September 14, 2017 

Volume 4, Number 16

In This Issue

Health Plan Changes – Causes and Your Rights

Puppies Linked to Bacteria Outbreak

Smoke from Western Wildfires

CHIP Deal

Congress Revisits Obamacare

Telemedicine Helps Pregnant Women At Risk

Sanders Introduces Universal Health Care Plan

TJG On Facebook

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Kaiser Health News: If You’re Blindsided By Health Plan Changes, Learn The Root Causes — And Your Rights How much notice is required if benefits change? Do insurers have to give you a heads up if your plan doesn’t meet the minimum coverage standard under the Affordable Care Act?  Readers’ questions this month are centered around insurance notification requirements. (Andrews, 9/12)

Source: Kaiser Health News

The Washington Post: Pet-Store Puppies Linked To Bacterial Outbreak Among People In 7 States, CDC Says Federal health officials said Monday that they are investigating a multistate outbreak of Campylobacter infections traced to puppies sold at Petland, a nationwide chain of about 80 pet stores. The bacteria, a common cause of diarrheal illness that can spread through contact with dog feces, has sickened at least 39 people in Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Florida. Nine people have been hospitalized since last September, but no deaths have been reported, according to officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Brulliard and Sun, 9/11)

Source: The Washington Post

NPR: Smoke From Western Wildfires Can Make It Hard To Breathe It's an unusually bad wild fire season in the West, and for weeks people across the region have been breathing air thick with smoke. "There's smoke from Canada, smoke from Idaho, smoke from California and Montana. There's smoke everywhere," says Greg Svelund, a spokesman for Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality. (Greenhalgh, 9/11)

Source: NPR

Politico: Senate Finance Leaders Announce 5-Year CHIP Deal "Not only does this proposal provide uninterrupted funding for CHIP, but it also provides certainty and increased flexibility for states to administer the program," Hatch said in a statement. The proposed legislation would maintain Obamacare's 23 percent increase in the federal matching rate to states for 2018 and 2019 and begin to ratchet it down in 2020, according to GOP and Democratic aides. The bump is set at 11.5 percent in 2020 and would be totally eliminated starting in 2021. (Pradhan, 9/12)

Source: Politico

Reuters: Congress Revisits Obamacare, This Time With A Bipartisan Twist The U.S. Congress was wrestling with healthcare again on Tuesday, as lawmakers from both parties considered some approaches beyond simply repealing and replacing Obamacare. The widened healthcare discussion appeared unlikely to yield dramatic changes soon, but marked a shift from the long-running, Republican effort to gut 2010's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as Obamacare is formally known. (9/12)

Source: Reuters

The Wall Street Journal: Telemedicine Helps Pregnant Women At Risk Britney Stewart was nervous at first when her obstetrician told her she’d like her to see a specialist in high-risk pregnancies. “Once I know a doctor I like to stick with that doctor,” says the 27-year-old, whose high blood pressure and weight issues put her and her unborn baby at risk. Now she says those appointments—conducted by video link with the specialist, Anne Patterson in Atlanta, a two-hour drive away—saved her baby’s life. (McKay, 9/12)

Source: The Wall Street Journal

The Washington Post: Sanders Will Introduce Universal Health Care, Backed By 15 Democrats Sanders’s bill, the Medicare for All Act of 2017, has no chance of passage in a Republican-run Congress. But after months of behind-the-scenes meetings and a public pressure campaign, the bill is already backed by most of the senators seen as likely 2020 Democratic candidates — if not by most senators facing tough reelection battles in 2018. (Weigel, 9/12)

Source: The Washington Post

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