Latest KFF Health News Stories
The RUC And The Cost Of Health Care
Marketplace delves into the complex system that determines the cost of care.
Health Insurers’ Decision Could Head Off A ‘Major Backlash’ To SCOTUS
Three of the nation’s largest insurers announced Monday that they would voluntarily continue to give their customers some of the health law’s most popular protections regardless of what the Supreme Court decides.
Think Tank Urges New Federal Office To Simplify Health Insurance Administration
Health insurers, however, raise concerns and suggest other parts of health economy must also be considered.
Sebelius Touts Health Law For ‘Bolstering’ Medicare
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ comments were made during a White House-sponsored town hall meeting for senior citizens. Meanwhile, new figures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services indicate that some Medicare beneficiaries are not taking advantage of some of the new benefits.
Ruling To Strike Health Care Law Could Hurt Romney Campaign
Mitt Romney is saying that overturning the health law is the “right thing” to do, but Politico explores whether he might lose a key rallying point for conservative voters if that were to happen.
Kansas Plans Next Moves In Medicaid Overhaul
Kansas officials set public hearings on Medicaid changes. In the meantime, the Kansas Health Institute news service examines difficulties Kentucky has experienced with a similar transition.
Lawmakers Push To Protect Health Care Programs In Calif. Budget Plan
Lawmakers set to move a budget through the California legislature are pushing back against a plan by Gov. Jerry Brown to cut health care benefits — notably for in-home care, kids, the elderly and the disabled.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
State Roundup: N.Y.’s Drug Rx Bill Passes Unanimously
A selection of state health policy news from Georgia, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Virginia, Maryland, Kansas and Florida.
Insurers Propose Rate Hikes For Calif. Small Businesses
Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California propose raising health insurance rates up to 24 percent. Meanwhile, the poll finds that one in three small businesses now offer health coverage and 44 percent said they would likely do it if an insurance exchange opens.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including news about the pressure health costs are placing on state budgets.
GlobalPost Launches New Special Reporting Series On Fight Against AIDS
GlobalPost on Monday launched a new special reporting series called “AIDS: A Turning Point,” according to an email alert from the new service. “In the lead up to July’s International AIDS Conference in Washington — the first such conference on U.S. soil in 22 years — the world news site GlobalPost presents a deep look at both the global struggle to reduce HIV infection rates as well as some surprising lessons on the effective approaches that Southern Africa has to teach America,” the email alert reports (6/11).
Agence France-Presse Reports On Efforts To Eradicate Sleeping Sickness In Sub-Saharan Africa
Agence France-Presse reports on human African trypanosomiasis, “commonly known as sleeping sickness, which is transmitted by tsetse flies found in 36 sub-Saharan African countries,” writing, “Without treatment in four months to a year, ‘the parasite penetrates into the brain, causing serious neurological symptoms, until death,’ said Doctor Benedict Blaynay, head of neglected tropical diseases at French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi.” The news service highlights efforts to control the disease in Chad, noting, “For the people living in Chad’s rural communities, the strange symptoms of sleeping sickness have long been shrouded in superstition about witchcraft and demonic possession. But the World Health Organization says it is not a losing battle.”
VOA Reports On Polio Vaccination Efforts
“International health experts say the global campaign to eradicate polio has reached a critical stage, with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria the only countries where the crippling and potentially deadly virus is still prevalent,” VOA News reports. “Health officials in Pakistan say they are redoubling efforts to vaccinate every child against polio after 198 new cases were reported in the country last year, the largest number anywhere in the world,” the news service notes. It goes on to highlight several challenges to the efforts, including “an ongoing insurgency and the influx of millions of Pakistani and Afghan refugees” and public opposition to the vaccinations resulting from misperceptions and concerns about safety (Padden, 6/9).
MSF Report Examines Past, Present, Future Management Of Neglected Tropical Diseases
“In order to break the vicious cycle that leaves tropical diseases neglected, existing programs that diagnose and treat patients need to be expanded and medical research to develop simpler, more effective tools needs to be supported, according to a new report, Fighting Neglect [.pdf], released [Monday] by Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF),” the organization reports on its webpage. “Charting the organization’s 25 years of experience in diagnosing and treating Chagas disease, sleeping sickness, and kala azar in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Caucasus, the report examines past, present, and future management of the diseases and notes that access to quality life-saving treatment requires much greater political will among major international donors and national governments of endemic countries,” MSF writes (6/11).
Journalists, Policy Experts, Bloggers Discuss Hunger Situation In Africa’s Sahel
“Journalists, policy experts, bloggers (including myself) and World Food Programme staff joined in a robust discussion last week about the current hunger situation in Africa’s Sahel region, including its causes and what can be done moving forward,” Jennifer James, founder of Mom Bloggers for Social Good, writes in this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists” blog, noting, “In the Google+ hangout, streamed on YouTube, Denise Brown, the World Food Programme’s country director for Niger, logged on from the capital, Niamey, to report precisely what is happening in the region and how people are faring in the wake of no rains, failed crops, and increased food prices.” She continues, “One of the primary points that Brown emphasized was about early warning systems and data propelled early intervention,” and concludes, “The state of the hunger crisis in the Sahel dictates that aid must happen now. But those who are working in the region, like Brown, understand that to prevent another food shortage next year ideas to combat another hunger season have to be employed” (6/8).
The following are summaries of several opinion pieces published in anticipation of the Child Survival Call to Action event to be held on June 14-15 in Washington, D.C. Convened by the governments of the United States, Ethiopia and India, and organized in close collaboration with UNICEF, the event will focus on ending preventable child death through the survival of newborns, children and mothers and will convene 700 prominent leaders from government, the private sector, faith-based organizations and civil society to kick off a long-term, focused effort to save children’s lives.
New Data On Individuals With Natural Ability To Fight Off AIDS
“Scientists on Sunday said they had found a key piece in the puzzle as to why a tiny minority of individuals infected with HIV have a natural ability to fight off the deadly AIDS virus,” Agence France-Presse reports. “In a study they said holds promise for an HIV vaccine, researchers from four countries reported the secret lies not in the number of infection-killing cells a person has, but in how well they work,” AFP writes. “Only about one person in 300 has the ability to control the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) without drugs” the news service notes (6/10).
India To Host Parallel Conference For Those Who Can’t Attend International AIDS Conference In U.S.
“When stakeholders from across the world converge at Washington next month to participate in the International AIDS Conference (IAC) to share their experience and evaluations and to influence both popular and official perceptions and practices for curbing HIV/AIDS, India will host a parallel event for those who cannot make it there,” the Hindu reports. “The event will be organized in Kolkata by Durbar Mahila Samanway Samiti (DMSS) — an umbrella organization of over 65,000 sex workers of West Bengal in collaboration with the Global Network of Sex Work Project (NSWP),” the newspaper adds.
