland Clinic And American Cancer Society
Both organizations announce that they will move fundraising events in Florida following events since the Charlottesville violence. The Cleveland Clinic’s decision is a reversal after organization leaders resisted earlier calls to pull its annual gala from Donald Trump’s resort.
FDA Issues New Approvals For Leukemia, Ovarian Cancer Medicines
The Food and Drug Administration approves a new Pfizer drug to treat a rare, fast-progressing form of leukemia. The agency also expands the use Lynparza, sold by AstraZeneca and Merck & Co, to treat recurrent ovarian cancer. In other pharmaceutical news, changes to 340B program are delayed and a biopharma executive encounters challenges when trying to fund his own project.
Settlement Finalized Between Mylan, Feds Over Epipen Overcharges To Medicaid
The $465 million settlement announced Thursday by the Department of Justice resolves claims that Mylan avoided paying rebates to the government by improperly classifying the EpiPen as a generic drug. Mylan and its auto-injector product have been at the center of the national debate over prescription drug costs.
Former HHS Sec. Sebelius Says Trump Administration Still ‘Working To Engineer’ ACA’s Failure
In other news, Rhode Island regulators have approved health insurance premium rates for 2018.
House Democrats Push Pharmaceutical Companies To Explain High Costs Of MS Drugs
Two Democratic lawmakers, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Rep. Peter Welch of Vermont, are pressing Bayer, Biogen, EMD Serono, Novartis, Sanofi, Teva, and Roche Pharmaceuticals for an explanation of the pricing strategies and whether companies were increasing prices as part of a coordinated effort.
Congressional Clock Is Ticking On Efforts To Shore Up Obamacare Insurance Markets
Though some senators say they are cautiously optimistic, it is not yet clear if lawmakers will be able to reach agreement before a self-imposed mid-September deadline. Meanwhile, the outcome of the trial of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) could have a serious impact on the Senate’s balance of power and the outcome of major legislative battles, such as efforts to either repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, or to fix it. News outlets also report on specific health policy positions of various senators and KHN’s weekly “What The Health?” podcast reports on all the Capitol Hill health-policy goings on.
First Edition: August 18, 2017
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: CBO’s Surprising Findings; Medicaid Enrollees Feel Powerless
A selection of opinions on health care from across the nation.
Longer Looks: Opioids, European Health Care And White Nationalism
Each week, KHN’s Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Media outlets report on news from Oregon, Maryland, New York, Illinois, Arizona, California, Virginia, Alaska, Washington and Massachusetts.
Kansas’ Osawatomie State Hospital Passes Inspection
The psychiatric hospital lost its certification in 2015, which resulted in a loss of about $1 million a month in federal funding for the state, but it now appears to be back on track. Meanwhile, in Oregon, Willamette Valley Behavioral Health plans to sue the state over the rejection of its plan to build a 100-bed psychiatric hospital. In addition, the cause of the illness at New Hampshire’s Exeter Hospital is still unclear and two Florida cancer centers face fraud allegations.
Feds Want Texas To Pay $18.9M Back To Medicaid For Improper School Health Services Bills
Reimbursement requested by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission between 2010 and 2011 were not “reasonable, adequately supported, and otherwise allowable” for some school-based health services, according to an Inspector General’s report. Meanwhile, Kansas’ privatized Medicaid sytem ranks last in a customer satsifaction survey among the 36 states that offer managed care programs.
Court Finds Ark. Can Keep Medicaid Funding From Planned Parenthood
The decision, reversing earlier lower court injunctions, was issued by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
