Latest KFF Health News Stories
Health On The Hill: Medicare’s Payment Change For Physicians
KHN’s Jordan Rau and Mary Agnes Carey discuss Medicare’s transition to compensating doctors based on the quality of the medical care they provide.
Smart Shopping Can Relieve Pain From Dentists’ Charges
If you need dental work, chances are you’ll pay a big chunk of the bill out of your own pocket, even if you have dental insurance. Dental coverage often maxes out at just a few thousand dollars a year or less and typically covers only half of the cost of major procedures like crowns and […]
Today’s Headlines – April 17, 2012
Reuters/Chicago Tribune: U.S. Cites Assurant Unit Over Health Premium Hike U.S. officials on Monday cited two health insurers for excessive premium increases, under consumer protection rules of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law that could soon be nullified by the Supreme Court (4/16). The Wall Street Journal: Romney Woos Conservative Leaders Mitt Romney, while ramping […]
Smart Shopping Can Relieve Pain From Dentists’ Charges
Dental coverage often maxes out at just a few thousand dollars a year or less. KHN’s “Insuring Your Health” columnist Michelle Andrews reports that getting a reliable estimate of prices in your area can be critical if you want to keep a lid on costs.
Feds Cite Two Insurers For Excessive Premium Increases
The insurance companies will be able to charge the higher amount, but they will be required to disclose on websites that reviewers found the rates to be unreasonable and explain why they are still imposing them.
U.S. Chamber Of Commerce Finds Small Business Owners Wary Of Health Law Regs
The survey finds that the regulations rank at the top of small business owners’ concerns. In other news, the National Journal examines the future of accountable care organizations.
Seniors Increasingly Challenged By Cost, Logistics Of Handling Health Care
News organizations are covering how some seniors are moving in with their children or grandchildren — or using community programs — to help navigate the world of care.
State Roundup: Minn. Doc Training Money Cut
News outlets report on a variety of health policy issues in Texas, Minnesota, Georgia, Kansas, Massachusetts, Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania.
Rep. Frank Says Obama’s Push For Health Law Was ‘Mistake’
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said in a magazine interview that President Obama made a “mistake” pushing for health reform and that he urged Obama to take up financial system reform instead. In the meantime, Rep. Dennis Kucinich said a single-payer health care system is the only “obviously constitutional” health care plan.
Lawyers Eye Disability Act For Lawsuit Opportunities
The New York Times reports that a small groups of lawyers are using New York City’s idiosyncracies as the backdrop for a flood of lawsuits citing violations of the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Medical Societies Bracing For Medicare Penalties
Medscape reports that physician groups are now focusing on the downside of incentive programs –the penalties for not meeting targets.
Romney Begins Vice Presidential Search And Rep. Ryan Could Be On The Short List
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the author of the House GOP budget plan which revamps Medicare, helped Romney in Wisconsin. In other campaign news, Romney renews attack on health law to woo conservative leaders.
State Insurance Exchange Implementation Faces Challenges
In some places, state-level progress in building the law’s insurance exchanges appears to be stalling because of political divisions.
Medical Journals Facing Raft Of Ethical, Transparency Challenges
The New York Times, Connecticut Mirror and MedPage Today examine how prominent journals are handling questions about their independence or integrity.
Mississippi Gov. Signs Landmark Anti-Abortion Law
The state’s new law could effectively close the state’s only clinic. Meanwhile, a law in Idaho designed to limit abortions is being challenged.
FDA To Regulate Smartphone Medical Applications
The FDA will regulate medical applications meant for use on smartphones and tablets. In the meantime, a health insurance exchange leader readies its online tool that could let them in on a $4 billion market.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
Strengthening Collective Voice, Influence Of Biomedical Researchers In Global Health Field
In this post in the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases’ “End the Neglect” blog, guest blogger Jessica Taaffe, founder of Scientists for Global Health (SciGlo) and a postdoctoral fellow researching severe malaria immunopathogenesis at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, “discusses the importance of the biomedical community’s contributions to improving health worldwide,” writing, “The collective voice and influence of the biomedical community in global health has been weak, despite our invaluable scientific contributions to improving health worldwide. This needs to change.” She continues, “One way the biomedical community can become more directly involved in global health is through raising awareness of the diseases on which we work. This effort is particularly crucial for those researching diseases occurring mainly outside of the U.S.” (4/16).
Nigerian Vaccine Summit An Opportunity To Translate Political Will Into Action
In this post in the Huffington Post Blog, Orin Levine, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC), reports on the Nigerian Vaccine Summit, where Nigeria’s leaders will meet this week to discuss children’s health in the country. “With the world’s second largest number of child deaths each year, many of which are due to diseases that could be prevented with vaccines, yet with immunization coverage rates that are lower than many other countries in the region, Nigeria has a major opportunity to save lives by raising immunization coverage and introducing new vaccines against pneumonia and diarrhea, the leading killers of children worldwide,” he writes. Levine recounts progress made in recent years to address immunization and child mortality, but notes that “more remains to be done.”
“On Saturday April 7th, Joyce Banda became Africa’s second sitting female president,” Lyndon Haviland, a senior strategy fellow at Aspen Global Health and Development, notes in this AlertNet opinion piece, writing, “President Banda offers women in Africa a second chance to experience women’s leadership (Liberia President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s recent Nobel Peace Prize demonstrates what can happen when women lead) — and for the women of Malawi that cannot come soon enough.” As “[a] longtime advocate for women’s health, education and gender equality, Banda offers women in Malawi hope for a better future,” Haviland writes, noting, “As a founding member of the Aspen Institute’s Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health, Banda has been working on the international stage to accelerate progress toward universal access to reproductive health.”