States Target Health Insurers’ ‘Prior Authorization’ Red Tape
By Bram Sable-Smith
February 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Doctors, patients, and hospitals have railed for years about the prior authorization processes that health insurers use to decide whether they’ll pay for patients’ drugs or medical procedures. The Biden administration announced a crackdown in January, but some state lawmakers are looking to go further.
GoFundMe Has Become a Health Care Utility
By Elisabeth Rosenthal
February 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Resorting to crowdfunding to pay medical bills has become so routine, in some cases health professionals recommend it.
Senators Weigh Whether Health Care AI Needs a Leash
By Darius Tahir
February 9, 2024
KFF Health News Original
The Senate Finance Committee contemplated the future yesterday: artificial intelligence and its potential applications to health care. And it turns out the future looks an awful lot like the past and present: Democrats want regulations. And the industry wants money. “There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic,” Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) […]
Viewpoints: New Blood Test Detects Concussion In Minutes; CTE Is A Real Threat To Football Players
February 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
Editorial writers discuss concussion testing, CTE in football, President Joe Biden’s age, cancer research, and more.
In Missouri, GOP-Led Abortion Rights Initiative Withdrawn To Avoid Confusion
February 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
The end of this effort allows a competing, more sweeping constitutional amendment to make November’s ballot, AP notes. Meanwhile, USA Today reports that cities are being targeted with local abortion bans in the aftermath of the end of Roe v. Wade.
Liver Transplant System Is Less Accessible To Native Americans: Study
February 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
Native Americans are less likely than other racial groups to earn a place on the liver transplant list, according to an analysis of transplant data by the Markup and The Washington Post. Separately, scrutiny of rising private equity roles in home health care; a cyberattack at Lurie Children’s Hospital; a lawsuit for nurse meal breaks in San Francisco; and more.
Experts: Removing Phenylephrine Drugs Would Upset Wider Supply Chain
February 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
Though phenylephrine has been found ineffective as a decongestant, if the FDA pulled drugs from pharmacy shelves, it would disrupt a wave of supply chain problems, experts warn. In other news, CARB-X is funding development of a rapid test for gonorrhea.
Study Finds High-Dose Naloxone Didn’t Reduce Overdose Deaths
February 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
The new higher-dose nasal spray did not save more lives than the regular dose, and it drove up side effects. Separately, reports say opioid overdoses are rising among teens, but inpatient care remains rare. Also in the news: CDC data show how teens use drugs to combat stress.
Cost Forces A Majority Of Californians To Delay Or Avoid Medical Care
February 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
Meanwhile, the Covered California sign-up window is set to close at midnight tonight. In other health news from across the U.S., Virginia Democrats push to expand state-funded health insurance to undocumented children; a bill would allow Florida hospital districts to convert to nonprofits; and more.
More Known About Aggressive Fungus In Deadly Meningitis Outbreak
February 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
In a report in NEJM, researchers detailed how the fungus attacked the base of the brains of patients exposed at medical clinics in Mexico. Twelve people died in the outbreak last year.
Morning Briefing for Friday, February 9, 2024
February 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
High drug prices, aging, gun violence, abortion laws, organ transplants, drug overdoses, and more are in the news. Plus, your weekend reads.
Pharmaceutical Execs Grilled By Senators About High US Drug Prices
February 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, held a hearing Thursday on the cost of prescriptions drugs. The CEOs for Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck faced questions on pricing practices and why medicines cost more in the U.S. than other countries.
Biden Pushes Back On Special Counsel Report Questioning His Cognition
February 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
“My memory’s fine,” President Joe Biden said at a press conference Thursday night, strongly defending his age and cognitive abilities in response to a special counsel report on the president’s handling of classified documents. The document cited several examples when Biden couldn’t recall key dates.
Democrats Push Numerous Gun-Control Bills In Virginia
February 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
The Washington Post reports on a “cascade” of gun-control bills passing through the Virginia General Assembly, although they face an uncertain reception with the Republican governor. Separately, the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to overturn a rule barring “ghost gun” limits.
First Edition: Feb. 9, 2024
February 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Do We Simply Not Care About Old People?
By Judith Graham
Illustration by Oona Zenda
February 9, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Recently, thousands of older Americans have been dying weekly of covid. But most Americans aren’t wearing masks in public, a move that could prevent infections. Many at-risk seniors aren’t getting antiviral therapies, and older adults in nursing homes aren’t getting vaccines. Why?
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
February 8, 2024
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News finds longer stories for you to enjoy. This week’s selections include stories on mental health, “magic” mushrooms, nursing homes, surrogacy, and more.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': To End School Shootings, Activists Consider a New Culprit: Parents
February 8, 2024
Podcast
For the first time, a jury has convicted a parent of a school shooter of charges related to the child’s crime, finding a mother in Michigan guilty of involuntary manslaughter and possibly opening a new legal avenue for gun control advocates. Meanwhile, as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case challenging the FDA’s approval of the abortion drug mifepristone, a medical publisher has retracted some of the journal studies that lower-court judges relied on in their decisions. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sarah Karlin-Smith of the Pink Sheet, and Rachana Pradhan of KFF Health News join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for “extra credit,” the panelists suggest health policy stories they read this week that they think you should read, too.
Public Health Resources Lagging Behind Rising Tuberculosis Wave
February 8, 2024
Morning Briefing
Stateline reports on public health experts’ warnings that awareness of rising TB is lagging and that state and local health services lack resources to keep up with prevention and control. Meanwhile, the CDC is checking protocols on a cruise ship where more than 100 people had gastrointestinal illnesses.
Research Roundup: Covid Vaccine In Pregnancy; Infection Reduction; Insomnia; Acute Flaccid Myelitis
February 8, 2024
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.