Health Headlines for Friday, January 26
New York declares flu ‘disaster,’ expands access to vaccine for kids
Democrat & Chronicle
Pharmacists across New York will be able to administer vaccines to children and teens after Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a disaster emergency as influenza virus continued to spread.
Rising drug prices, changing health care pay models likely to dominate in 2018
Buffalo News
Many of the biggest issues in health insurance in 2018 took root last year: Skyrocketing prescription drug prices. Big changes in the way we pay for health care. The fate of the Affordable Care Act.
A Doctor Argues That Her Profession Needs to Slow Down, Stat
New York Times
Doctors today often complain of working in an occupational black hole in which patient encounters are compressed into smaller and smaller space and time.
Cuomo announces efforts to combat maternal depression
WKBW Buffalo
Governer Cuomo has announced new efforts to combat maternal depression and prevent maternal mortality across the state.
Cuomo order allows pharmacists to give flu shots to children
WXXI News
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has taken steps to make it easier for New Yorkers to get the influenza vaccine as the flu epidemic continues to spread across the state.
Medicare reimbursement cap angers public employee groups, again
Politico NY (subscription required)
Politico Pro
Groups testifying before the Joint Committee on Workforce Development this week decried the governor’s most recent attempt to close the state’s budget deficit by cutting future reimbursements for Medicare premiums.
F.D.A. Panel Rejects Philip Morris’ Claim That Tobacco Stick Is Safer Than Cigarettes
New York Times
A federal advisory committee on Thursday recommended that the Food and Drug Administration reject a bid by Philip Morris International to market a smokeless tobacco stick in the United States as safer than traditional cigarettes.
Few Children Take Free Lead Tests Offered by New York City
Wall Street Journal
More than a month after New York City began offering free lead testing to nearly 3,000 children living in public housing apartments in the wake of a lead-paint scare, only 73 children have been tested under the initiative, city officials said.
Rival reinsurance provisions gain steam in Congress
Modern Healthcare
GOP leaders from both chambers of Congress want reinsurance. But they want it in different ways.
Idaho says no Obamacare needed for some new insurance plans
AP News
Concerned about soaring health care costs, Idaho on Wednesday revealed a plan that will allow insurance companies to sell cheap policies that ditch key provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
NY Graded harshly on tobacco policy
Evening Tribune
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), killing nearly half a million Americans each year and causing unnecessary economic losses, costing an estimated 10.4 billion in health care costs annually.
Brooklyn State Sen. Martin Golden accused of racism after he claims opioids aren’t a ‘ghetto drug’
New York Daily News
Brooklyn State Sen. Martin Golden faced accusations of racism Thursday after he told a local website that opioids were “not a ghetto drug.”
In Battleground Races, Health Care Lags As Hot-Button Issue, Poll Finds
Kaiser Health News
As the midterm elections approach, health care ranks as the top issue, mentioned more frequently among voters nationwide than among those living in areas with competitive races, a new poll finds.