Latest KFF Health News Stories
McKesson To Settle Medicaid Billing Lawsuit
The Justice Department had charged the drug distributor with causing Medicaid to overpay for prescription drugs.
Minn. Gov. Vetoes Anti-Abortion Bill; Calif. Bill Stalls
The Minnesota bill would have required clinics performing 10 or more abortions a month to be licensed. The California measure would let nurse practitioners, nurse midwives and physician assistants to perform specific types of abortion in the first trimester.
A selection of editorials and opinons on health care policy from around the country.
GAO Report: Millions Of Adults Have Pre-Existing Conditions
A report issued by the Government Accountability Office estimated that between 36 million and 112 million American adults have some form of pre-existing condition that could result in health coverage denials or restrictions.
Texas Tops MLR Rebate List: What About Other Locations?
Media outlets from Texas, Minnesota, Florida, Connecticut and Georgia offer insights into what these rebates will mean on a more local level.
Research Roundup: Practice Guidelines May Not Stop Defensive Medicine
This week’s selections include studies from the Urban Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the SCAN Foundation and the Kaiser Family Foundation as well as an aggregation of news coverage of other studies.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about a new study finding that, as a result of the health law, consumers and businesses will receive an estimated $1.3 billion in rebates from insurance companies this year.
Wanted: Mavericks And Missionaries To Solve Mississippi’s Doc Shortage
Janie Guice, a recruiter for University of Mississippi’s medical school, is looking for a few dedicated souls who are willing to commit to practicing in rural parts of the state, even in places without a Walmart.
Respite Programs For Family Caregivers Face Cuts Despite Growing Need
Family caregivers provide 80 percent of long-term care needs in the U.S., but many need time away from that job so they can continue to care for their loved ones. Respite can provide short-term relief through several options, including a paid home care worker or providing temporary stays for patients at a residential care facility or […]
Poor, Sick And Expensive: Colorado’s Scaled-Down Medicaid Expansion
The state is one of just a few that is expanding Medicaid ahead of a major expansion called for in 2014 by the federal health law. Though the state estimates that 50,000 people meet the income bar, Colorado will only be able to offer coverage to 10,000 people.
Respite Programs For Family Caregivers Face Cuts Despite Growing Need
As states face tough budget decisions, such programs are increasingly on the chopping block.
Today’s Headlines – April 26, 2012
Politico: Government Shutdown On The Horizon? Plunging ahead along party lines, the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday approved a set of Republican-backed spending targets that break with the August debt accords by demanding more than $27 billion in additional savings from non-defense programs. The 28-21 vote sets up a long summer of political skirmishing, all […]
Blog Posts Report On International Treatment As Prevention Conference In Vancouver
Two separate posts in the Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” blog report on the International Treatment as Prevention conference in Vancouver. The first post recaps an update from Stephen Becker of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Tuesday “about the Foundation’s treatment optimization activities,” writing, “According to Becker, the Foundation acknowledges that treatment will be at the center of HIV prevention efforts, but ‘no amount of treatment will obviate the need for primary prevention modalities'” (Lubinski, 4/24). The second post reports that, “[d]espite its status as one of the poorest countries in Africa and its failed effort to garner a Round 10 grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria — Malawi is moving forward to implement ‘Option B+’ for pregnant women,” meaning “pregnant and lactating women are enrolled in antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs for life, regardless of CD4 count” (Lubinski, 4/24).
Blogs Examine Malaria Fight In Recognition Of World Malaria Day
Wednesday, April 25, marked World Malaria Day, which this year had the theme “Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria.” The following blogs address the fight against malaria.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio Addresses Future Of U.S. Foreign Policy
“On April 25, Foreign Policy at Brookings hosted Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) for a major address on the future of U.S. foreign policy,” according to an event summary on the organization’s website. “Senator Rubio, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, examined whether U.S. global leadership is sustainable and even necessary in the 21st century” and “explored what Americans need to do at this juncture, abroad and at home, to adapt and prepare for the changing international environment in the years ahead,” the summary states (4/26). “Millions of human beings are alive today because the United States, and others in the global community, are paying for their antiviral medication. … We need to continue this kind of foreign aid investment, not just in PEPFAR, but in malaria control and vaccine programs and in agriculture initiatives so that we can make similar strides in preventing hunger and establishing a healthy global community,” he said, according to a speech transcript (.pdf) (4/25).
Royal Society Report Calls For Renewed Global Action To Slow Population Growth, Reduce Consumption
“Over-consumption in rich countries and rapid population growth in the poorest both need to be tackled to put society on a sustainable path,” according to a report by an expert group convened by the Royal Society, BBC News reports (Black, 4/25). The report “concludes that tackling global inequality is central to solving the problem of too many people exploiting dwindling natural resources,” the Independent writes (Connor, 4/26). “‘Population and consumption should no longer be regarded as separate issues,’ said Sir John Sulston, chair of the international working group that prepared the study,” according to the Financial Times (Cookson, 4/26). “Firm recommendations include giving all women access to family planning, moving beyond [gross domestic product (GDP)] as the yardstick of economic health and reducing food waste,” BBC notes.
Global Food Prices Increase In First Quarter Of 2012, World Bank Report Says
“Global food prices again rose in the first quarter [of 2012] on the back of higher oil prices, putting millions of people at risk of not having enough to eat,” according to a report released Wednesday by the World Bank, Agence France-Presse reports (4/25). The index showed the cost of food rose eight percent between December 2011 and March 2012 after four months of decline at the end of last year, Reuters notes, adding, “Even after the latest rise, food prices remain one percent below a year ago and six percent below the February 2011 historical peak, the World Bank said” (4/25). According to the Los Angeles Times, “In Africa, prices are especially steep due to the continent’s dependence on imports as well as trade restrictions between nations, hoarding, civil unrest and bad weather” (Hsu, 4/25). “The World Bank said it was hard to predict whether the surge in prices this year would lead to a new global food crisis since there is no mechanism to identify the onset of a global food crisis,” Reuters writes (4/25). A World Bank Group press release describes how the organization “is helping to put food first” (4/25).
Reviewing Changes At The Global Fund
“[T]he newly appointed temporary General Manager Gabriel Jaramillo and his team has moved forward to ‘transform’ the Global Fund [to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria] with considerable speed and deftness, restoring confidence among bilateral donors (such as Japan and several others) and country recipients as well as improving morale among the Fund’s staff,” Victoria Fan, a research fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), writes in CGD’s “Global Health Policy” blog. She explores some of the changes at the Global Fund and how “these changes help the Fund to achieve better health outcomes.” Fan writes, “In particular, I am very encouraged about the prospect of two changes: (1) the creation of a new Division called ‘Strategic Investment and Impact Evaluation’ which will shape the optimal portfolio of investments by country and disease …, and (2) the creation of new committees for each disease (AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria) that will meet monthly” (4/25).
World Must Extend Access To Life-Saving Vaccines To All Children
“For too long, there has been an unwritten rule that it can take 15 years or more before children in the poorest nations benefit from new life-saving vaccines in use in rich countries,” Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI Alliance, writes in this post in the Independent’s “Notebook” blog. “But national celebrations in Ghana this week show how this shameful gap is rapidly being closed,” he continues, noting, “This week the rotavirus vaccine to protect against severe diarrhea and the pneumococcal vaccine which targets the primary cause of pneumonia — the two biggest killers of children — are being introduced” in the country, making it the first in Africa to roll these vaccines out simultaneously.
U.S. Government ‘Catalyzing’ International Community To End Preventable Child Deaths
“When it comes to promoting global health, the American people have much to celebrate and be proud of. With strong bipartisan support, the U.S. government has not only committed many billions of dollars and saved many millions of lives, it has changed the way the world approaches foreign aid,” former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Mark Dybul writes in an opinion piece in The Hill. He highlights several U.S. initiatives, including the Millennium Challenge Corporation, PEPFAR, and the President’s Malaria Initiative, among others, “that definitively changed how the U.S. serves its global sisters and brothers,” and writes, “[T]hese solid investments in saving and lifting up lives have changed how people around the world view America and Americans.”