Latest KFF Health News Stories
“A senior Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives is asking more questions about how the U.S. government reviewed two controversial H5N1 avian influenza studies, and how it wrote a new policy for reviewing taxpayer-funded studies that might be used for good and evil,” ScienceInsider reports. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) on Monday “sent a letter [.pdf] to Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), asking him to clarify how the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) reached its recent decision to recommend publication of the two studies after recommending against publication late last year,” the news service writes, noting, “The letter also asks for more information on which government officials were involved” in the new policy regarding research that might be “dual use research of concern” (DURC).
If The Health Care Overhaul Goes Down, Could Medicare Follow?
A growing number of health experts are warning of potential collateral damage if the Supreme Court strikes down the entire 2010 Affordable Care Act: potential chaos in the Medicare program.
Blog Posts Comment On Launch Of USAID’s ‘Every Child Deserves A Fifth Birthday’ Campaign
The following is a summary of several blog posts commenting on the launch of USAID’s “Every Child Deserves a Fifth Birthday” social media campaign by USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah at an event at the Kaiser Family Foundation on Monday.
5 Reasons Global Health Programs Should ‘Be Spared The Chopping Block’
“President Obama and his GOP challenger Mitt Romney have both prioritized deficit reduction, which, of course, is a worthy goal,” former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), chair of the non-profit Hope Through Healing Hands, writes in an opinion piece in The Week. “[M]any surveys put global health at the top of the list of things to slash. That’s a mistake,” he continues and lists five reasons why global health programs “ought to be spared the chopping block.”
The number of deaths from measles fell about 74 percent between 2000 and 2010, from slightly more than 535,000 in 2000 to an estimated 139,200 people worldwide in 2010, “missing an internationally agreed target for a 90 percent fall mainly because of low vaccine coverage in India and Africa where the virus kills tens of thousands a year,” Reuters reports. A study led by the WHO and involving researchers from Penn State University and the CDC, published on Tuesday in the Lancet, “found that despite rapid progress, regular measles outbreaks in Africa and slow implementation of disease control in India were major concerns and led to the target being missed,” the news agency writes (Kelland, 4/24). According to the Associated Press/Seattle Times, “the figures come with a big grain of salt [because] scientists only had solid data for 65 countries,” and “[f]or the 128 others, they used modeling to come up with their estimates” (Cheng, 4/23). “[E]xperts say increasing vaccination rates to above 95 percent worldwide and keeping them up is the only way to eradicate measles,” according to Reuters (4/24).
“Progress in eradicating malaria is jeopardized if programs to combat the disease are cut,” a study published in the Malaria Journal on Tuesday concluded, according to a BMJ news article. The study “looked at 75 documented cases of malaria resurgence worldwide since the 1930s” and “found that in 90 percent of the cases, resurgence was linked, in part, to weakening of malaria control programs,” the article states. “The study warns: ‘Today, the threat of resurgence again looms as constrained global funding and competing priorities threaten the sustainability of successes,'” and it “highlights brief increases in the incidence of malaria in some countries, including Rwanda and Zambia, as a matter for concern,” BMJ notes (Gulland, 4/24).
Poll: Doctors Fall Short In Helping Many Seniors
Large numbers of seniors aren’t receiving recommended interventions that could help forestall medical problems and improve their health, according to a new survey from the John A. Hartford Foundation. Notably, one-third of older adults said doctors didn’t review all their medications, even though problems with prescription and over-the-counter drugs are common among the elderly, leading to over […]
Trustees Say Medicare Will Be Solvent Until 2024, Urge Fixes
News outlets report on the predictions offered by the Medicare trustees, and examine the assumptions behind them as well as the political landscape.
What If? … The Health Law And Supreme Court Decision Scenarios
Depending on how the high court rules, its decision has potential to trigger a variety of changes — both in government health programs such as Medicare as well as in the private sector.
Survey: After Supreme Court Arguments, Public Still Divided On Health Law
The Kaiser Family Foundation’s tracking poll found that the oral arguments held last month before the high court raised awareness about the health law, but didn’t sway public opinion.
Capitol Hill Is Focus Of Disability Protests, Claims About Effects Of Health Care Law
The 2012 campaign is seeing charges – true and false – about what the health care law will do.
Veterans Wait As Long As 50 Days For Mental Health Services
An internal investigation by the Department of Veterans Affairs concluded that almost half of veterans who seek mental health care face waiting times in excess of those generally cited by the department.
Health System ‘Sticker Shock’ And Other Critiques
NPR reports on how one cancer specialist diagnoses the health system’s ills, while The Associated Press reports on how the costs for a common operation to remove the appendix ranged from $1,500 to $180,000 in one state.
State Medicaid Programs Scrutinized For Fraud
In Louisiana, Minnesota and elsewhere, officials are cracking down on Medicaid fraud.
Costs, Quality Pose Challenges In Caring For Aging Patients
NPR reports on on the difficulties involved in planning for the costs associated with caring for aging parents. Meanwhile, Kaiser Health News reports on a new poll that finds doctors fall short in caring for seniors.
Fights Over Abortion Legislation In N.H., Wisconsin
The New Hampshire Senate is expected to weigh a half dozen abortion bills later this week, including one that would cut off taxpayer funding to providers that perform elective abortions, according to media reports. In Wisconsin, meanwhile, some women’s groups and doctors oppose a law that prompted Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin to suspend nonsurgical abortions.
State Roundup: N.Y. Insurance Settlement Costing Patients?
A selection of health policy news from New York, Kansas, California, Minnesota and around the nation.
Viewpoints: ‘Callous’ House Republicans; Supreme Court’s ‘Core Constitutional Role’
A selection of health policy opinions and editorials from around the United States.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the long-term financial fitness of Medicare as well as possible scenarios that could play out after the Supreme Court rules on the health law.