Latest KFF Health News Stories
Overtime Pay, Minimum Wage Protections For Home-Health Workers Reinstated
A federal appeals court upholds Labor Department regulations granting home-health workers the right to minimum-wage and overtime pay.
First Edition: August 24, 2015
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Health care stories are reported from Texas, New York, North Carolina, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Florida, Maryland and Connecticut.
Florida Health Agency Says Three Abortion Clinics Back In Operation Are Still Under Investigation
In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal broadcast the Planned Parenthood sting videos from the grounds of his mansion last night as a pro-Planned Parenthood rally took place outside. And in South Carolina, the attorney general is looking into Medicaid payments to three abortion clinics.
In N.C., State Audit Finds Savings From Medicaid Care Management Program
A report from the state auditor shows the program has saved hundreds of millions of dollars over a decade. Meanwhile, North Carolina state legislators continue efforts to reach a compromise on how to reshape the state’s health insurance program for low-income people.
Hospitals Increasingly Embrace Medicare Bundled Payments
New data from Avalere Health shows 9 percent of acute care hospitals are engaging in the program, despite financial risks. Elsewhere, hospitals are also not blaming the health law for some industry woes, CMS readies new alternative payment methods for some providers and Medicare fraud outside the United States becomes more prevalent.
Aggressive Treatment Of Very Early Breast Cancer May Not Be Effective, Study Finds
The study found that radiation following a lumpectomy, the standard treatment of earliest breast cancer, reduced the chances for disease recurrence but didn’t lower 20-year survival rates.
Online Doctor Appointment Service ZocDoc Valued At $1.8B
The company is raising money to expand. Elsewhere in health care technology news, Google Glass finds a place in the doctor’s office and startups aim at giving second opinions on expensive surgery.
Meanwhile, Politico reports on one of the women featured in some of the covert videos and why she says she participated in the so-called “sting.”
GOP Presidential Hopeful Jeb Bush Gets Koch Attention
Tea party members are likely to continue supporting Bush over candidates like Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who supported Medicaid expansion. The candidate also expressed confidence that voters will support him over Donald Trump, whom he hit over Trump’s positions on abortion and a single-payer health care system.
Hutchinson Signals Willingness To Continue Ark. Medicaid Expansion Beyond 2016 — If Changes Are Made
The changes, however, would be a tough sell to the Obama administration. Meanwhile, news from Alaska details how some expansion opponents are turning to the courts to stop the state plan for implementation.
Benefits Of Women’s Low-Libido Medication May Not Outweigh Expense And Side Effects
As doctors debate the merits of Addyi, the newly FDA-approved drug dubbed the “female Viagra,” its maker Sprout Pharmaceuticals is being acquired by Valeant Pharmaceuticals for $1 billion.
First Edition: August 21, 2015
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Viewpoints: Cures Bill Should Crack Down On Faulty Research; Euthanasia In Europe
A selection of opinions on health care from around the country.
Longer Looks: Grief That Won’t Die, ‘Female Viagra,’ Animal Diseases
Each week, KHN’S Shefali Luthra finds interesting reads from around the Web.
Health care stories are reported from Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, Arizona, Washington, Iowa and Texas.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Republican lawmakers in Arizona, California, Ohio, New Jersey and Wisconsin have introduced bills or taken action to restrict or oversee the uses of fetal tissue. Such measures trigger debate between antiabortion advocates who say the practice of using this tissue in research is immoral and scientists who say it is vital for medical advancement. Meanwhile, in Florida, Planned Parenthood has indicated it will resume performing abortions since it has received guidance from the state government. In the background, a latest video has been released and a poll shows broad support for funding womens’ health and contraception services.
North Carolina House Rejects Senate’s Rewrite Of Medicaid Reform Plan
Conference committee negotiations are the next step to iron out the major differences between the two chambers’ approaches, and news outlets analyze the outlook for achieving a compromise before the end of this year’s legislative session.
AbbVie To Pay $350M In Exchange For United Therapeutics’ FDA Fast-Track Voucher
It’s a record price paid for a priority review voucher. Such tickets entitle the holder to move a new drug through the Food and Drug Administration’s review line faster. In other pharmaceutical news, some doctors voice concern over the FDA’s approval of Addyi, the pink pill aimed at increasing women’s libido.
