Latest KFF Health News Stories
“Scientists from 15 countries are calling for a better political response to the provision of water and energy to meet the challenge of feeding a world of nine billion people within 30 years,” Reuters reports. The leaders of “some of the world’s leading science academies” issued several statements on Thursday “ahead of the G8 summit in the United States” as “part of the annual lobbying effort aimed at focusing the attention of world leaders on issues the scientific community regards as crucial,” the news agency writes (Wickham, 5/11).
FDA Panel Recommends Approval Of Truvada As HIV Prevention Tool
“In a move that could lead to a new milestone for treatment in the evolution of the worldwide AIDS epidemic,” a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel on Thursday recommended Gilead Sciences’ antiretroviral drug Truvada be approved for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV among healthy people at risk of contracting the virus, Reuters reports, noting the drug is already approved to treat HIV infection (Morgan, 5/10). “The panel voted 19-3 to approve the drug for use in gay men and 19-2, with one member abstaining, for heterosexual couples in which one person is HIV-negative,” according to the Wall Street Journal (Dooren, 5/10). “The recommendation is the first time that government advisers have advocated giving antiviral medicine to healthy people who might be exposed through sexual activity to the virus that causes AIDS,” the New York Times writes (Grady, 5/10). Though the FDA is not required to follow the panel’s advice, it usually does, and “[a] final decision is expected by June 15,” the Associated Press/Fox News reports (5/11).
Which Hospitals’ Patients Cost Medicare The Most? A Top 10 List
New government data identify which hospitals’ patients cost Medicare the most. Below are the 10 hospitals whose patients cost Medicare the most–both during their stays and for all services in the month afterward. All hospitals are general medical and surgical hospitals unless noted otherwise. Medicare calculates a hospital rate as a ratio to the national […]
Algeria, UNAIDS To Build First HIV/AIDS Research Center In MENA Region
“Algeria will partner with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) to build the first HIV/AIDS research center in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA),” Nature Middle East reports. “The center, which should be operational by 2013, will be based in the city of Tamanrasset in southern Algeria” and “will bring together researchers from Africa, Europe and the United States working on treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS,” the magazine writes.
FAO Head Warns Of Funding Gap For Food Security Activities In Sahel, Horn Of Africa
Speaking at an economic forum in Madrid, Spain, “[t]he head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO], Jose Graziano da Silva, warned Thursday of a major funding gap for activities in the Sahel and the Horn of Africa,” Agence France-Presse reports. “He added that boosting food security entailed combining emergency action with support for family farming and smallholder production, as well as promoting long term development and reducing vulnerability to extreme events, like drought,” the news agency writes (5/10). According to the U.N. News Centre, Graziano da Silva also called for the involvement of “civil society, private enterprise, international agencies, and the governments of developing and developed countries” to help fight chronic hunger and malnutrition — which affects one of every seven people in the world — because it “is a challenge too great for FAO or any government to overcome alone” (5/10).
Nancy Keenan tells The Washington Post that it is important for younger women to take on the challenge of defending abortion.
Accretive Readies Responses About Business Practices
Health care consultant group Accretive plans to answer questions from the Minnesota senator and respond to the state’s attorney general in a report to be released today.
Cigna To Increase Supplemental Health Insurance Offerings With Acquisition
Cigna plans to acquire a supplemental health insurance unit from American Financial Group for $295 million to increase its Medicare and other supplemental insurance offerings.
Detailing Presidential Politics, Policies And Fundraising
In this pair of stories, The Associated Press offers “clarity” on some of the issues in play in the presidential campaign as well as a report from the campaign trail.
Calif. Budget Cuts Not Over, Warns Governor
California Gov. Jerry Brown warns more budget cuts are coming, and many expect trims to health programs. In the meantime, a bid to reduce funding to federally qualified health centers in the state failed.
HIV Prevention Drug Receives FDA Panel’s Backing
The drug, which has already been approved as a treatment for HIV/AIDS, received the endorsement of a panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers to also use it to prevent the HIV infection. The FDA is expected to make its final decision on approval by June 15, and the agency is not bound to follow the expert panel’s recommendation.
Ga. Hospitals Enter Affiliation Talks; N.H. Hopes New Hospitals Draw Mass. Patients
Two major hospital systems in Georgia may affiliate while New Hampshire is hoping a string of new hospitals along its southern border could poach some patients from Massachusetts.
N.J. Gov. Vetoes Bill Creating Health Insurance Exchange
Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who is often rumored as a possible running mate for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said the state should wait to see how the Supreme Court rules on the federal health law.
Rule Change Has Consequences For Dialysis Patients
The New York Times reports on the impact of a change in the payment system for Medicare.
Viewpoints: Two Views On How To Fight Obesity; Tough Choices For Big Business On Health Costs
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
State Highlights: Groups Weigh In On Mass. Cost Control Bills
A selection of health policy stories from Massachusetts, Illinois, Florida, Minnesota, California, Kansas and Washington state.
GOP Lawmakers Doubt Co-Op’s Ability To Promote Competition, Lower Health Costs
They outlined their concerns in a letter sent this week to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Meanwhile, Marilyn Tavenner, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services acting administrator, provided details about the innovation center’s staffing and funding to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
Research Roundup: Health Providers’ Clout; The Bargain In Part D Costs
This week’s studies come from Health Affairs, the National Institute for Health Care Reform, the Center for Studying Health System Change, The Kaiser Family Foundation and the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a report about how a federal rule change might have unintended consequences for dialysis patients and details of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s veto of legislation to set up a state health exchange.
What’s In A Name: Health Exchanges, Marketplaces … Or Swap Meets
If a Medicare staff recommendation is approved, health insurance exchanges may be up for a rebranding.