Latest KFF Health News Stories
State Roundup: The Effects Of Proposed Calif. Budget Cuts; Fewer Free Vaccinations In Texas
A selection of health policy stories from around the country.
Mass. Business Groups Differ On How To Control Costs
Meanwhile, news outlets look at a new approach on malpractice disputes in Mass., an expansion by the Baylor Health Care System in Texas and health care providers go beyond checklists in Conn.
“Participants at the Fifth International Parliamentarians’ Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) ended [a two-day meeting in Istanbul, Turkey] Friday with a joint pledge to advocate for increased funding for full implementation of the decades-old ICPD Programme of Action,” Inter Press Service reports. According to the news service, “about 300 members of parliament from 110 countries issued the Istanbul Statement of Commitment, reiterating their commitment to achieve the goals laid out in the ICPD Programme of Action adopted in Cairo, Egypt in 1994.” “According to the statement, implementation of the programme is ‘essential for countries to reduce poverty and social and economic inequality, improve the lives of their people and safeguard the health and rights of women, including sexual and reproductive health rights,'” IPS writes.
Studies Outline Dilemmas On New Generic Heart Drugs, HRT
One heart drug’s move to generic status has complicated treatment options for some patients and doctors, the Wall Street Journal reports. Also, another study raises concerns about hormone replacement therapy in women.
For Many Prostate Cancer Patients, New Guidance Is Confusing
The recommendation that fewer men get screened for the disease goes against what many people believe should be appropriate, NPR reports.
European Union Sets Four Priority Areas, Including Food Security, For Upcoming G20 Summit
The Devex Development Newswire reports on the upcoming G20 summit, which will take place in Los Cabos, Mexico, on June 18-19. The news service writes, “In a letter [.pdf] issued May 25, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso noted the European Union’s four priority areas at the summit,” which are growth and employment, strengthening the International Monetary Fund, reforming the financial system, and food security and the G20’s development work. “The letter did not hint on new initiatives similar to the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, which was launched at the recently concluded G8 summit,” the news service notes, adding, “The two leaders only said they will welcome progress made on the implementation of the G20 Action Plan on Food Price Volatility and Agriculture adopted last year” (Ravelo, 5/28).
Patients With Mental Health Issues Overwhelm ERs
Patients suffering from schizophrenia, psychotic tendencies and suicidal behaviors are burdening hospital ERs, reports Modern Healthcare.
One Third Of Homeless Are Obese
Amid some signs that America’s obesity rates may be flattening out, media outlets report that one in three homeless people is obese and that bariatric surgery, which reduces stomach size, is becoming more common for patients as young as 12 or 13.
Seniors Increasingly Cared For In Multi-Generational Homes
NPR examines how families are living under the same roof to care for senior relatives — and also, to get by.
Insurers Make Patients Pay Hundreds More for Cancer, Arthritis Drugs
Thousands of patients taking costly drugs for ailments such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis are being asked to shoulder a greater share of the expense. In other news, consumers are demanding access to their medical device data. Others are harnessing the internet to jumpstart medical research and share important experiences, including serious illnesses, with family and friends.
Health officials attending last week’s World Health Assembly “failed to come to an agreement on a binding convention on stimulating research and development [R&D] focusing on the health problems of developing countries,” BMJ reports. The negotiations focused on an April report by the WHO Consultative Expert Working Group (CEWG) on R&D, which included a recommendation “that all countries — developing and developed — should commit around 0.01 percent of their gross domestic product to research into and development of treatments for the health problems of developing countries,” the news service notes. However, “[t]he United States (despite the fact that it already meets this target), the European Union, and Japan blocked this recommendation, and instead member states agreed on the final day of the assembly that the report would be discussed at regional committee meetings in the next few months,” BMJ writes, noting that “WHO will hold a global meeting later in the year that will report back to WHO’s executive board meeting in January” and that “[n]ew proposals will be put on the agenda for next year’s assembly” (Gulland, 5/28).
Bipartisan Group Of Senators Say They’ll Ratify Disability Treaty
The senators are backing a U.N. treaty they say would protect Americans with disabilities who work or travel abroad. The Obama administration has sent the treaty to the Senate for ratification.
Al Jazeera Business Program Examines Fight Against Malaria
Al Jazeera’s “Counting the Cost” program on Saturday focused on the fight against malaria and the “business behind its treatment and prevention.” According to the program, progress against malaria “is being threatened in these tough economic times. There is a $3 billion shortfall in funding for malaria treatment and prevention.” The program reports on drug-resistant malaria strains in South-East Asia; examines a vaccine candidate under development by GlaxoSmithKline; speaks with Jo Lines of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Christoph Benn of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria about the impact of the international financial crisis on the fight against the disease; and discusses a mobile phone app developed by a group of medical students that would help people receive a quicker diagnosis and treatment (Santamaria, 5/26).
Specialty Doctor Groups Ask Feds To Delay Managed Care Move For Dual Eligibles
Several organizations have asked the federal government to slow down implementation of a health law provision that would move people eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid into managed care.
Ill. House Passes $1.6 Billion In Medicaid Cuts, New Cigarette Tax To Help Close Budget Gap
Illinois House lawmakers approved $1.6 billion in Medicaid cuts and a new $1 per pack cigarette tax Friday to help plug one of the nation’s biggest budget holes. The bill would help fill the gap by reducing eligibility and lowering provider payments.
‘Silo’ Effect Of Western Health Aid To Africa Damaging Continent’s Future
In a two-part series in his Slate blog “The Reckoning,” author Michael Moran examines the “silo” effect of Western aid to improve health in Africa, writing in the first part, “Charities know that raising money for exotic disease eradication in the West is a good deal easier than, say, funding upgrades to substandard cardiac facilities. Yet the later is the real win in the long run.” He references an article published recently in Foreign Affairs by Thomas Bollyky, which Moran summarizes by saying, “Bollyky argues coordinated action to confront communicable crises like HIV/AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis must be part of the world’s approach to global health. But by ignoring far greater, non-communicable problems, he says, we doom Africans to low life expectancies and fail to create the impetus for reform and behavioral changes that could be transformational” (5/28).
Democrat, GOP Candidates Say Rivals Would Throw Granny Off Cliff
The battle over Medicare figures large in House and Senate races across the country, with candidates and their allies trading charges over who would inflict the most damage to seniors.
Half Of New Vets Seek Disability, Obama Vows To Protect All Veterans’ Benefits
Veterans returning from war are seeking disability at high rates as President Obama vows to protect their benefits in Memorial Day speeches.
“Unexpectedly sharp price rises in April for local cereals like millet, rice, and maize in parts of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad mean many vulnerable people in the drought-hit Sahel could find it even harder to get enough to eat,” IRIN reports. “Prices are expected to keep rising until the end of August — during the lean season — but the size of recent hikes has surprised food price analysts and humanitarian aid personnel,” the news service writes (5/25). In an article detailing the situation in Senegal, the Associated Press notes, “More than one million children under five in this wide, arid swath of Africa below the Sahara are now at risk of a food shortage so severe that it threatens their lives, UNICEF estimates” (Larson, 5/27).
House To Vote On Amended FDA Bill, Hears From Docs On Pay Fix
The GOP-led House will vote on an amended version of the FDA reauthorization bill, and medical officials are urging action on Medicare payments.