Overnight Health Care: New Trump rule targets ObamaCare | CDC to hold briefing on how to prepare for nuclear explosion | Study finds high school students having less sex

Trump offers new rule going after ObamaCare

A Trump administration proposal to allow more flexibility to groups and small businesses who band together to buy health insurance could undermine the stability of the ObamaCare marketplace, experts warn.

Under a proposed rule released Thursday by the Department of Labor, small businesses and self-employed individuals would be allowed to join together in an “association health plan.”

The proposed rule was issued in response to an executive order by President Trump and would allow those associations to purchase cheaper health insurance that’s not subject to some of the key ObamaCare insurance rules. Republicans blame those rules for rising insurance premiums.

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Under current law, small businesses and self-employed workers that buy insurance through associations are considered to be part of ObamaCare’s individual market and are subject to all the law’s rules and regulations.

Association health plans (AHPs) already exist, but they are limited under federal law.

The proposed rule would expand the types of groups that can form an AHP and allow for membership across state lines. It would also allow self-employed individuals to take part in a large-group AHP.

The administration said the proposal could make insurance available for up to 11 million people who lack employer-sponsored coverage.

Republicans argue the proposal would give employers more flexibility to choose the insurance plan that works best.

Still, critics say AHPs could still find other ways to cherry-pick only young, healthy people.

Read more here.

 

More than half think painkillers a major problem, but not a national emergency: report

A little over half the country considers prescription painkiller addiction a major problem for the nation, but say it doesn’t rise to the level of national emergency, a new report in the New England Journal of Medicine notes.

In late October, President Trump declared the epidemic a national public health emergency. Declaring some type of national emergency was the “first and most urgent” recommendation from the president’s commission to address the opioid epidemic.

Advocates and Democrats have been pushing for more funding, saying federal dollars are needed to make the emergency declaration effective.

The journal article examined data from seven national polls from 2016 and 2017 to paint a portrait of how the public believes the opioid epidemic should be addressed.

“Many of the findings may surprise people who have been following this issue in professional journals and the media,” Robert Blendon and John Benson, from Harvard’s public health school, wrote in the article.

Read more here.

 

Shortage of IV fluids caused by hurricane expected to improve

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is confident the shortage of saline IV fluids and bags caused by the hurricane that hit Puerto Rico last year will soon subside.

The hurricane crippled a leading manufacturer — Baxter International — in Puerto Rico.

But Baxter has announced all of their facilities on the island have returned to the commercial power grid, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Thursday.

Hospitals across the U.S. have faced dire shortages of supplies after the hurricane.

The storm primarily affected production of IV saline fluids and bags, which are used to rehydrate patients and dilute medications.

Read more here.

 

CDC schedules briefing on preparing for nuclear detonation

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has scheduled a briefing for later this month on how to plan and prepare for a nuclear detonation.

The briefing, for CDC employees, is part of a monthly series at the agency meant to “further strengthen CDC’s common scientific culture and foster discussion and debate on major public health issues.”

“While a nuclear detonation is unlikely, it would have devastating results and there would be limited time to take critical protection steps,” the CDC said in a notice for the briefing.

“Despite the fear surrounding such an event, planning and preparation can lessen deaths and illness.”

It’s unclear when the briefing was first scheduled. Earlier this week, President Trump bragged about U.S. nuclear capabilities in a tweet directed at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Read more here.

 

High school students having less sex, government study finds

American high school students are having less sex than they were a decade ago, while those who are having sexual intercourse are doing so at a later age, according to a new government report.

The research, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shows just over 41 percent of students in grades 9 through 12 reported having had sexual intercourse, down from almost 47 percent in 2005 and from 53 percent in 1995.

The most significant declines occurred among 9th and 10th grade students. Just under a quarter of 9th graders reported having sex, down 10 percentage points from a decade ago, while the number of 10th graders with sexual experience declined by 7 points.

Read more here.

 

What we’re reading

High praise: Pot churches proliferate as states ease access to marijuana (Kaiser Health News)

Out-of-pocket health costs are rising, but not that much (Bloomberg View)

Trump firing sets back AIDS prevention efforts (Politico)

 

State by state

Medicaid expansion fight looms after Virginia statehouse drawing (Politico)

Arkansas governor: Medicaid rolls dropped by 117K last year (Associated Press)

N.H. hospitals sound alarm over supply shortages tied to Hurricane Maria (New Hampshire Public Radio)

 

From the Hill’s op-ed pages:

Patients, not PBMs, should decide which pharmacy they use

Former HHS secretaries: Alex Azar a perfect pick to lead Health agency