First Edition: May 17, 2017
Note To Readers: First Edition will not be published tomorrow while we conduct staff activity to allow us to improve KHN for our readers. We'll be back in your inbox on May 19.
Kaiser Health News:
Secret Sauce In Maine’s Successful High-Risk Pool: Enough Money
As the GOP health care bill moves from the U.S. House of Representatives to the Senate, many consumers and lawmakers are especially worried that people with preexisting conditions won’t be able to find affordable health coverage. There are a number of strategies under consideration, but one option touted by House Republicans borrows an idea that Maine used just before the Affordable Care Act went into effect. It’s called an “invisible high-risk pool” — invisible because people in it didn’t even know they were.The Maine pool earned higher marks than most state high-risk pools because it had a key ingredient: enough money. (Wight, 5/17)
Kaiser Health News:
Report: Congressional Ethics Office Probing Rep. Chris Collins’ Aussie Investment
The Office of Congressional Ethics is examining New York Rep. Chris Collins’ role in attracting U.S. investors to an Australian biotech company in which he is the largest shareholder, The Buffalo News reported Tuesday. The story cited unnamed sources who told the newspaper that the office began sending letters to investors seeking information about a month ago. Legally, they are not required to provide it or submit to interviews. (Bluth and Kopp, 5/16)
California Healthline:
Who Will Care For Abril? Parents Fear For Their Disabled Child If They Are Deported
Every few minutes, Abril begins to choke. Diagnosed as a baby with severe cerebral palsy and epilepsy, the Santa Cruz, Calif., 8-year-old has never spoken, or walked or cleared her own throat. Dozens of times a day, her parents, Rafael and Sonia, use a special machine to suction out saliva and phlegm from their oldest daughter’s mouth. Because choking and seizures can strike Abril anytime, a parent is always by her side. Rafael and Sonia, both from Mexico, have lived in this country without permission for more than a decade. But only since the recent presidential election has a question haunted them: If they are deported, what will happen to Abril? (Wiener, 5/17)
The Associated Press:
More Health Insurance Woes Looming: Blame Trump Or Obama?
Another year of big premium increases and dwindling choice is looking like a distinct possibility for many consumers who buy their own health insurance — but why, and who’s to blame? President Donald Trump has seized on early market rumbles as validation of his claim that “Obamacare” is a disaster, collapsing of its own weight. Democrats, meanwhile, accuse Trump of “sabotage” on a program he’s disparaged and wants to dismantle. It’s more complicated, say some independent experts. As for blame, there’s enough to go around. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 5/17)
NPR:
Trump Plan To End Insurance Subsidies Could Lower Costs For Consumers
President Trump has been saying in recent weeks that the Affordable Care act, or Obamacare, is "dead." So he's threatened to cut off crucial payments to health insurance companies that help low-income customers pay day to day health care expenses. That plan, however, may just end up bringing more people into the Affordable Care Act insurance markets. (Kodjak, 5/16)
NPR:
Health Care Bill Relevant In Montana Special Election
Many Democrats are hoping the GOP health care bill that narrowly passed the U.S. House of Representatives is going to push political momentum their way, and result in big gains in the 2018 midterm elections. A special election next week in Montana may be an early test for this theory. President Trump won Montana by 20 points in the November 2016 election, and the May 25 special election is being held to replace the state's only congressman, Rep. Ryan Zinke, whom Trump nominated to be interior secretary. (Whitney, 5/16)
The New York Times:
Wounded Troops Discharged For Misconduct Often Had PTSD Or T.B.I.
Three-fifths of troops discharged from the military for misconduct in recent years had a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury or another associated condition, according to a report released Tuesday by the Government Accountability Office. The report, mandated by Congress, for the first time combined military medical and staffing data, as well as data from the Department of Veterans Affairs, to show that tens of thousands of wounded troops were kicked out of the armed forces and severed from benefits designed to ease their transition from service in war. (Philipps, 5/16)
The Washington Post:
Trump’s Claim Veterans Received ’42 Percent More’ Approvals To Get Non-VA Health Care
The Choice program allows veterans to get health care in the private sector if they face a long wait time or live far from the nearest VA Medical Center. This was a key provision in the August 2014 Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act — a bipartisan response to the scandal that erupted over veterans’ delayed access to medical care at VA facilities across the country. Veteran watchdogs have criticized VA for not acting quickly enough to use the appropriated money to improve patients’ access to medical care. Is it true that veterans have received 42 percent more approvals to get non-VA health care through the Choice program? (Lee, 5/17)
The Wall Street Journal:
As States Wage Battles On High Drug Prices, Drugmakers Fight Back
Amid increasing calls for curbs on U.S. drug pricing, some of the most aggressive legislative action is happening at the state level—and industry lobbyists are fanning out to fight back. Lawmakers have introduced bills in about 30 state legislatures this year, seeking to regulate drug prices; require manufacturers to justify price increases; or to form purchasing groups with other states to negotiate lower prices, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy, a nonprofit policy group that has drafted model drug-pricing bills for state use. (Loftus, 5/17)
NPR:
Heroin Test Kits For Purity Are Aimed At Preventing Overdose
In the day room at St. Ann's Corner of Harm Reduction, which runs a needle exchange program in the Bronx, a group of guys are playing dominoes and listening to salsa music while they wait for lunch. And Van Asher, one of the staffers in charge of "transactions" — that means he gives out needles — is talking up his latest idea for how to keep the users here safe. He wants to tell them what's really in their stash. "If you're doing dope," he says to one client, "we'll give you a test strip so you can test and see if there's fentanyl." (Harris, 5/16)
NPR:
HHS Secretary Contradicted Scientific Evidence On Opioid Treatment
Addiction experts are up in arms over remarks by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in which he referred to medication-assisted treatment for addiction as "substituting one opioid for another." Nearly 700 researchers and practitioners sent a letter Monday communicating their criticisms to Price and urging him to "set the record straight." (Harper, 5/16)
The Associated Press:
Study: Taking Abortion Pill At Home As Safe As In A Clinic
Medical abortions done at home with online help and pills sent in the mail appear to be just as safe as those done at a clinic, according to a new study. The research tracked the outcomes of 1,000 women in Ireland and Northern Ireland, who used a website run by a group called Women on Web to get abortion pills. The Netherlands-based nonprofit provides advice and pills to women seeking an early abortion in more than 140 countries where access to abortion is restricted. Ireland and Northern Ireland have some of the world's strictest laws, often only granting approval when a woman's life is at risk. (5/16)
The Washington Post:
‘Internet Abortions’ May Be Option In Some Countries That Restrict The Procedure, Study Suggests
The rate of complications was similar to that of women using the abortion pill with the help of doctors in traditional, face-to-face office settings in countries were abortion is less restricted, the study found. Still, there were some problems. Ninety-three women were referred for further treatment by local doctors because of more severe symptoms, seven needed a blood transfusion, and 26 had to get antibiotics. Researcher Abigail Aiken of the University of Texas at Austin and her collaborators in several other countries concluded that “self sourced medical abortions using online telemedicine can be highly effective, and outcomes compare favorably” with clinical protocols. (Cha, 5/16)
Los Angeles Times:
UCI Doctor’s Plan To Stop Superbugs Is Widely Used. At Her Own Hospital, It Didn’t Work
By the end of December, a lethal bacterium had swept through UC Irvine Medical Center’s intensive care unit, sickening seven infants. Dr. Susan Huang, the hospital’s infection control expert, had a plan. The strategy — which she had promoted so successfully that most U.S. hospitals now use it — included bathing all infants in the ICU with a powerful disinfectant, and swabbing inside their noses with an antibiotic. (Petersen, 5/16)
The Associated Press:
Women In 30s Now Having More Babies Than Younger Moms In US
For the first time, women in their early 30s are having more babies than younger moms in the United States. Health experts say the shift is due to more women waiting longer to have children and the ongoing drop in the teen birth rate. For more than three decades, women in their late 20s had the highest birth rates, but that changed last year, according to preliminary data released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Stobbe, 5/17)
USA Today:
Empathy Goes A Long Way For Teens Struggling With Mental Health
The opioid epidemic and recent media attention on suicide have put teen mental health under a spotlight, which raises concerns and questions among parents. The percent of high school students who considered and attempted suicide increased slightly between 2013 and 2015, federal data show, while the percent of high school students reporting symptoms of depression remained the same. Still, the numbers are startling: One in five teens has a mental health condition. (O'Donnell and Barry, 5/15)
The New York Times:
Babies From Skin Cells? Prospect Is Unsettling To Some Experts
Nearly 40 years after the world was jolted by the birth of the first test-tube baby, a new revolution in reproductive technology is on the horizon — and it promises to be far more controversial than in vitro fertilization ever was. Within a decade or two, researchers say, scientists will likely be able to create a baby from human skin cells that have been coaxed to grow into eggs and sperm and used to create embryos to implant in a womb. (Lewin, 5/16)
The New York Times:
Steroid Shots Do Little For Knee Pain Of Arthritis
Doctors often prescribe steroid injections for the pain of knee arthritis, but a rigorous trial has found they work no better than a placebo. Researchers randomly assigned 140 men and women over 45 with painful knee osteoarthritis to injections of either a corticosteroid or a saline placebo. The subjects were injected every three months for two years, with neither the patients nor the people who gave the shots knowing who got the placebo. The study is in JAMA. (Bakalar, 5/16)
The New York Times:
Yogurt May Be Good For The Bones
Eating yogurt may lead to stronger bones. Researchers tracked 4,310 Irish adults 60 and older, gathering information on diet and lifestyle with questionnaires. They measured bone density and joint deterioration with X-rays and M.R.I., and tested participants’ physical ability. The study is in Osteoporosis International. (Bakalar, 5/16)
The Washington Post:
A Teen Chugged A Latte, A Mountain Dew And An Energy Drink. The Caffeine Binge Led To His Death.
Davis Cripe left home April 26 an active and healthy teenage boy, but in art class that afternoon he fell to his knees and told worried classmates that he felt lightheaded. He passed out on the floor and was rushed to a nearby hospital. By 3:30 p.m., around the time the final bell rang at school, he was dead.His sudden death may have remained a medical mystery, the coroner who conducted his autopsy said, if friends hadn't described what Davis ingested during lunch: Enough caffeine to disrupt and ultimately stop his heart. (Wootson, 5/16)
The Wall Street Journal:
N.Y. Single-Payer Health-Care Bill Passes State Assembly
Democrats in the New York Assembly are relaunching a push for a statewide single-payer health-care program in hopes that the national debate over health care will give their legislation new momentum. The “Medicare-for-all” bill—designed to provide health insurance to all state residents—passed the predominantly Democratic Assembly Tuesday afternoon following several hours of partisan back-and-forth on the chamber floor. (Vilensky, 5/16)
The Associated Press:
House Committee Takes Up Bill Protecting Abortion Rights
A state House committee is poised to begin consideration of a bill to ensure abortion remains legal in Delaware if the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade is ever overturned. The bill, which narrowly cleared the Senate last week and is up for discussion by House members Wednesday, revises Delaware’s current abortion law, which remains on the books despite being superseded by federal law. (5/17)
The Washington Post:
Wis. Lawmaker Wants To Outlaw ‘Stealthing’ — Nonconsensual Condom Removal — As Sexual Assault
A Wisconsin state lawmaker has proposed legislation that would make “stealthing” — removing a condom during sexual intercourse without permission — an act equivalent to sexual assault. If passed, the bill introduced by Democratic Rep. Melissa Sargent, would change the definition of consent under Wisconsin law. (Mettler, 5/17)