Latest KFF Health News Stories
Conn. Seeks To Learn From Other States’ Efforts To Control Health Care Costs
Consultants hired by the state will examine what some other states have done and make recommendations to Connecticut officials. Meanwhile, in Columbus, Ohio, officials are grappling with increased health care costs for city workers.
N.C. On Track To Implement Medicaid Changes By 2016 Deadlines, Officials Say
The state is replacing traditional Medicaid fee-for-service reimbursements with “prepaid health plans” in which the state contracts with private managed-care companies or local health care networks.
Drug, Heroin Abuse Epidemic Draw Presidential Attention In SOTU Address
President Barack Obama listed this issue among those that could gain bipartisan attention in the year ahead. Also, a Food and Drug Administration panel recommended approval for an implant designed to help people recover from these addictions.
Kindred Healthcare Pays $125M To Settle Federal Overbilling Allegations
Authorities alleged that Kindred’s therapy care unit RehabCare provided unnecessary therapy services to nursing home residents and overbilled Medicare.
Anthem Reports Higher-Than-Expected Enrollment Numbers
Anthem’s strong 2016 forecast has given a boost to its peer group, with the four largest insurers seeing a bump in market value. In other news from the industry, the CEO of Aetna predicts the Humana deal will close this year and says he will not withdraw from the public health exchange market.
Executives: Outrage Over Pharma Profiteering Is ‘Perversion Of Reality’
The drug makers defended their products as life saving, and dismissed concerns over prices as “more of a campaign issue than an actual issue.” In other pharmaceutical news, a California cost transparency bill is shelved and the Pfizer and Allergan CEOs tout plans to boost medicine production.
Bernie Sanders Defends Health Care Record Against Hillary Clinton Jabs
Meanwhile, Chelsea Clinton kept up the drumbeat, warning younger voters that her mother’s opponent wants to “dismantle Obamacare,” the CHIP program, Medicare and private insurance. The Sanders campaign called the Clinton attacks “wrong.”
New Louisiana Governor Signs Order For Medicaid Expansion
The action by Democrat John Bel Edwards fulfills a campaign promise. Also in two state-of-the-state speeches, governors in South Dakota and Kansas take different views of the health law’s provision to expand health coverage for low-income residents.
Obama Takes Health Law Push Outside Beltway
The president plans to spend much of the year outside of Washington, D.C., with two of his first stops in Nebraska and Louisiana, where he will press for Medicaid expansion. U.S. News & World Report looks at how the Affordable Care Act’s success lives and dies in the states.
Senate HELP Committee Approves FDA Nominee
Robert Califf, the president’s pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration, is expected to get full Senate confirmation easily. However, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, voted against him, citing concerns with Califf’s pharmaceutical ties.
President Puts Biden In Charge Of ‘Mission Control’ For Cancer Moonshot
In his final State of the Union address, Obama announced the vice president would be leading a charge against the disease, saying, “Let’s make America the country that cures cancer once and for all.” But, experts say, curing cancer doesn’t look like a single moonshot — it’s an ever changing battlefield with hundreds or thousands of different enemies to swarm.
Obama Returns To Message Of Hope In Final State Of The Union
With only passing mentions of policy initiatives, President Barack Obama used his last State of the Union more to address the nation than Congress. He painted a bright picture of the country’s standing and called on Americans to replace him with someone who would continue to carry out his reforms on health care, climate change and Iran, among others.
First Edition: January 13, 2016
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Is Obama A ‘Transformational President’?; The Burden Of Medical Debt
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
News outlets report on health care developments in California, Indiana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Minnesota, Oregon, Ohio, Kansas and Arizona.
N.C. Legislative Panel To Get Briefing On New Managed Care Medicaid System
The lawmakers will hear about how the initiative is being rolled out. Also in the news, a Chicago woman is sentenced for Medicaid fraud.
New Hampshire Sees One Of Deadliest Years For Drug Overdoses
Meanwhile, lawmakers attempt to address the state’s dirty needle problem with a new exchange initiative, and one district approves the use of an anti-overdose drug in its schools.
Nestle Invests In ‘Healthy Gut’ Products
Meanwhile, research links heartburn drugs to kidney disease risk. And news outlets report on other public health developments including a hospital program aimed at reducing falls by older adults, youth sports concussion policies and a nurse who reunites with a woman who cared for her as a toddler.
Scrutiny On Insurance Mergers Intensifies As 15 State AGs Join Justice Department Probe
The group will look at Aetna’s plan to buy Humana and Anthem’s bid for Cigna. Elsewhere, the health care insurers providing individual plan coverage in Delaware are fined over regulation violations.
Shire-Baxalta $32B Merger Would Create Powerhouse Rare-Disease Drugmaker
Big companies used to steer clear of rare-disease drugs because there aren’t enough patients to make them profitable, but that has changed as the market has sustained high prices. In other pharmaceutical news, drug companies launch a cooperative effort to fight cancer, the Supreme Court lets a ruling on deceptive marketing of an anti-psychotic drug stand, and states look at ways to combat high prices.
