Latest KFF Health News Stories
‘Global Leadership’ Through Foreign Assistance Is ‘Strategic Imperative’ For U.S.
“[T]oday, with the national debt approaching $14.7 trillion, Americans rightly demand fiscal responsibility. Yet efforts in Congress to cut billions from the president’s proposed budget for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are short-sighted,” Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. He adds that “all of our foreign aid programs and foreign policy initiatives — from sending diplomats to Afghanistan to helping reverse the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa — cost less than one-tenth of our annual military expenditures” and “comprises a mere 1.5 percent” of President Obama’s FY 2013 budget request.
China’s AIDS Action Plan Calls For Education, Condom Distribution To Stem Spread Of HIV
China’s State Council, or cabinet, on Wednesday “published the country’s AIDS Action Plan for the 12th Five-Year Program period (2011-2015) on the website of the Chinese government, http://www.gov.cn,” Xinhua/China.org.cn reports (2/29). According to the plan, “China hopes to cap the number of people living with HIV/AIDS at 1.2 million by 2015, up from around 780,000 at present,” by promoting condom use, reducing stigma and discrimination, and educating urban and rural populations, as well as local officials, about the disease, Reuters notes (Blanchard, 2/29). In addition, the plan aims to implement interventions among people at higher risk of infection, such as drug users, and increase the rates of HIV testing and treatment, according to Xinhua (2/29).
Clinton Discusses GHI In Testimony On FY13 USAID, State Department Budget Request
“People look to [the U.S.] to protect our allies; stand by our principles; serve as an honest broker in making peace; to fight hunger, poverty, and disease; to stand up to bullies and tyrants everywhere,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Tuesday in testimony to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, and she added that to do so “takes more than just resolve. It takes resources,” ABS-CBNnews.com reports (Jaleco, 2/29).
In Victory And Defeat, Romney And Santorum Bash Health Law
GOP presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum struck out at the Democrats’ health law in speeches Tuesday night after Romney won both the Arizona and Michigan GOP primaries.
First Edition: February 29, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports on yesterday’s GOP presidential primary elections and how health policy played a role in some of the rhetoric.
Maine’s Top Court Backs State Authority To Limit Health Plan’s Profits
In a case closely watched by the insurance industry, Maine’s top court Tuesday upheld state regulators’ authority to hold down rate increases sought by Anthem Health Plans of Maine. In its ruling, the Supreme Judicial Court said that Maine’s insurance superintendent had “properly balanced the competing interests” in arriving at an approved rate increase of […]
More Americans Head To The ER For Dental Emergencies
Americans who turn up in the emergency room to get dental care aren’t lost, they’re probably just running out of options. According to a new report from the Pew Center on the States, more than 800,000 visits to the ER in 2009 were for toothaches and other avoidable dental ailments. “People showing up at emergency […]
Medicare Spends Less Than Private Insurers On Knee Replacements
Study finds that’s mostly because the government pays far lower rates for hospital care
House Republicans Pound Sebelius On Health Law
Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee. She defended the health care law and the president’s fiscal 2013 budget request. The hearing had all the hallmarks of a partisan political event.
Maine’s Top Court Backs State Authority To Limit Health Plan’s Profits
In a case closely watched by the insurance industry, Maine’s top court Tuesday upheld state regulators’ authority to hold down rate increases sought by Anthem Health Plans of Maine.
More Americans Head To The ER For Dental Emergencies
According to a new report, more than 800,000 visits to the ER in 2009 were for avoidable dental ailments.
Today’s Headlines – February 28, 2012
Good morning! Here are your early-morning headlines: The New York Times: At-Risk Patients Gain Attention Of Health Insurers One percent of patients account for more than 25 percent of health care spending among the privately insured, according to a new study. Their medical bills average nearly $100,000 a year for multiple hospital stays, doctors’ visits, […]
‘Obamacare’ Draws More Opposition Than ‘Romneycare’
Politico reports on new polling that shows the federal health law draws more negative public opinions than does the Massachusetts law signed by Mitt Romney when he was the state’s governor. Also, the LA Times reports that a majority of registered voters believe the health law’s individual mandate is unconstitutional.
On Health Exchange, Neb. Makes Progress, Wis. and Texas Mull Next Steps
A roundup of reports on what’s happening on the ground in several states, where Republican governors have been opposed to implementing the health law’s insurance exchanges.
Feds Pursue Anti-Trust Action Against Georgia Hospital Chain
Hospital news from around America includes worries from Massachusetts hospitals that cuts included in the payroll tax package will hurt their bottom lines. In the meantime, the federal government will appeal a Georgia hospital chain purchase to the Supreme Court and the CEO of Dallas’ troubled Parkland Hospital says public transparency won’t correct that hospital’s problems.
State Budgets Improve But Not Enough To Spare Medicaid
Medicaid news from California, Georgia and New York.
Mass. Senate Race: Brown-Kennedy Dust-Up Continues
Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., has refused a request from former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., to pull a campaign advertisement rejecting the federal birth control mandate that features Kennedy’s father, the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
Financial Crime Convictions – Including Health Care Fraud – Reap Billions In Restitution Payments
The AP reports that financial crimes including Ponzi schemes and health care fraud reped more than $12 billion in court-ordered restitution.
Hospitals, Consumer Groups Have Postive View Of ‘Stage 2’ Health IT Rules
Both hospital and consumer groups are reacting positively to new federal rules meant to improve the effective use of the technology, and new electronic health records certification rules are released.
Health Law, Entitlement Programs Part Of GOP Campaign Talk
News outlets report on the positions taken and jabs traded by the GOP presidential candidates as they position themselves for primary elections in Michigan and Arizona.