Latest KFF Health News Stories
For U.S., Preventable Health Conditions A Gathering Storm
Georgia Health News reports that speakers at a recent Atlanta conference had much to say about the burden of obesity and diabetes.
Ore. Gets $1.9B To Launch Medicaid Coordinated Care Organizations
The federal support will help Oregon’s Medicaid Coordinated Care Organizations as they try to cut health costs by 2 percent over two years using preventive care to keep patients healthy.
Survey: First-Year Medical School Enrollment Expected To Increase
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the number of students entering medical school will show an increase of nearly 30 percent from its starting point in 2002 to projections for 2016.
HCA’s Profits Up, Cigna’s Down, As Patients Use More Services
News outlets pointed out that “after a long slump,” patients have been seeking more care.
Group Says It Has Kan. Clinic Abortion Records; Iowa Preps For Abortion Battle In Budget
An anti-abortion group says it has patient records of dozens of women and girls who sought treatment at a Kansas abortion clinic last month. In the meantime, Iowa lawmakers prepare to tackle the state’s health spending, including whether victims of rape or incest may get abortions through its Medicaid program.
Romney Plan Could Hurt Mass. Medicaid; States Scramble Around Health Law
A plan to cut federal Medicaid spending could hurt Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts health reform law, Meanwhile, residents in Maine consider what the federal health law means for them and 90 women in Washington state are suing their attorney general for what they term a breach of ethical duties by his legal challenge to the health law.
Poll Shows Obama Leading In Virginia Despite Mixed Views On Health Law
Virginia is viewed as one of the hot states in the presidential campaign. Also, because female voters continue to be considered an important force in the upcoming election, women’s health issues are getting a lot of air time.
State Highlights: Fla. Passed Up $200M Because It Comes From Health Law
News outlets report on health care policy news from California, D.C., Florida, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Texas and Washington.
State Legislative News: Mass. Legislature Poised To Consider Cost Control Plan
Meanwhile, in Connecticut, the legislature approves a bill giving collective bargaining rights to home health care workers and goes against leadership to gut a bill that would loosen requirements for suing a health care provider.
Research Roundup: Chronic Disease Interventions Could Save States Money
This week’s selection of studies comes from the Urban Institute, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, George Washington University and Circulation.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
More Doctors On The Way, But Higher Costs To Follow
More doctors are being trained, but some say the move could backfire since too many young doctors are going into high-paid specialties instead of primary care, which could exacerbate rising health care costs.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a variety of stories about health policy developments in the states.
Today’s Headlines – May 3, 2012
Good morning! You’re over the hump, here’s Thursday’s headlines: The Associated Press/Washington Post: Problems Seen For Medicare Provider Payments If Supreme Court Strikes Down Health Care Law Tossing out President Barack Obama’s health care law would have major unintended consequences for Medicare’s payment systems, unseen but vital plumbing that handles 100 million monthly claims from […]
Without Funding, Thousands Of Malnourished Somali Children At Risk Of Death, UNICEF Warns
UNICEF on Wednesday “warned that thousands of acutely malnourished children in Somalia are at risk of death because little money is available to help them,” VOA News writes, adding, “UNICEF said it has received only 12 percent of its $289 million emergency appeal for humanitarian operations this year.” “The famine declared in southern Somalia last year is over,” but “Somalia remains the world’s most complex humanitarian situation,” the news service writes, noting that UNICEF “reported that almost one-third of Somalis are unable to meet their essential food and non-food needs.”
“At least one million children are at risk of dying of malnutrition in the central-western part of Africa’s Sahel region due to a drought crisis, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said [Wednesday], adding that more resources are urgently needed to help those in need,” the U.N. News Centre reports. “There are currently 15 million people facing food insecurity in the Sahel, which stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea,” the news service writes, adding, “The nutrition crisis is affecting people throughout Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, and the northern regions of Cameroon, Nigeria and Senegal.”
E.U. Pledges 40M Euros To Address Food Security In Kenya
“During his visit to Kenya, E.U. Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs announced new support to address food security in Kenya, which is often affected by recurrent drought,” an E.U. press release states. “Up to 40 million euros [approximately $52.5 million] will be dedicated to nutrition, water supply, and livelihood support,” and “mothers and children will be in particular focus of this initiative, as they are the first victims of drought and hunger,” the press release notes, adding, “The funding comes as a part of the new 250 million euro E.U. initiative, called ‘Supporting Horn of Africa Resilience (SHARE),’ to support the people in the Horn of Africa to recover from the recent drought and to strengthen the population and regional economy to better withstand future crises” (5/2).
WFP, UNHCR Concerned About Food, Water Insecurity In Border Areas Between Sudan, South Sudan
The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) “has warned clashes along the border between Sudan and South Sudan threaten to plunge the region into widespread hunger” and “said it is scaling up its humanitarian operation in South Sudan to assist a growing number of refugees and displaced people,” VOA News reports. WFP “plans to assist 2.7 million people in South Sudan this year under an emergency operation covering the border region and other areas,” the news service writes. WFP spokesperson Elizabeth Byrs “said [the agency] is providing special supplementary, nutritional feeding to about one-half-million young children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers who are suffering from, or are vulnerable to, malnutrition,” according to VOA (Schlein, 5/2). UNHCR, the U.N. refugee agency, said in a press release it also is concerned about the rising number of malnourished refugees arriving in South Sudan and the threat of water shortages in several border areas, the South Sudan News Agency notes (5/2).
Blog Posts Respond To Report On Premature Births
The March of Dimes Foundation, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health, Save the Children, and the WHO on Wednesday released a new report, titled “Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth,” showing that 15 million infants are born prematurely each year, 1.1 million of those infants die, but 75 percent of those deaths are preventable. The following blog posts addressed the report and its findings.
HIV/AIDS Funding Does Not Undermine Efforts To Fight Other Diseases, Study Suggests
“While the battle against HIV/AIDS attracts more donor funding globally than all other diseases combined, it has not diverted attention from fighting unrelated afflictions — such as malaria, measles and malnutrition — and may be improving health services overall in targeted countries, according to a study on Rwanda published” Wednesday in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, an American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) press release reports. “A six-year investigation of health clinics in Rwanda by researchers at Brandeis University infuses fresh evidence into a long-standing debate about whether the intensive focus on HIV/AIDS, which in 2010 alone killed 1.8 million people, is undermining other health services, particularly in African countries that are at the epicenter of the pandemic,” the press release states (5/2).