Latest Morning Briefing Stories
Candidates’ Drug-Price Plans May Miss The Mark
There is more than one reason prices are rising, and no single solution.
For Fertility Treatment, Wounded Veterans Have To Pay The Bill
U.S. military health care covers the high cost of in vitro fertilization, but the Veterans Affairs health system doesn’t. The discrepancy is putting vets with combat injuries in a bind.
Dueling Star Ratings May Confuse Some Home Health Patients
Medicare offers star ratings of agencies’ quality and of patients’ perceptions, but often they don’t match up.
Urban Medicare Beneficiaries May See More Drug Savings This Year
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says access to special, lower-cost pharmacies has improved for Medicare beneficiaries in urban areas.
California Marketplace May Require Insurers To Pay Agent Commissions
Covered California’s Executive Director Peter Lee said the measure is needed to keep insurers from slicing commissions to avoid enrolling the sickest patients.
Health Reform Roils Downton Abbey
The hospital consolidation plot in the final season of the beloved British series is historically accurate — and has parallels in today’s U.S. health industry.
Insurers And Medicare Agree On Measures Tracking Doctors’ Quality
The first set of measures focus on seven types of care, including for hearts and cancer. The metrics will be integrated into formulas that determine physicians’ pay.
Are States Obligated To Provide Expensive Hepatitis C Drugs?
New hepatitis C drugs boast cure rates of at least 95 percent. But states are restricting their use for Medicaid patients and prisoners because the cost is so high.
Study: 29 Percent Of Colonoscopy Patients May Have Unneeded Pre-Screening Visits
Primary care doctors can do the initial screening and recommendations for a colonoscopy, the researchers write in JAMA.
Cutting Edge DNA Technology Could Boost Cystic Fibrosis Screening For Newborns
Researchers say tests could be faster, cheaper, more accurate.
Head Of California Exchange Scolds UnitedHealth For Blaming Woes On Obamacare
Peter Lee, executive director of Covered California, says the giant insurer’s complaints about ACA exchanges are “total spin and unanchored in reality.”
Buying Supplemental Insurance Can Be Hard For Younger Medicare Beneficiaries
Congress left it to states to determine whether private Medigap plans are sold to the more than 9 million disabled people younger than 65 who qualify for Medicare. The result: rules vary across the country.
Surprise! Here’s Another Bill For That ‘Paramedic Response’
California cities increasingly are billing patients for paramedic services that they say were not covered by insurers. One 85-year-old woman took on city hall.
Study Finds No Harm In Allowing Surgeons-In-Training To Work Longer Shifts
Researchers found little difference in patient outcomes or satisfaction after placing restraints on medical residents’ working conditions in the past decade. Officials have previously sought to prevent inexperienced doctors from making mistakes caused by fatigue.
Hospitals Employ Email ‘Empathy’ To Help Doctors And Patients Keep In Touch
A better way to communicate with patients and track their progress?
Study: Doctors’ Texts Can Prod Patients To Take Drugs, But Questions Linger
In an analysis published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers found that text message reminders help patients do better when it comes to taking their medicines. But questions about the specific ways to make the most of this strategy remain.
Reforming Federal Oversight Of Medical Devices Won’t Be Easy
Despite dozens of infections from medical scopes, an agreement on how to fix the FDA’s flawed regulation of the device industry remains elusive.
California Voters Will Have Their Say On Drug Prices
Heated battle expected over November ballot proposal to curb state’s prescription drug costs, as pharmaceutical industry opens its pocketbook to defeat the measure.
Medical Advocates Can Help Guide Patients On Difficult Care Choices
Hired advocates help patients develop treatment plans, meet with doctors and explain options, among other services.
A Closer Look At The Senate’s Investigation Of Tainted Medical Scopes
A Senate investigation recently found that 16 hospitals around the U.S. failed to file mandatory paperwork with the federal government after patients at their hospitals became infected or died from the use of tainted medical scopes. KHN’s Chad Terhune, who reported on the story for the Los Angeles Times, spoke with Madeline Brand on KCRW’s Press Play about the investigation and steps the scope maker is taking to stop the infections.
