Overwrought Marketing? Ads, Not Research, Create Some Pharma Best-Sellers
A look at how and why strategic, star-studded advertising brought a drug for a little-known neurological condition into your home.
All Coverage
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Preexisting Conditions And Continuous Coverage: Key Elements Of GOP Bill
The Republican health plan would require insurers to offer coverage to people who have preexisting medical conditions. But if states opt to allow insurers to charge sick people more than healthy ones, people who have been more than 63 days without coverage could see significantly higher insurance costs.
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Segregated Living Linked To Higher Blood Pressure Among Blacks
Blood pressure for African-Americans who moved permanently out of segregated areas into medium-segregation locations decreased on average nearly 4 points while those who went to low-segregation locales dropped almost 6 points, a 25-year study finds.
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REPEAL & REPLACE WATCH
Trump Says He Knows About Health Care, But Some Of His Facts Seem Alternative
In two interviews, the president reveals some surprising views of health policy.
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Houston Hospital Checking To See If Patients’ Cupboards Are Bare
Starting in fall 2015, Houston-based Memorial Hermann Health System began to examine the food struggles among patients at four medical sites and found that 11 percent to 30 percent said they had run out of food in the prior month or thought that they would.
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Repeal & Replace Watch
Planned Parenthood Funding Could Thwart GOP Efforts On Health Bill
A provision in the House bill to strip funding from organizations that provide abortions may not meet the strict rules needed to bypass the filibuster in the Senate.
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Rural Shoppers Face Slim Choices, Steep Premiums On Exchanges
The larger an area’s population, the more likely insurers will compete in that market, according to an Urban Institute analysis.
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CMS Gives States Until 2022 To Meet Medicaid Standards Of Care
The Trump administration has given states three more years to meet federal standards aimed at helping elderly and disabled Medicaid enrollees receive services without being forced to go into nursing homes.
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Public Restrooms Become Ground Zero In The Opioid Epidemic
People often turn to public restrooms as a place to get high on opioids. It has led some establishments to close their facilities, while others are training employees to help people who overdose.
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For Knee Pain, Experts Say Don’t Think About Scoping It
Writing in the journal BMJ, an international group of experts and patients say arthroscopic surgery on the knee does not provide lasting relief.
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Repeal & Replace Watch
Reactions To The GOP Health Bill: Voices From The States
What will happen to people with preexisting conditions is one worry some Americans expressed; the high costs of insurance under Obamacare is another.
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Repeal & Replace Watch
Parents Of Sick Children Fear Trap If States Have Say On ‘Preexisting Conditions’
“I’m not going to risk my son’s health on the political whims of Jefferson City,” says one Missouri father, whose son requires about $20,000 to $30,000 in medical care expenses a year. The new GOP health bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act lets states decide whether or not insurers must cover people with preexisting conditions, such as birth defects.
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Grassley, Chaffetz Send Fiery Response To HHS Memo They Say Chills Whistleblowing
The two Republican lawmakers sent a letter to HHS Secretary Tom Price warning him that whistleblowers in HHS could be intimidated into silence by a department memo instructing employees to get clearance before talking with members of Congress and their staffs.
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Nearly 1 In 3 Recent FDA Drug Approvals Followed By Major Safety Actions
More than 70 drugs approved from 2001 through 2010 ran into safety concerns later that resulted in withdrawals from the market, “black box” warnings or other actions.
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Medicare Failed To Investigate Suspicious Infection Cases From 96 Hospitals
The HHS inspector general’s office found that Medicare should have done an in-depth review of suspicious or aberrant infection reports from scores of hospitals.
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On The Air With KHN: Obamacare Replacement Bill Heads To The Senate
In a variety of broadcasts, Kaiser Health News and California Healthline reporters discuss the bill passed by the House to change the Affordable Care Act.
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‘Boot Camp’ Helps Alzheimer’s, Dementia Caregivers Take Care Of Themselves, Too
Free, daylong sessions run by UCLA teach caregivers how to keep their loved ones safe and engaged, while minimizing the stress in their own lives. Similar programs exist in other states.
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Repeal & Replace Watch
Why Blue States Might Ditch Beloved Obamacare Protections
With limited federal subsidies under the GOP health care bill, experts say states like California and New York would be under pressure to cut costs. That could mean shrinking benefits and dropping the prohibition against charging sicker patients higher premiums.
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Should Health Care Trainees Be Treated As Paid Employees?
A bill pending in California’s Legislature, sponsored by an influential health care union, would require hospitals and clinics to pay minimum wage to student trainees.
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Repeal & Replace Watch
Some GOP Congress Members Could Pay Politically For ACA Repeal Vote
Some political analysts and community advocates say members of California’s Republican congressional delegation, which voted unanimously for the House bill, could be haunted at the polls.
