Hoping to Clear the Air in Casinos, Workers Seek to Ban Tobacco Smoke
By Sandy West
January 11, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Casinos in several states are fighting efforts to ban smoking, and trying to roll back existing anti-smoking laws. One planned facility even moved outside a city’s limits because of voter-approved smoking restrictions.
Delays in State Contracts Leave Montana Health Providers Strapped
By Katheryn Houghton
Updated January 16, 2024
Originally Published January 11, 2024
KFF Health News Original
The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is months behind in paying organizations contracted to connect people to care. The interruption is likely to have lasting effects, even after the state catches up.
Viewpoints: Thanks To Remote Work, Many Are Now Working While Sick; ER Staff Need To Be Safe
January 10, 2024
Morning Briefing
Editorial writers tackle working while sick, ER violence, Medicaid expansion and tobacco issues.
Medicare Physician Payments Up In Air Amid Spending Deal Talks
January 10, 2024
Morning Briefing
Doctors are lobbying Congress to use the next spending package to reverse physicians’ Medicare payments cuts that took effect Jan. 1—as lawmakers have done previous years. Meanwhile, talk grows of another short-term fix to fund the federal government.
Austin’s Hospitalization Due To Prostate Cancer Surgery Complications
January 10, 2024
Morning Briefing
The Pentagon revealed Tuesday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization—which made headlines as it was undisclosed to most in the Biden administration—was the result of an infection from prostate cancer surgery last month. News outlets report on the procedure and diagnosis, while the White House reviews its health disclosure procedures.
No Such Thing As A Free Lunch: GOP Governors Resist School Meal Effort
January 10, 2024
Morning Briefing
Reports say Republican governors in 15 states are rejecting a new federally funded summer program that would help feed around 21 million less well-off children beginning in June. Separately, House Republicans in Ohio are deciding whether to override a gender care ban veto from Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican.
Doctors At Salem Hospital Push For Unionization In Face Of Budget Cuts
January 10, 2024
Morning Briefing
Complaints of overflowing beds, budget cuts, and being cut out of key decisions are cited as reasons behind the physicians’ push to organize a union at Salem Hospital in Salem, Massachusetts. Meanwhile, in Michigan, three hospitals in the Thumb region are merging to become one single health system.
Defense Dept. Will Track Overdoses Among Troops, Issue Naloxone
January 10, 2024
Morning Briefing
A new law requires that the Pentagon track drug overdoses within the military, which were not previously tracked. It must also make overdose-reversing drugs available to battle the crisis. Also in the news: alcohol abuse; the salmonella cantaloupe outbreak; pets and decreased dementia risks; and more.
Bayer’s Non-Hormonal Drug Appears To Help Menopausal Hot Flashes; Bivalent Covid Vax Is A Winner In Kids
January 10, 2024
Morning Briefing
Read recent pharmaceutical developments in KFF Health News’ Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
Morning Briefing for Wednesday, January 10, 2024
January 10, 2024
Morning Briefing
Covid test lags, online safety for teens, Medicare, abortion law, drug overdoses, mammography AI, menopause, and more are in the news.
Covid Tests Now Take Longer To Show You’re Positive
January 10, 2024
Morning Briefing
Rapid tests used to be able to show you were positive for covid only one or two days after symptoms showed up, but reports say mutations in the virus now mean it can take up to a week for tests to show two lines. Meanwhile, data show the U.S. is experiencing a big covid wave.
Instagram, Facebook To Begin Filtering Content For Teens’ Safety
January 10, 2024
Morning Briefing
Meta says it removes or limits recommendations of certain types of posts for all users — such as nudity and the sale of drugs. It will now restrict teenagers from even coming across much of this content, including when it’s posted by a friend, NPR reports.
HHS Narrows Rule Allowing Doctors’ ‘Conscience’ Care Denials Of Abortions
January 10, 2024
Morning Briefing
A Trump-era policy that broadened options for providers to object to delivering medical services such as abortions on religious grounds has now been mostly rescinded. Also, the Biden administration blocked a company selling data on patients’ medical visits, with abortion care particularly in mind.
First Edition: Jan. 10, 2024
January 10, 2024
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Mammography AI Can Cost Patients Extra. Is It Worth It?
By Michelle Andrews
January 10, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Artificial intelligence software to aid radiologists in detecting problems or diagnosing cancer has been moving rapidly into clinical use, where it shows great promise. But it’s a turnoff for some patients asked to pay out-of-pocket for technology that’s not quite ready for prime time.
California Offers a Lifeline for Medical Residents Who Can’t Find Abortion Training
By Laurie Udesky
January 10, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Abortion restrictions in 18 states have curtailed access to training in skills that doctors say are critical for OB-GYN specialists and others. A new California law makes it easier for out-of-state doctors to get experience in reproductive medicine.
Will CMS Crack Down on Prior Authorization?
By Lauren Sausser
January 9, 2024
KFF Health News Original
There’s the Idaho doctor whose infant daughter developed a brain tumor. A woman in Southern California who waited months for an MRI before dying in the hospital. And a North Carolina patient who has trigeminal neuralgia — a condition so painful it’s commonly called the “suicide disease.” They all have something in common, aside from […]
Minnesota Governor Open To Idea Of Constitutional Abortion Rights Push
January 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
The state is seeing a “dramatic surge” in out-of-state patients from places with restrictive laws visiting to get abortions, CBS News says. Meanwhile, in Tennessee, more women are joining a lawsuit challenging the state’s broad abortion ban. Also: The Pope has said he opposes surrogacy.
Rep. Cori Bush Demands Investigation Into St. Louis Nursing Home Closure
January 9, 2024
Morning Briefing
The abrupt closure of the 320-bed Northview Village Nursing Home facility last month triggered issues for residents and their families. In other news from across the states, two more measles cases in Philadelphia; the Supreme Court rejects a challenge to California’s flavored tobacco ban; and more.