Latest Morning Briefing Stories
5 Governors Press Congress For Fast Bucks To Secure Obamacare Market In 2018
State leaders tell senators that federal dollars are needed this fall to keep insurers participating in Obamacare next year and prevent big hikes in premiums.
Lawmakers Debate How Much Wiggle Room To Give States In Health Care
The federal health law includes a provision that allows states to alter some of its rules if they can think of a better way to provide health care to their residents, but it’s not clear how far outside the box states can go.
Shedding New Light On Hospice Care: No Need To Wait For The ‘Brink Of Death’
Hospice care often prompts fear and misunderstanding, but the services provided can lead to less pain and trauma at the end of life.
Insurance Commissioners Say Help Offered By Congress Is Not Enough To Save Market
Making needed fixes to Obamacare before next year may be more difficult — and expensive — than Senate leaders think, state insurance commissioners suggested at a Senate hearing Wednesday.
Move To End DACA Leaves Some Young Immigrants Fearing For Their Health
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program made it possible for young adults who came into the country illegally as children to get jobs with insurance and, in some states including California, Medicaid. Now that coverage is in peril.
Hurricane’s Health Toll: A Texas Doctor Taps Lessons From Katrina
After weathering the catastrophe in New Orleans 12 years ago, Dr. Ruth Berggren moved to Texas, where she again finds herself in the center of a hurricane crisis. In a Q&A, she draws parallels between the harrowing events and pinpoints risks in Harvey’s aftermath.
Vital Health Officials You’ve Never Heard Of: Insurance Commissioners In The Hot Seat
The fate of the Affordable Care Act’s individual insurance marketplaces remains in play as state insurance commissioners take a central role in the debate.
How Below-The-Radar Mergers Fuel Health Care Monopolies
Most acquisitions by hospitals of physician practices are too small to trigger antitrust attention, study says. But a buying spree of “onesies and twosies” doctor practices has driven competition down and prices up.
To Insure More Poor Children, It Helps If Parents Are On Medicaid
New research offers evidence that coverage expansion policies for adults have a positive spillover effect for kids.
Another Way For Anti-Vaxxers To Skip Shots For Schoolkids: A Doctor’s Note
No longer able to get exemptions for personal beliefs in California, parents opposed to inoculations seem to be obtaining medical exemptions for their children, according to a new study.
California, Other States To Extend Obamacare Sign-Up Beyond Federal Limit
Several state-based exchanges and the District of Columbia will allow people more than the 45 days set by the Trump administration.
The Secret To Chronic Happiness As You Age
Happy doesn’t always mean healthy. These older adults are still finding joy in spite of their physical challenges.
Why One California County Went Surgery Shopping
Fed up with high hospital costs and limited competition, Santa Barbara County sends willing employees out of town for better bargains. Local governments are slowly joining private employers in aggressively seeking out the best care for the lowest price.
Trump Administration Whacks Millions From Budget Used To Push Obamacare
The federal government plans to spend millions of dollars less this year on advertising and outreach efforts to support the health law’s open enrollment period, which starts Nov. 1.
Rep. Chris Collins’ Australian Stock Bet Looks Bleaker
Innate Immunotherapeutics, the Australian biotech firm whose largest shareholder is Buffalo, N.Y.-area congressman Chris Collins, said it expects to close after its multiple sclerosis drug failed in trials.
Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ Hurricane Harvey And Health Costs
In this episode of “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Joanne Kenen of Politico and Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times discuss the potential health impact of Hurricane Harvey on the Texas Gulf Coast, and what impact the relief effort in Washington could have on an already jampacked September agenda. Also this week: an interview with Elisabeth Rosenthal about why medical care costs so much.
Some Thyroid Cancer Patients Can Safely Delay Surgery
Study suggests that many small tumors are sleepy, not deadly.
Soul Purpose: Seniors With Strong Reasons To Live Often Live Stronger
New research bolsters evidence that older adults with a sense of purpose are less likely to see their health decline with age. The question is: How does one cultivate more meaning and motivation in life?
Pioneering Cancer Gene Therapy Gets Green Light — And $475,000 Price Tag
The USA’s first approved gene therapy — to be used to fight leukemia that resists standard therapies — will cost $475,000 for a one-time treatment.
5 Outside-The-Box Ideas For Fixing The Individual Insurance Market
As lawmakers look for ways to stabilize the health law marketplaces, a number of ideas — such as expanding who can “buy in” to Medicare and Medicaid or pushing young adults off their parents’ plans into the marketplaces — might come into play.
