The Friday Breeze
Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes, who reads the whole lot on well being care to compile our each day Morning Briefing, provides the most effective and most provocative tales for the weekend.
Welcome again to the Friday Breeze! In tales that make you go “Huh, that is true”: Here’s a look at how advances in trendy medication have really formed the Supreme Court (largely by letting justices stay means longer than they did within the time of the Founding Fathers). While we’re at it, prepare for nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s hearings that are slated to start Tuesday.
Now right here’s what you might have missed:
It’s that particular time of yr (ahem, election season) when payments turn out to be extra about profitable speaking factors than one thing that may be realistically handed (or extra so than normal, that’s). Case in level, Senate Democrats simply launched a invoice to roll again the administration’s rule on increasing short-term plans. It’s unlikely to go wherever, however it will drive Republicans to vote on well being care (which Dems see as a profitable problem on the path) near midterms.
The Hill: Dem Introduces Measure to Overturn Trump Expansion of Non-ObamaCare Plans
Oops? A bunch of Republicans launched a invoice final week to tuck protections for preexisting situations into the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act — however it could backfire for some GOP candidates. At least Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is utilizing it to level to the very fact even Republicans know they’re placing the favored provision in danger.
The Hill: Manchin Uses New GOP ObamaCare Bill to Hit Opponent on Pre-Existing Conditions
So, how’s the regulation really faring? Uninsured numbers remained fairly regular, although deep geographical disparities stay.
Bloomberg: Fewer Americans Without Health Insurance Since Obamacare Debut
The Friday Breeze
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A Texas instructor’s $109,000 shock medical invoice for his coronary heart assault sparked sufficient outrage this week that the hospital knocked the worth he needed to pay right down to $332. But the lowered invoice got here solely after the instructor was featured as a part of KHN and NPR’s “Bill of the Month” sequence, which was then broadly picked up by social media and different information websites. So what does that imply for individuals who don’t have an investigative journalist to shine a light-weight on the issue? (If that’s you, please send us your bill! It’s an ongoing sequence.)
Do you may have an exorbitant or baffling medical invoice? Join the KHN and NPR’s Bill-of-the-Month Club and inform us about your expertise. We’ll function a brand new one every month.
A Jolt To The Jugular! You’re Insured But Still Owe $109K For Your Heart Attack
And see KHN’s editor-in-chief Elisabeth Rosenthal discuss it on CBS here.
But these sky-high shock payments aren’t the one ones which have collectors knocking. Many payments are modest — $600 or much less — and may nonetheless ding a affected person’s credit score.
The Associated Press: Even a Small Amount of Medical Debt Can Trigger Headaches
Modern Healthcare: More Than Half of Americans Have Receive a Surprise Medical Bill
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After months of toes dragging, we now have a brand new Puerto Rico dying toll from Hurricane Maria: 2,975. (For reference, the unique official one? 64.) That locations it amongst one of many worst pure disasters in U.S. historical past. A day after the quantity was modified, President Donald Trump defended his administration’s response: “I think we did a fantastic job.”
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There’s a showdown brewing on the horizon between the Trump administration and town of San Francisco, and it has to do with safe-injection websites. They’re standard with advocates (and the science is there to again them up), but additionally have a tendency to impress robust reactions from individuals who see them as selling drug use. It might come to a head quickly, as a result of simply as Justice officers vowed “swift and aggressive” motion in opposition to any makes an attempt to set them up, California lawmakers authorized a pilot program for San Francisco.
Politico: Trump Administration Warns California Against ‘Safe’ Opioid Injection Sites
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Public well being had a tough week: U.S. joined Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico and Venezuela to make up half of the annual worldwide 251,269 gun deaths. In different international locations, the possibility of getting shot was 1 in 1 million. In the U.S, the percentages are 100 occasions increased.
The Associated Press: Worldwide Gun Deaths Reach 250,000 Yearly; US Ranks High
More dangerous information piled on: The nation’s STD price has hit a report excessive. The most worrying half? We’re swiftly coming into an period the place the illnesses have gotten proof against therapies, and drug firms lack nearly any incentive to develop new antibiotics.
The New York Times: S.T.D. Diagnoses Reach Record 2.3 Million New Cases in U.S.
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A gut-wrenching and visually fascinating (must-read) story on mentally ailing inmates and their deaths is kicking off my miscellaneous file this week, together with a tragic play-by-play of a medical emergency that fell via the cracks throughout Hurricane Harvey.
The Virginian-Pilot: Horrific Deaths, Brutal Treatment: Mental Illness in America’s Jails
The New York Times: Lost in the Storm
Also: A wave of lawsuits makes it appear as if universities are fumbling with regards to suicidal college students, however what ought to they be doing?
The New York Times: Feeling Suicidal, Students Turned to Their College. They Were Told to Go Home.
And, a yr in the past, billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong appeared just like the savior of a deeply indebted California hospital system. Today, it’s getting ready to chapter. What occurred?
Politico: Did Patrick Soon-Shiong’s High-Tech Gamble Help Bring 6 Hospitals To The Brink?
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Sen. John McCain is being laid to relaxation this week after a battle with an aggressive, complex form of brain cancer. Out of the 2 dozen experimental medicine examined previously decade, zero improved survival for these newly recognized. More analysis, specialists say, is the one hope.
Have a stunning vacation weekend!
Brianna Labuskes: blabuskes@kff.org”>blabuskes@kff.org, @brilabuskes
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