California’s Medical Board Can’t Pay Its Bills, but Doctors Resist Proposed Fixes
By Annie Sciacca
Patient advocates have long alleged the Medical Board of California is ineffective at policing doctors. But a proposal to beef up its budget and overhaul procedures faces stiff resistance from the doctors’ lobby.
After Backlash, Feds Cancel Plan That Risked Limiting Breast Reconstruction Options
By Rachana Pradhan and Anna Werner, CBS News and Leigh Ann Winick, CBS News
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services backed off from a plan that could have curtailed access to a type of reconstructive surgery known as DIEP flap. Breast cancer patient advocates are relieved.
Daily Edition for Wednesday, August 23, 2023
Maternal death rates, HIV care, masks, covid vaccines, student mental health, hazardous waste, and more are in the news.
The Painful Pandemic Lessons Mandy Cohen Carries to the CDC
By Fred Clasen-Kelly and Rachana Pradhan and Holly K. Hacker
Mandy Cohen, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, earned praise for her leadership and communication as the face of North Carolina’s response to covid-19. People in the state’s most vulnerable communities tell a more complicated story.
Doctors and Patients Try to Shame Insurers Online to Reverse Prior Authorization Denials
By Lauren Sausser
Prior authorization is a common tool used by health insurers for many tests, procedures, and prescriptions. Frustrated by the process, patients and doctors have turned to social media to publicly shame insurance companies and elevate their denials for further review.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, August 22, 2023
Hospital evacuation, water safety, suicide stigma, covid hospitalizations, vaccines, West Nile, and more are in the news.
Life in a Rural ‘Ambulance Desert’ Means Sometimes Help Isn’t on the Way
By Taylor Sisk
No local hospital and anemic ambulance services mean residents in rural Pickens County, Alabama, are thrown into perilous situations when they have medical emergencies. It’s a kind of medical care roulette that has become a fact of life for rural Americans who live in ambulance deserts.
Mentioning Suicide in Obits Was Once Taboo. Changing That Can Help Loved Ones Grieve.
By Debby Waldman
Mental health is being talked about more openly than ever, but the word “suicide” has remained largely taboo when describing how someone died. See why that’s slowly changing, what it means for people who grieve those deaths, and how candor can help prevent additional suicides.
Few Firm Beliefs and Low Trust: Americans Not Sure What’s True in Age of Health Misinformation
By Darius Tahir
A new poll from KFF shows many Americans aren’t willing to embrace misinformation — but aren’t willing to reject it either. And they don’t know whom to trust.
Daily Edition for Monday, August 21, 2023
Health threats from tropical storm, Chagas disease, nurse strike, covid surge, drug overdoses, corporal punishment, and more are in the news.
