Latest KFF Health News Stories
Wall Street Journal Examines Jim Kim’s Nomination To Head World Bank
The Wall Street Journal reports that “[a] long list of development experts, government officials and news organizations around the world have mounted a rebellion of sorts” in response to the nomination of Jim Yong Kim, a global health expert and Dartmouth College president, to head the World Bank, as “[m]any of them say the two other candidates, Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and former Colombian finance minister Jose Antonio Ocampo, are better qualified for the post.” According to the newspaper, “The race marks the first time the selection of a World Bank president has been contested,” but “[d]espite the controversy” surrounding the nomination, Kim “is still virtually certain to secure the post because of his support from the U.S., the bank’s largest shareholder.”
WHO Celebrates Birthday, Commemorates World Health Day With Focus On Healthy Aging
The WHO on April 7 celebrated the founding of the organization in 1948 and World Health Day, “by focusing on aging, including a host of events, research and information under the theme, ‘Good health adds life to years,'” CNN reports (4/7). “Contrary to common perceptions, the WHO reports by 2050, 80 percent of the world’s older people will be living in low-and middle-income countries — not in the wealthier nations,” and “a new analysis shows the key reasons for ill health in older people are from non-communicable diseases,” VOA News writes (Schlein, 4/7).
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about how both Democrats and Republicans are working to woo Seniors — Medicare politices are central to this effort.
In Kansas, No Consensus On How To End ‘Dental Deserts’
In an ongoing disagreement over how to solve dental care access problems in rural parts of the state, there is one thing no one disputes: the great need.
Obama, Romney Camps Tussling Over Women’s Vote
Democrats are pointing to the health law (including its contraceptive coverage) while Republicans are playing up their solutions to fix the economy.
Arizona Gets OK To Expand Health Coverage To Kids
Nearly 22,000 poor kids in Arizona will gain health insurance coverage under a Medicaid deal the state has reached with the Obama administration, federal officials said Friday. The agreement lets Arizona use a combination of county dollars, money from the University of Arizona Health System and a small amount of state money gained from Indian gaming operations to draw down […]
Obama Ties Women’s Economic Future To Health Law
President Barack Obama brought together Friday two of his biggest campaign issues, health care and the economy, in an appeal to women voters, who have favored the president over GOP rivals in recent polls. During remarks at a White House forum on women and the economy, Obama described how provisions of the 2010 health law […]
Berwick Calls For Leaders To Rise Above ‘Political Catechism’
Every week, reporter Jessica Marcy selects interesting reading from around the Web. Rolling Stone: Don Berwick On The Fate Of ‘Obamacare’ Between July 2010 and December 2011, Dr. Donald Berwick was head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that runs the government’s health insurance programs. In a sane world, he would […]
Today’s Headlines – April 6, 2012
Good morning, and happy Friday. Hope you have a great weekend, but first, here are your morning headlines: The New York Times: Administration Concedes Courts’ Review Power The Obama administration stipulated the incontestable to a disgruntled federal court on Thursday, formally declaring that “the power of the courts to review the constitutionality of legislation is […]
Health Care Hiring Boom Projected To Continue, Regardless Of Law
Health-care employment will continue to grow much faster than employment generally, with the number of jobs in home care and other ambulatory settings projected to jump more than 40 percent by 2020, a new study suggests. New figures from the Labor Department highlight an expected hiring shift away from hospitals, as the system puts greater emphasis on preventive […]
State Roundup: Health Costs Cloud Budget Forecasts; Minn. To Use HMO Refund On Personal Care
A selection of state health policy stories from across the country.
Recognizing U.S. Contributions To Zambia’s Fight Against Malaria
In this Washington Post opinion piece, columnist Michael Gerson examines anti-malaria efforts in Zambia, writing, “Zambia has been the main test case for anti-malaria efforts during the last several years — a focus of funding by the U.S. government, the [Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation] and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.” He continues, “Now the Anglican Church, international aid groups and philanthropists … are attempting to fill remaining gaps in bednet coverage in remote border areas.”
No One Funding Model Is Sufficient To Ensure Availability Of Lifesaving Drugs
“Trade deals are threatening generic drugs — we need new ways to incentivize affordable drug development,” Daniele Dionisio, head of the research project Geopolitics, Public Health and Access to Medicines (GESPAM) and a member of the European Parliament Working Group on Innovation, Access to Medicines and Poverty-Related Diseases, writes in this SciDev.Net opinion piece. “Just under three billion people live on less than $2 per day, in resource-limited countries where key medicines protected by patents are unaffordable,” he writes, adding, “Free-trade deals, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, and governments adopting intellectual property (IP) policies that favor the brand pharmaceutical sector are also threatening the trade of legitimate generic medicines.”
Obama And Romney Campaigns Assail The Other’s Budget Plans
Each casts the other’s plans for entitlement programs, such as Medicare, as dangerous.
Delegates At 126th IPU Assembly In Uganda Focus On Child, Maternal Health
“Over 600 parliamentarians from more than 100 countries” met in Kampala, Uganda, this week for the 126th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly, where participants discussed child and maternal health and nutrition, UNICEF reports in a news article. Speaking at the opening session, UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said, “The damage [malnutrition] causes to a child’s development is irreversible. … I can’t think of any greater inequity than condemning children, while in the womb, to a loss of their ability, of their right, to live fully
Advice For Getting Coverage For An ER Visit; Accessing Lab Results
In health care marketplace news, outlets examine coverage for emergency room visits and patients’ efforts to get direct lab reports. Also, a new study finds that the health care workforce is continuing to grow.
Md. Passes Health Exchange Legislation; Ore., Mass. Prepare Their Own Reforms
Maryland is moving aggressively to implement health reform as it passes legislation creating health insurance exchanges. In other news, Oregon and Massachusetts officials make plans to overhaul their state-based health care systems, and Washington state’s attorney general is talking positively about the law’s Medicaid expansion after previously criticizing it.
Study Shows Artemisinin-Resistant Malaria Parasite Spreading Along Thai-Myanmar Border
A strain of malaria that is resistant to artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) is spreading along the Thai-Myanmar border and has the potential to spread to Africa if efforts to effectively treat and prevent the disease are not undertaken, according to a study published in the Lancet on Friday, Reuters reports (Lyn, 4/5). Since 2008, patients treated with ACT have been slower to clear the parasite than previously, “[a]nd this precursor to resistance seems to be spreading, despite efforts to carefully use artemisinin (by giving it in combination with other drugs) to avoid the emergence of resistance,” Scientific American writes.
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones used authority, granted under a year-old state law, to call out the rates as unreasonable. In Arizona, Maricopa County raised premiums on hundreds of county workers who either failed a saliva testing for nicotine or refused to take it.
Advisory Panel Urges New Fee On Medigap Plans, Cap On Out-Of-Pocket Costs
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission made recommendations to Congress for changes to the program. It’s not clear if Congress will accept the proposals.