Employers Face Average 5.8% Jump In Their Health Insurance Costs Next Year
September 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
The higher-than-usual spike is driven primarily by higher use of medical care by employees, increasing costs that providers charge for their services, and pricey drugs like weight loss GLP-1 medications. The increase was estimated through a survey by consulting firm Mercer, which also found that 53% of employers plan to implement cost-management changes in 2025.
Hospital Safety And Quality Are Ticking Upward After Covid: Report
September 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
The report from the American Hospital Association and consulting group Vizient notes that among the improvements seen after the pandemic, patient mortality risks are falling, and there are fewer hospital-acquired infections.
‘So Stressed They Cannot Function’: Surgeon General Warns On Parenting Hazards
September 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
The office of the surgeon general issued an advisory that calls the pressures of modern-day parenting “an urgent public health issue,” finding that more than half of parents say that the stress is “completely overwhelming.”
By Choosing Sides In Election, Health Tech Leaders Take A Calculated Risk
September 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
As Stat notes, their public stance could put future investments and business deals on the line. Also, more follow-up discussions stemming from Tuesday’s presidential debate.
Polémica estrategia contra la violencia con armas de fuego pone a policías armados en las escuelas
By Christine Spolar
September 13, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Para los sistemas escolares, la amenaza de los tiroteos ha influido en una difícil toma de decisiones, ya que los administradores deben tener en cuenta el miedo, el deber y las estadísticas confusas para proteger a las escuelas de este peligro.
First Edition: Friday, Sept. 13, 2024
September 13, 2024
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
No One Wants To Talk About Racial Trauma. Why My Family Broke Our Silence.
By Cara Anthony
September 13, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Every family has secrets. I spent the past few years reporting about racial violence in Sikeston, Missouri. Interviewing Black families there helped me uncover my family’s traumatic past, too.
The First Year of Georgia’s Medicaid Work Requirement Is Mired in Red Tape
By Renuka Rayasam Sam Whitehead
September 13, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Georgia must decide soon whether to try to extend a limited Medicaid expansion that requires participants to work. Enrollment fell far short of goals in the first year, and the state isn’t yet able to verify participants are working.
‘What Happens Three Months From Now?’ Mental Health After Georgia High School Shooting
By Sam Whitehead Renuka Rayasam Andy Miller
September 13, 2024
KFF Health News Original
The recent shooting at Apalachee High School outside of Atlanta caused more than physical wounds. Medical experts worry a lack of mental health resources in the community — and in Georgia as a whole — means few options for those trying to cope with trauma from the shooting.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Trump-Harris Debate Showcases Health Policy Differences
September 12, 2024
Podcast
As expected, the presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris offered few new details of their positions on abortion, the Affordable Care Act, and other critical health issues. But it did underscore for voters dramatic differences between the two candidates. Meanwhile, the Biden administration issued rules attempting to better enforce […]
Forget Repeal and Replace. The Next Big ACA Fight Will Be Over Subsidies.
By Julie Appleby
September 12, 2024
KFF Health News Original
Forget repeal and replace. Critics of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, have a new target: key parts of the law that they say are too costly and provide incentive for fraud. Topping that list are the ACA’s enhanced subsidies, put in place during the coronavirus pandemic as part of economic recovery legislation and set to […]
North Carolina Approves Medicaid Funding, But Below Levels Requested
September 12, 2024
Morning Briefing
The figure approved by the legislature Wednesday is designed to address higher state Medicaid costs for the current fiscal year, but the total is $81 million less than the figure requested by state health officials. Separately, New York moves to address disparities in health care.
Research Roundup: Menopause; RSV; Alzheimer’s; Ear Infections
September 12, 2024
Morning Briefing
Each week, KFF Health News compiles a selection of health policy studies and briefs.
Tubal Ligations Steadily Climbed Since Roe Was Overturned, Study Finds
September 12, 2024
Morning Briefing
Researchers broke the data down by states where abortions were “banned,” “limited,” or “protected,” and found increases across all of them, leading to the conclusion that legal uncertainty prompted more people to choose to have their fallopian tubes tied.
Kentucky Medical Group Allegedly Sought Organs From Living Patient
September 12, 2024
Morning Briefing
The Wall Street Journal reports a startling case in which an organ-procurement group in Kentucky allegedly pressed its staff to harvest organs from a patient who was conscious and later exited the facility alive. The accusation surfaced during a House hearing about the troubled transplant system.
Sen. Bernie Sanders Ready To Accuse Steward Health CEO Of Contempt
September 12, 2024
Morning Briefing
Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre signaled he’ll disobey a subpoena to show up at a Senate hearing on Steward’s bankruptcy. If he doesn’t appear, Sanders is ready to press charges: “Tell me about your yacht. … I want to hear your justification for that,” the Vermont independent said to AP.
High Adderall Dose Linked To Alarming Risk Of Mental Health Episodes
September 12, 2024
Morning Briefing
A fivefold increased risk for first-time psychosis or mania episodes was found among patients prescribed more than 40 milligrams per dose, researchers say. Migraine medicine ads and weight-loss drugs also are in the news.
Mosquito-Borne EEE In Rhode Island; Infant Dies From Pertussis In Alaska
September 12, 2024
Morning Briefing
In other news, bird flu has spread to three more dairy herds in California. Also, CDC data confirm that more than half of the country experienced “very high” levels of covid-19 in August.
Morning Briefing for Thursday, September 12, 2024
September 12, 2024
Morning Briefing
Obamacare, sterilization, extreme heat, organ transplants, Adderall, mental health, Medicaid funding, EEE, and more
