Latest KFF Health News Stories
Mo. Gov. Faces Defining Choice On Abortion Bills
Missouri’s governor faces tough choices on a pair of abortion bills awaiting his signature or veto — moves that could have national implications. In the meantime, Louisiana lawmakers have approved a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Mass., Calif. Insurers Will Pay Millions In Rebates To Their Customers
Nationally, insurers are expected to return about $1.3 billion.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
States Eye Health Law Changes — Consider Next Moves In Implementation
State officials in Minnesota, California and Washington are among those moving ahead regardless of the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Bloomberg’s Proposed Super-Size Soda Ban Is Latest Attack In War Against Obesity
New York City mayor seeks to limit the size of sugary beverages, but the plan draws scorn from the soft drink industry and heightens the debate about how involved government should be in efforts to “steer individual behavior in the name of health.”
Several outlets offer opinions on obesity issues and on the New York City mayor’s proposal to curb the sale of sugary drinks.
Walgreen, Express Scripts Dismiss Claims Against Each Other
But the fact the two companies have dropped these claims does not mean they are nearing a new deal.
Roundup: Cracking The Cost-Savings Code In Mass.; Va. Releases Abortion Clinic Regs
A selection of health policy stories from Massachusetts, Virginia, Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, Oregon, Arizona, Illinois, Connecticut and North Carolina.
Former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt Picked To Lead Romney Transition Team
So far, Leavitt has acted as a “low-profile advisor” to GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. Meanwhile, advisors to President Barack Obama and Romney spar over issues of job creation and the health law. News outlets also report on how some religious leaders and scholars who backed Obama in 2008 are now skeptical.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including the latest news on implementation of the health law, on the pending Capitol Hill effort to repeal the medical device tax and reports from the states.
Report Offers Glimpse of Health Law’s Impact On Washington State
Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is weighing in on the fate of the Affordable Care Act with a report released this week about what’s at stake for Washingtonians if the law is overturned by the Supreme Court.
WHO To Continue Discussion On R&D Reform Focusing On Health Needs In Developing Countries
“Proposals for new mechanisms to improve the funding and coordination of health research for the developing world, potentially including a binding international convention, will be formally discussed over the next year, the World Health Assembly concluded last week (21
PMTCT Of HIV ‘Critical, Effective’ To Making Progress In Child Survival
In this post in the Management Sciences for Health’s (MSH) “Global Health Impact” blog, Scott Kellerman, global technical lead for HIV/AIDS at MSH, discusses USAID’s “Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday” campaign and recent attention to the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. He notes that U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby and UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe “have called for the elimination of pediatric HIV by 2015,” and writes, “We can move closer to the goal of eliminating pediatric HIV by 2015 by treating the mother, treating the baby, and continuing to treat the mother” (5/31).
Blogs Recognize ‘World No Tobacco Day’
“By the end of the 21st century, more than one billion people are expected to die from illnesses related to tobacco use primarily in low to middle income countries,” Amie Newman, communications officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and editor of the foundation’s “Impatient Optimists” blog, writes in this blog post in recognition of World No Tobacco Day. “We’ll continue to support efforts which reduce the number of deaths and diseases due to tobacco use — especially in developing countries,” she adds (5/31). An AIDS.gov blog post addresses tobacco use by people living with HIV, writing, “Smoking rates of people living with HIV are estimated to be two to three times higher than the national average, and smoking weakens the immune system, making it harder to fight off HIV-related infections” (5/31).
House GOP Releases White House Emails Detailing Health Law Deals
The communications, which were gathered by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, offer an inside look at how the White House struck a deal with the pharmaceutical industry to win support for the health care law.
IRIN Examines Aid Funding In Muslim World
“Every year, somewhere between $200 billion and $1 trillion are spent in ‘mandatory’ alms [zakat] and voluntary charity [sadaqa] across the Muslim world, Islamic financial analysts estimate,” IRIN reports, noting, “At the low end of the estimate, this is 15 times more than global humanitarian aid contributions in 2011.” The news service writes, “With aid from traditional Western donors decreasing in the wake of a global recession, and with about a quarter of the Muslim world living on less than $1.25 a day, this represents a huge pool of potential in the world of aid funding.”
GOP Puts Medicaid Payments On The Table In Student Loan Plan Debate
In an effort to pay for an extension of current student loan interest rates, Republicans leaders targeted Medicaid payments to states as a way to bridge the impasse.
The Lancet Publishes China-Themed Issue On 3rd Anniversary Of Country’s Health Reform Plan
The Lancet on Friday published “a themed issue devoted to China to coincide with the third anniversary of the country’s 2009 health reform plan, and a conference — Preventing Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in China: national agenda and local commitments — organized by the Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine.” According to the journal, “China’s health-reform process, solutions, and lessons will provide evidence to inform debate and, ultimately, enhance global health-care outcomes” (6/2).
Pakistan Looks To India For Guidance On Polio Eradication Efforts
“Impressed with India’s successful effort in polio eradication,” a nine-member Pakistani delegation on Thursday met India’s health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and senior officials of the Ministry to discuss the country’s polio eradication program, the Press Trust of India/Business Standard reports, noting that India achieved a polio-free status as of January (5/31). “‘The focus of our visit here was for us to learn firsthand from the government officials and partners exactly what it took for India to become polio free,’ leader of the Pakistan delegation, Shahnaz Wazir Ali, said,” the PTI/Times of India writes (5/31).
International Community Must Sustain Progress In Reducing Infant Mortality Rates
In this post in the Huffington Post’s “World” blog, Cecilia Attias, former first lady of France and president and founder of the Cecilia Attias Foundation for Women, responds to a recent paper, published by the World Bank, which discusses significant declines in infant and under-five mortality in Kenya and across sub-Saharan Africa. She writes, “Africa’s swift economic growth has become a familiar story; but the fact that fewer children are dying than before — that people’s lives are getting better on the ground — is arguably more heartening than accounts of improvements in African industry or infrastructure or business (though the trends are probably connected).”
