Latest KFF Health News Stories
Republican 2013 Budget Plan Includes Major Medicare Changes
News outlets reported that the proposal places greater limits on federal spending for Medicare than last year’s blueprint.
Illustrating Illinois Insurance Coverage Before & After Health Law
Health care advocates in Illinois are marking the two-year anniversary of the 2010 health law with an interactive map that shows how two provisions – expansion of Medicaid eligibility and the creation of new insurance marketplaces called exchanges – could expand coverage to the state’s residents, some 13 percent of whom are currently uninsured. The map […]
Ryan On ‘Moral And Legal Obligation’ To Fix Entitlements
In a news conference Tuesday on Capitol Hill, Reps. Paul Ryan and Tom Price said that the proposed sweeping changes would protect the program for seniors and the disabled.
Today’s Headlines – March 20, 2012
The Washington Post: House Republicans To Propose Dramatic Changes To Tax Code Democrats have been gearing up to tackle other aspects of Ryan’s budget proposal — notably efforts to reshape Medicare and to slash federal agency spending beneath the $1.047 trillion level agreed to during the summer’s hard-fought battle over raising the debt ceiling (Helderman […]
GOP Renews Health Law Assault As Two-Year Anniversary, Court Date Near
The fight for public opinion is expected to intensify in the days ahead — as the date of the health law’s Supreme Court oral arguments closes in.
Roundup: States Face New Revenue Downturn; Calif. County Has Disparities In Life Expectancy
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy issues.
Malpractice Reform, IPAB Repeal, NIH Funding Among Hot Topics On Capitol Hill
News outlets report on various legislative proposals and planned funding cuts, and what kind of reactions they are drawing.
On Campaign Trail, Santorum Bashes Romney On Health Care
Mitt Romney’s Medicare plan is dissected by the Boston Globe, and neither he nor the president are talking up their health reform plans.
Marking The Health Law’s Second Anniversary
As the health law turns 2, media outlets report on what the future might hold. Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services steps up its messaging related to the measure’s benefits.
Improving Care For Advanced Illnesses Can Lead To Reduced Costs
The Wall Street Journal’s Health Blog reports on a finding from the Gundersen Health System.
NPR follows the money involved in the health care system.
Health Law Oral Arguments: Analyzing The Moving Parts
News reports explore the constitutional questions to be explored in the high court’s review of the health law and the potential outcomes.
Six State Attorneys General To Hear Supreme Court Health Law Arguments
Attorneys general from six states will sit in the Supreme Court to hear the oral arguments over the health reform law. In the meantime, Pennsylvania lawmakers may offer a constitutional amendment to ban laws mandating that people have health insurance.
State Lawmkers Consider Abortion, Contraception Legislation
Lawmakers in Arizona and Tennessee are considering bills that would allow employers to deny contraception coverage on religious grounds and require the state publish the names of doctors who perform abortions, respectively.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health policy from around the country.
USAID’s website features a page dedicated to World TB Day, which will be commemorated on March 24. The page lists information on upcoming events, as well as links to several reports, such as the FY2010 Report to Congress on the Global TB Context (.pdf), stories, and features (3/19).
Center for Global Health Policy Interviews TB Expert In Advance Of World TB Day
The Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” blog interviews tuberculosis (TB) expert Lee Reichman, founding executive director of the New Jersey Medical School Global Tuberculosis Institute, in advance of World TB Day, to be observed on March 24. According to the blog, Reichman discusses “the spread of drug-resistant TB and what he thinks are the most promising advances coming down the scientific pipeline” (Mazzotta, 3/19).
Reuters Examines Global Rise In Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Cases
“[O]ften seen in the wealthy West as a disease of bygone eras,” Reuters examines rising rates of tuberculosis (TB) — drug-resistant TB in particular — among the world’s rich and poor. “[R]apidly rising rates of drug-resistant TB in some of the wealthiest cities in the world, as well as across Africa and Asia, are again making history,” Reuters writes. According to the news service, “London has been dubbed the ‘tuberculosis capital of Europe,’ and a startling recent study documenting new cases of so-called ‘totally drug-resistant’ TB in India suggests the modern-day tale of this disease could get a lot worse.”
Excluded From WHO Targets, Children At Risk Of Being Forgotten In Global NCD Agenda
Guardian health editor Sarah Boseley examines why children have been excluded from WHO targets on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in this post in her “Global Health Blog,” writing, “Children die from cancer, heart disease and other [NCDs] but they are in danger of being forgotten as global targets for action are drawn up, say health groups.” Boseley discusses an analysis by advocate Kate Armstrong, which suggests “the targets now being considered by the [WHO] and others to reduce the impact of heart disease, cancer and other [NCDs] are in danger of being focused solely on adults,” as “the targets under consideration aim to bring down the deaths of adults over the age of 30.”
TB Alliance Launches Phase II Clinical Trial To Test New Drug Regimen Among People With TB, MDR-TB
The TB Alliance on Monday announced it has launched a Phase II clinical trial “of a new treatment regimen for tuberculosis, including for patients with resistance to existing multi-drug programs,” Agence France-Presse reports. “The new regimen being tested could shorten required treatment to as little as four months in both patients with TB and some forms of drug-resistant TB, compared with the current six to 24 months,” the news agency writes, adding, “Costs will also be vastly reduced.” The trial “will take place at eight sites in South Africa, Tanzania, and Brazil, the alliance said,” AFP notes (Santini, 3/19).