HHS Has Been Quietly Reversing Strides Made In Fostering, Protecting LGBT Heath Care
The LGBT population can be vulnerable to discrimination in health care settings, but the Trump administration says the changes within HHS are part of an approach to include LGBT health as part of its broader strategy.
Politico:
Trump Administration Dismantles LGBT-Friendly Policies
The nation's health department is taking steps to dismantle LGBT health initiatives, as political appointees have halted or rolled back regulations intended to protect LGBT workers and patients, removed LGBT-friendly language from documents and reassigned the senior adviser dedicated to LGBT health. The sharp reversal from Obama-era policies carries implications for a population that's been historically vulnerable to discrimination in health care settings, say LGBT health advocates. A Health Affairs study last year found that many LGBT individuals have less access to care than heterosexuals; in a Harvard-Robert Wood Johnson-NPR survey one in six LGBT individuals reported experiencing discrimination from doctors or at a clinic. (Diamond, 2/19)
In other national health care news —
The New York Times:
As Some Got Free Health Care, Gwen Got Squeezed: An Obamacare Dilemma
Gwen Hurd got the letter just before her shift at the outlet mall. Her health insurance company informed her that coverage for her family of three, purchased through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, would cost almost 60 percent more this year — $1,200 a month. She and her husband, a contractor, found a less expensive plan, but at $928 a month, it meant giving up date nights and saving for their future. Worse, the new policy required them to spend more than $6,000 per person before it covered much of anything. (Goodnough, 2/19)
Politico:
Spending Deals Signal End Of Unpopular Obamacare Cost Checks
Republicans and Democrats finally found something they can agree on about Obamacare: killing unpopular policies that were supposed to pay for the law or reduce health costs. The recent congressional spending deals repealed or delayed several Obamacare taxes, as well as a Medicare cost-cutting board. Removing those powerful levers, which terrified health providers and unions, is not a good omen for efforts to control health spending, which is expected to surge in the next few years. (Haberkorn, 2/19)
Stat:
This Year's Awful Flu Season May Have Just Hit A Plateau
It’s too soon to say the flu season has peaked, but it’s at least possible it may have plateaued. The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released Friday, show the percentage of people going to a doctor for an influenza-like illness (most of which is likely flu during peak flu season) was 7.5 percent, just under the rate of 7.7 percent for the week ending Feb. 3. It marks the first week-by-week decline since the flu season began. (Branswell, 2/16)
CNN:
Flu Now Blamed For 84 Child Deaths, CDC Says
The deaths of 22 more children from flu-related causes were reported Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its weekly surveillance report. Those deaths bring the total number of children reported to have died to 84 since October, when the current flu season began. Three out of four children who died from the flu had not gotten a flu vaccine, the acting director of the CDC said in a Thursday news conference. (Scutti, 2/16)
The Wall Street Journal:
In Hospitals, Pneumonia Is A Lethal Enemy
At a time when the public is concerned with drug-resistant superbugs, researchers have identified another danger of going to the hospital: contracting pneumonia. Hospital-acquired pneumonia is more pervasive and urgent than most people realize, a new study warns, and hospitals in America aren’t adequately addressing prevention. “Given the mortality, hospitals should be doing a lot more,” says Dian Baker, lead author of the study, which was published in January in the American Journal of Infection Control. (Lagnado, 2/17)
Stat:
FDA Is Offering A New Approach For Developing Alzheimer's Drugs. What Could That Mean?
In an effort to ease drug development for Alzheimer’s disease, the Food and Drug Administration is endorsing a new approach that would rely on biomarkers to approve medicines before patients show any signs of the illness, instead of demonstrating a drug alleviates symptoms. (Silverman, 2/16)