Survey: Americans Want Weight Loss Drugs Despite High Cost
By Julie Appleby
A new poll reveals enthusiasm for a pricey new generation of weight loss drugs, but interest drops if users potentially have to deal with weekly injections, lack of insurance coverage, or a need to continue the medications indefinitely to avoid regaining weight.
Teens With Addiction Are Often Left to Detox Without Medication
By Markian Hawryluk
Facilities that offer medically managed substance use treatment for patients under 18 are few and far between in the United States. A Denver hospital is trying to help fill the gap.
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Congress Is Out. The Presidential Campaign Is In.
Congress is in recess until after Labor Day, and lawmakers won’t have much time when they return to get the government funded before the next fiscal year. Meanwhile, the Republican campaign for president has begun in earnest, and while repealing the Affordable Care Act is no longer the top promise, some candidates have lively ideas about what to do with federal health programs. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call, and Lauren Weber of The Washington Post join KFF Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, Julie Rovner, to discuss these issues and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF Health News’ Phil Galewitz, who reported the latest KFF Health News-NPR “Bill of the Month,” about how a bill that should never have been sent created headaches for one patient.
Look Up Your California Hospital: Is It Being Penalized by Medicare?
By Jordan Rau
Each year, Medicare punishes hospitals that have high rates of readmissions and high rates of infections and patient injuries. Check out which hospitals have been penalized.
Daily Edition for Thursday, August 3, 2023
Two Major Hospitals Hit In Cyberattack: Good Samaritan Hospital and Regional Medical Center may have been impacted by a wide-ranging cyberattack that exposed patient names, ZIP codes, phone numbers, and other private information. Read more from Bay Area News Group.
Medi-Cal Covers Gender-Transition Treatment, but Getting It Isn’t Easy
By Bernard J. Wolfson
Pasha Wrangell has faced delays getting gender-affirming care because of red tape and limited providers. Over more than two years, Wrangell has received only about half the total electrolysis sessions recommended. Wrangell’s insurer through Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, acknowledges the shortage of practitioners.
Doctors Sound Alarm About Child Nicotine Poisoning as Vapes Flood the US Market
By Liz Szabo
Popular e-cigarettes lack packaging that stops kids from consuming the hazardous nicotine inside.
‘Conscience’ Bills Let Medical Providers Opt Out of Providing a Wide Range of Care
By Carly Graf
Opponents of the wave of state legislation say the measures place health providers’ preferences over patients’ rights.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, August 2, 2023
Opioid settlement funds, “implicit bias” law, drug shortages, covid cases rise, maternal health, psychedelics, and more are in the news.
The Real Costs of the New Alzheimer’s Drug, Most of Which Will Fall to Taxpayers
By Arthur Allen
The annual cost of lecanemab treatment quadruples if the expense of brain scans to monitor for bleeds and other associated care is factored in. The full financial toll likely puts it beyond reach for low-income seniors at risk of Alzheimer’s, experts say.
