Latest KFF Health News Stories
Growing Obesity In Developing Countries A Sign Of Historic Global Tipping Point
In this Bloomberg Businessweek opinion piece, Charles Kenny, a fellow at the Center for Global Development and the New America Foundation, examines the global obesity epidemic, writing, “It may seem strange to be worried about too much food when the United Nations suggests that, as the planet’s population continues to expand, about one billion people may still be undernourished,” but “[g]rowing obesity in poorer countries is a sign of a historic global tipping point.” He continues, “After millennia when the biggest food-related threat to humanity was the risk of having too little, the 21st century is one where the fear is having too much.”
In this article in “Policy Review,” a publication of Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, Mark Dybul, co-director of the Global Health Law Program and the inaugural global health fellow at the George W. Bush Institute; Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; and Julio Frenk, dean of the Harvard School of Public Health, discuss the need for “a structural and philosophical shift” in the global health field, writing, “As we approach the post-[Millennium Development Goal] era, now is the time for a new framework to establish an accelerated trajectory to achieve a healthy world.” The authors recount the history of global health work in recent years and outline several “conceptual foundations of a new era in global health and development.” They conclude, “That is an audacious vision, but the recent history of global health and a long history of great human achievements teach us that what seems impossible can be done” (6/1).
Guardian Examines High Incidence Of Drowning Deaths Among Children In Bangladesh
“Bangladesh, a country crisscrossed with rivers and canals, has one of the highest drowning rates in the world,” the Guardian reports. “More than 17,000 Bangladeshi children drown every year — nearly 50 a day, according to the Bangladesh health and injury survey [.pdf], conducted in 2003,” the news service writes. “A report by UNICEF and the Alliance for Safe Children (Tasc) has found that the cause of death in roughly one in four children who die between one and 10 years of age is drowning,” making “drowning the leading killer of children in Bangladesh, overtaking diseases such as diarrhea and pneumonia,” the Guardian adds.
Scientists Decode Genome Of Main Chagas Disease Vector
“An international team of scientists has decoded the genome of one of the main vectors of Chagas disease, paving the way for more targeted vector control and new ways to prevent disease transmission,” SciDev.Net reports. “Until now, scientists had only decoded the genome of the Chagas parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi, but lacked genome information about the insect vectors,” the news service notes, adding, “[K]nowing the insect vector genomes should, in theory, improve control strategies through the development of traps, inhibitors of the Chagas parasite growth, and detection of insecticide resistance, among others.”
Al Jazeera Examines Afghanistan’s Health Care System Since Fall Of Taliban
Al Jazeera examines Afghanistan’s health care system since the fall of the Taliban, writing, “Standards of health care in Afghanistan have improved significantly since the fall of the Taliban, but security continues to play a large role in determining access to and quality of care provided.” According to the video report, Afghanistan’s constitution mandates that health services be provided free of charge, which “leaves many small clinics reliant on foreign aid.” The news service notes, “There’s a big difference in the type of care you can get [in] rural areas and in urban areas,” adding, “Many procedures still require patients to travel to city hospitals, putting them at risk from violence and grueling journeys on poorly maintained roads” (Smith, 6/3).
Study: Hospital At Home Program Offers Good Outcomes, Patient Satisfaction
The program in Albuquerque also lowered costs while providing some patients acute care at home.
Study Finds Dramatic Increase In Hospital ‘Observation Care’ For Medicare Patients
Although patients don’t often know the difference between observation and inpatient care, observation care leaves them on the hook for a much larger bill. A study published in Health Affairs finds this circumstance becoming more common.
Political Divide Deepens On Deficit Reduction And Tax Issues
Reuters reports that even last week’s poor jobs report did not spur Congress toward a compromise. As it stands, Republicans are pushing for major cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid while Democrats want to preserve these programs and ask people with higher incomes to bear more of the tax burden. The partisan divide, meanwhile, is also evident regarding women’s issues and health policy.
Handicapping The Health Law’s Future
News outlets report on how stakeholders — ranging from state governments to safety-net health care facilities — are taking steps to prepare for the health law’s implementation as well as the Supreme Court’s decision on its constitutionality.
CMS Raises Questions About N.H. Medicaid Reimbursement; Other Medicaid News
The federal agency requests state data and analysis about cuts in payments to hospitals in recent years.
WellPoint To Buy 1-800 Contacts
The planned deal is being described as a step in which the insurer would gain its first “direct-to-consumer business outside selling individual health coverage.”
NPR continues its series exploring the issues that occur when families care for elderly relatives.
Half Of New Yorkers Say Soda Ban Proposal Goes Too Far, But Legal Challenges Could Be Hard To Win
Half of New Yorkers say the proposal by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to limit the size of sugary drinks goes too far, but nalysts say legal challenges to the limits might not be able to stop the policy.
Viewpoints: Why Changing Doctors’ Practice Is Difficult; HHS As ‘Giant Venture Capital Investor’
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
State Roundup: Embattled Planned Parenthood Runs School Clinic In Calif.
A selection of health care stories from California, Arizona, New Jersey, Michigan, Texas and Kansas.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including previews of today’s recall election in Wisconsin.
To Curb Spending On Elderly, Hospitals Try New Business Models
Believe it or not, there is a silver lining to the massive storm cloud that is Medicare’s spiraling health care costs. The storm cloud, of course, is the out-of-control spending on health care for the elderly. For instance, more than 13 percent of all federal spending goes toward Medicare. Two thirds of that spending goes to the […]
Study: Hospital Observation Stays Increase 25 Percent In 3 Years
The number of Medicare patients who enter the hospital for observation rose dramatically even though Medicare enrollment and hospital admissions declined slightly, according to a study by gerontologists at Brown University in Providence, R.I. The researchers analyzed medical records and hospital claims for 29 million people in traditional Medicare from 2007 to 2009. They found […]
Kingsdale: ‘People Are Aware That There Are Huge Problems’
In the first installment of a KHN video series, Jon Kingsdale discusses the three strategies being taken by states in anticipation of the Supreme Court ruling and the fall election.
New Screening Tool Could Increase The Use Of Virtual Colonoscopies
Medical experts seek ways to raise the number of consumers who get tested, and a procedure that doesn’t include the normal preparation might be less troublesome.