Latest KFF Health News Stories
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
ACOs Find Traction In Medicaid
CQ HealthBeat reports that ACOs are a growing trend in Medicaid.
Hospitals Get Graded For Patient Safety
The grades, compiled by a nonprofit safety group from 26 different measures, reflect patient injuries, infection rates and frequency of medical and medication errors.
Gov. Walker Wins Wisconsin Recall Vote
The final tally is being described as a blow to public-sector unions. The state’s labor groups sought to recall Walker because of his efforts to eliminate most collective bargaining for public employees.
Medical Device Tax Repeal Effort Creates Dilemma For Some Democrats
The House is scheduled to vote on this measure this week. It is one of two repeal-related proposals currently moving in that chamber.
Disney To Ban Junk Food Ads In Obesity Fight
The change from the children’s entertainment company got a prominent backer Tuesday as first lady Michelle Obama offered her praise for the move. In the meantime, new reports outline the economic impact of obesity and new nutritional guidelines for children.
House GOP Spending Plan Aims To Reduce Funding For Health Overhaul
News outlets report that House Republican appropriators are working to undo parts of the health law by advancing steep funding cuts.
State Roundup: Mass. Insurance Mandate Examined
A selection of health policy stories from Massachusetts, California, New York, Iowa, Illinois, New Hampshire, Kansas and Oregon.
USAID Warns Humanitarian Crisis In Yemen Being ‘Overlooked,’ Pledges Additional $6.5M In Aid
“The U.S. government aid agency on Tuesday warned that a humanitarian crisis in conflict-ridden Yemen was being ‘overlooked’ despite escalating to levels seen in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel,” Agence France-Presse reports. “Five million people need urgent aid and five million more are facing food insecurity out of a population of 25 million people, [Nancy Lindborg, a USAID assistant administrator, told AFP in Rome after a visit to the country], adding that the crisis had been ‘exacerbated’ by conflict and a political transition,” AFP writes.
UNITAID Urges India To Join Agency’s Airline Tax Initiative
“Millions of the world’s poorest people could have easier access to life-saving drugs if India introduces an air ticket tax to help fund purchases of cheap medicines for HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, a senior U.N. official said,” AlertNet/Reuters reports. “UNITAID, a U.N. agency which negotiates for cheap medicines from pharmaceutical manufacturers to treat deadly diseases, is lobbying countries such as India to join its air ticket levy initiative which began in 2006,” the news service writes.
Economic Community of West African States Launches Urgent Appeal For Aid To Africa’s Sahel Region
“The Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS] sent a distress call Tuesday to the international community declaring that more than six million people are at risk of hunger in the Sahel region of Africa, including more than a million children exposed to severe malnutrition,” CNN reports. “The distress call was issued at the end of a two-day, high-level meeting [in Lome, Togo] to address the issue of food security in the region, especially in Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad,” the news service adds.
“Over the past year, 13.3 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia were thrown into crisis as a result of drought in the Horn of Africa, the worst in 60 years,” USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah writes in this Devex opinion piece. “Droughts cannot be prevented, but they can be predicted and mitigated thanks to investments in early warning systems, satellite technology and on-the-ground analysis,” he writes, adding, “By identifying those communities facing the gravest risks and strategically focusing our efforts, we can help them withstand crisis.”
New Alliance For Food Security And Nutrition ‘An Important Step’ In Addressing Food Security
In this post in The Hill’s “Congress Blog,” former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and the DuPont Advisory Committee on Agriculture Innovation and Productivity — a group of experts in global agriculture development, science, policy and economics — reflect on the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, launched by the Obama Administration last month. “The New Alliance aligns two principles that are critical to global food security — the need for private sector investment and the importance of empowering smallholder farmers,” they write.
WHO Warns Of Drug-Resistant Strains Of Gonorrhea
“Drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea have spread to countries across the world, the U.N. health agency said on Wednesday, and millions of patients may run out of treatment options unless doctors catch and treat cases earlier,” Reuters reports (Kelland, 6/6). “Already several countries, including Australia, France, Japan, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom are reporting cases of resistance to cephalosporin antibiotics — the last treatment option against gonorrhea,” a WHO press release states (6/6).
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including coverage of a new Congressional Budget Office report and a look at how the health insurance mandate is working in Massachusetts.
Leavitt Talks Obesity Prevention, But Not Politics On Bipartisan Panel
The former HHS head avoided talk about his involvement in GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s transition team.
