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Latest Morning Briefing Stories

Financial Ties That Bind: Studies Often Fall Short On Conflict-Of-Interest Disclosures

KFF Health News Original

A new study in JAMA Surgery finds that a large sample of published medical research failed to disclose details on the financial relationships between medical device makers and physicians. Changes in the disclosure process could close this loop.

Medicaid Officials Target Home Health Aides’ Union Dues

KFF Health News Original

Federal officials are proposing a rule to prohibit home health aides paid directly by Medicaid from having their dues for the powerful Service Employees International Union automatically deducted from their paychecks. The effort would likely mean those workers are far less likely to pay dues and could diminish the union’s influence.

Advances In Treating Hep C Lead To New Option For Transplant Patients

KFF Health News Original

The opioid epidemic has increased the number of donated organs. Until recently, though, organs from donors who died of drug overdoses were often discarded because an estimated 30 percent of them were infected with hepatitis C.

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Coming Soon: ‘Long-Term Short-Term’ Plans

KFF Health News Original

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner talk about the latest Trump administration efforts to address high drug prices, what’s next for short-term health insurance plans and insider trading charges against a New York GOP congressman.

Sospechas de fraude al Medicare y riesgos por cremas para el dolor preparadas en farmacias

KFF Health News Original

En total, 547 farmacias (casi el 23% de las que envían la mayoría de las facturas a Medicare por hacer estas cremas) recibieron uno o más de las cinco alertas rojas establecidas por los investigadores.

Lax Oversight Leaves Surgery Center Regulators And Patients In The Dark

KFF Health News Original

A Kaiser Health News and USA Today Network investigation finds that a hodgepodge of state rules governing outpatient centers allow some deaths and serious injuries to go unexamined. And no rule stops a doctor exiled by a hospital for misconduct from opening a surgery center down the street.

Medicaid Expansion Making Diabetes Meds More Accessible To Poor, Study Shows

KFF Health News Original

The number of diabetes drug prescriptions filled for low-income people enrolled in Medicaid rose sharply in states that expanded eligibility for the program under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new study.

La otra crisis de Puerto Rico: más de un millón en riesgo por recortes a Medicaid

KFF Health News Original

La isla, que todavía está recuperándose de las tormentas de 2017, sufrirá un nuevo revés sanitario: fuertes recortes a Medicaid pueden impactar en la atención médica de los más vulnerables.

In Weary Post-Storm Puerto Rico, Medicaid Cutbacks Bode New Ills

KFF Health News Original

The island’s government must squeeze $840.2 million in annual savings from Medicaid by 2023, part of the U.S. territory’s agreement with the federal government as Puerto Rico claws its way back from fiscal oblivion. Experts warn such drastic cuts defy actuarial science.

To Tame Prescription Prices, HHS Dips A Toe Into Drug Importation Stream

KFF Health News Original

The Trump administration signals it is willing to consider such a move if it is carefully tailored to focus solely on specific situations where a high-priced drug is made by one company.

A muchos universitarios, el hambre no los deja concentrarse en clases

KFF Health News Original

El 50% de los universitarios informan que no comen lo suficiente o están preocupados por su alimentación, según revelan estudios. Programas intentan solucionar este problema del que se habla poco.

For Many College Students, Hunger Can ‘Make It Hard To Focus In Class’

KFF Health News Original

With rising college costs, up to half of college students’ finances are stretched so tight they report that they were either not getting enough to eat or were worried about it, studies find.

Missed Visits, Uncontrolled Pain And Fraud: Report Says Hospice Lacks Oversight

KFF Health News Original

A new government watchdog report outlines vulnerabilities in Medicare’s $17 billion hospice program, pointing to inadequate services, inappropriate billing and outright fraud.

Medicare Reconsiders Paying For Seniors’ Spine Operations At Surgery Centers

KFF Health News Original

After a USA Today Network-Kaiser Health News investigation, Medicare announced last week that it is re-evaluating whether these procedures “pose a significant safety risk” to patients.