First Edition: May 21, 2015
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Facing Death But Fighting The Aid-In-Dying Movement
Stephanie Packer was 29 when she found out she has a terminal lung disease. It’s the same age as Brittany Maynard, who last year was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Maynard, of northern California, opted to end her life via physician-assisted suicide in Oregon last fall. Maynard’s quest for control over the end of her life continues to galvanize the “aid-in-dying” movement nationwide, with legislation pending in California and a dozen other states. (O'Neill, 5/20)
The New York Times:
Up To 1.1 Million Customers Could Be Affected In Data Breach At Insurer CareFirst
CareFirst, a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan, on Wednesday became the third major health insurer in the United States to disclose this year that hackers had breached its computer systems and potentially compromised some customer information. (Goldstein and Abelson, 5/20)
The Wall Street Journal:
Health Insurer CareFirst Says It Was Hacked
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield said Wednesday that hackers had gained access to the personal information of more than a million consumers, becoming the third major health insurer this year to disclose a breach. The not-for-profit insurer, which serves the District of Columbia, Maryland and parts of Virginia, said the attack occurred in June 2014 and involved a database where it stored information that members and others enter to access its websites and other services. CareFirst said the hackers may have acquired user names as well as members’ names, birth dates, email addresses and subscriber numbers. (Wilde Mathews and Yadron, 5/20)
The Washington Post:
Cyberattack On CareFirst Exposes Data On 1.1 Million Customers In D.C., Md. And Va.
The CareFirst attack occurred in June 2014, according to a Web site set up by the insurer. The company said its cyber-security team thought it had fended off the attack at the time, but a recent review discovered that the attackers had gained access to the usernames that customers created on its Web site as well as their real names, birth dates, e-mail addresses and subscriber identification numbers. The database the hackers accessed did not contain members' Social Security numbers, medical claims, employment, credit card or financial information, the company said. (Peterson, 5/20)
The Associated Press:
CareFirst Says Data Breach Affects About 1.1M People
Health care data breaches have grown over the last few years, and researchers at security software maker Symantec say the health care industry has become a major target for cyber criminals. That's partly because their systems may be more easily breached than banks and retailers, which were frequent targets in years past. (5/20)
USA Today:
FireEye Has Become Go-To Company For Breaches
When news broke Wednesday that as many as 1.1 million CareFirst health insurance customers could have had their personal information stolen, one familiar name was included: FireEye. The Milpitas, Calif.-based security firm has made a name for itself as the experts pulled in when a big computer security issue arises. "They've ended up being the go-to people. If there's a data breach, that's a name you hear," said John Kindervag, a security analyst with Forrester Research. (Weise, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
Study: 23 Percent Of US Adults With Health Coverage Underinsured
Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults who were insured all last year lacked adequate protection from big medical bills based on their income, according to Commonwealth Fund research. The nonprofit foundation estimates that about 31 million people between the ages of 19 and 64 were underinsured due in part to the out-of-pocket expenses they have to pay for care. That includes deductibles, or payments a patient has to make before most coverage begins. (5/20)
The Associated Press:
Boehner: Little Progress At VA Year After Shinseki Departure
The Department of Veterans Affairs is no better off a year after former VA Secretary Eric Shinseki resigned amid a scandal over long wait times for veterans seeking health care and falsified records to cover up the delays, House Speaker John Boehner charged Wednesday. In a speech on the House floor, Boehner said the VA has made little progress since Shinseki resigned, despite a new law that overhauled the agency and authorized $16 billion in new spending over three years. (5/20)
The New York Times:
House Sends Human Trafficking Bill To President’s Desk
The House overwhelmingly approved the Senate’s much debated human trafficking bill on Tuesday, sending legislation that stalled in the Senate for six weeks to President Obama’s desk with little fanfare. ... Moving past the disagreement over a provision that would block money in a victims’ fund from being used to pay for abortions, the Senate passed the bill, 99 to 0, in April after party leaders agreed to split the fund. Though money for health care would be subject to an existing ban on using federal money to pay for abortions, many victims would be able to obtain abortions in cases of rape. (Huetteman, 5/20)
The Wall Street Journal's Pharmalot:
Hospitals Urge Congress Not To Change A Drug Discount Program
As a Congressional committee readies legislation designed to jump start medical innovation, executives representing more than 500 hospitals are urging Congressional leaders not to make changes to a prescription drug program that serves indigent patients and bolsters their own bottom lines. At issue is the 340B Drug Discount program that requires drug makers to offer discounts of up to 50% on all outpatient drugs – for everything from AIDS to diabetes – to hospitals and clinics that are known as safety net hospitals, because they serve indigent populations. (Silverman, 5/20)
Politico:
Jeb Bush’s Medicaid Fix: More Choices, Fewer Benefits?
In education and immigration, Jeb Bush is an outlier in the Republican presidential field — a moderate who raises concerns about the ideological direction of the party. But on another flash-point issue, health care, Bush is a proven conservative, having put into action ideas that some GOP rivals can only talk about. Bush cites his 2005 effort to overhaul Florida’s broken and expensive Medicaid program as a model for using market-driven reforms to cut the growth of health spending and rein in a big government program. It’s not a full-fledged GOP alternative to Obamacare, but it’s a starting point. (Haberkorn, 5/221)
The Wall Street Journal:
Virus Hunter Metabiota Finds Niche In Epidemic Research
A group of virus hunters in San Francisco may be closer to changing the way insurers, companies and countries deal with the risk of another Ebola outbreak. Their company, Metabiota Inc., uses a staff of epidemiologists and researchers in 20 countries to provide forecasts and data on outbreaks. Most of its clients are U.S. government agencies, but in the past three years the firm has pushed deeper into the private sector. On Wednesday Metabiota said it raised $30 million in a new funding round in part to expand its client base among insurance companies and governments. (Hope, 5/20)
NPR:
States Lack Accurate Statistics On Widespread Heroin Use
In Pennsylvania, it's estimated opioids like heroin killed at least 1,300 people last year. In Massachusetts, more than 1,000 have died, and in Connecticut, heroin deaths jumped more than 85 percent in two years. But figuring out the size and scope of the problem is harder than many people think. (Allen, 5/21)
NPR:
Maine Bill Aims To Make Abuse-Deterrent Painkillers More Affordable
The problem of opiate addiction in Maine is one that state Rep. Barry Hobbins knows something about. "One of my family members has been struggling with this dreaded addiction of opiates for six years," he says. So when pharmaceutical company Pfizer — which makes opioids that have abuse-deterrent properties — asked Hobbins to sponsor a bill that would require insurance companies to cover these more expensive drugs at the same level as other opioids, he agreed. (Wight, 5/20)