In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Rebecca Adams of CQ Roll Call, Kimberly Leonard of the Washington Examiner and Alice Ollstein of Politico discuss how the Democrats’ takeover of the House and other results from the Nov. 6 elections might affect health care, and what Congress may have in store for the lame-duck session.
Nearly every state in the country allows courts to force people with severe mental illnesses into treatment against their will. But critics argue these controversial intervention programs fail to address underlying problems in behavioral health services.
For over a decade, federal health officials have recommended the practice, known as expedited partner therapy. It is allowed in most states, but many doctors don’t do it — either because of legal or ethical concerns, or because they are unaware of it.
Federal regulators want to ban the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes at retail locations like gas stations and convenience stores.
Federal officials are hailing the introduction of services such as transportation to medical appointments, home-delivered meals and installation of wheelchair ramps as a way to keep beneficiaries healthy and avoid costly hospitalizations. But not many plans are offering the services in 2019.
A ballot initiative to fund Medicaid expansion with a tobacco tax failed in Montana on Tuesday. The expansion will expire in the state in June 2019, unless the legislature finds another way to fund it.
Following the vote, nearly 500,000 uninsured adults in five states are poised to gain Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act, say advocates. But many conservatives remain opposed to the expansion.
Even though they are taking control of the House, Democrats will be unlikely to advance many initiatives on health that don’t meet Republican approval since the GOP controls the Senate and the White House. But they can block any efforts to weaken the Affordable Care Act or change Medicaid or Medicare.
Voters in Oregon and Washington will decide whether to strip cities of the ability to tax sugary drinks.
As politicians across the country toss about such health care catchphrases, sometimes interchangeably, many voters say they’re “just confused.”
