Latest KFF Health News Stories
HIV Markets In Rich, Poor Countries Are Two Distinct Markets
HIV drugs have not only “transformed a fatal disease into a chronic one,” but “[t]hey have also made HIV a big business,” this Economist editorial states. The editorial examines the market for HIV drugs, writing, “The market is as unusual as it is large, both buoyed by government support and worryingly dependent on it. The past decade has brought fancier medicine in rich countries and copious aid for poor ones. But the war is far from won.” The editorial writes, “In total, public and private investment has yielded more than two dozen HIV drugs,” adding, “Sales of antiretroviral drugs in America and the five biggest European markets reached $13.3 billion in 2011, according to Datamonitor, a research outfit.”
Chagas Disease Could Pose Threat Similar To Other Global Pandemics, Experts Warn
“Researchers are warning that the little-known Chagas disease could pose a threat similar to other global pandemics,” Fox News reports, noting Chagas disease “is a parasitic illness that is most commonly transmitted by the so-called ‘kissing bugs,’ a subfamily of blood-sucking insects, through the parasite called Trypanosoma cruzi” (5/31). In an editorial published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases on Tuesday, a team of experts in tropical diseases from Baylor College of Medicine in Texas “likens some aspects of the disease to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and warns of a possible pandemic,” GlobalPost writes (Wolfe, 5/31).
Global Cancer Rates Could Go Up 75% By 2030, Study Suggests
“The number of people with cancer is set to surge by more than 75 percent across the world by 2030, with particularly sharp rises in poor countries as they adopt unhealthy ‘Westernized’ lifestyles,” according to a study published Friday in the Lancet, Reuters reports (Kelland, 5/31). “If current population trends continue, the number of people with cancer worldwide will go up to 22.2 million by 2030, up from 12.7 million in 2008,” CNN’s “The Chart” notes, adding, “Cases are expected to surge in poorer parts of the world, which are ill-equipped to handle the burden” (5/31).
Sex-Selective Abortion Ban Rejected By House
The House on Thursday voted down a bill that would have banned abortions based on the sex of a fetus. Republicans, however, said they achieved a strategic goal of forcing Democrats to vote against it.
N.Y. Catholics Split On Bishops’ Lawsuit Over Contraception Rule
In political developments, a new poll shows a significant divide among Catholics but little support among general voters in New York for the church’s complaints about the Obama administration rule. Also, in Minnesota, a new candidate opens his campaign for Congress and criticizes the state’s handling of Medicaid funds.
States Taking Sides On NYC Sugary Soda Restrictions
A plan by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to limit the sale of large sugary drinks is being met by apprehension by the food industry as other states’ leaders consider what example the restrictions could provide for them.
Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Law Barring Gay Marriage
Massachusetts officials had argued to the three-judge panel that the law could deny gay married couples federal benefits such as Medicaid.
UnitedHealth Offers Rebate To Calif. Small Business; Humana On The Lookout For Medicare Deals
This summer, United Healthcare will share $3.5 million in rebates with California small businesses as a part of a requirement of the health law – if it indeed is in effect.
State Roundup: How Health Law Could Harm Mass. Exchange
A selection of health policy stories from Massachusetts, California, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, Michigan, Kansas and Wisconsin.
House Panel Nixes Two Health Law Provisions
The House Ways and Means Committee voted to eliminate a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices and to end a ban on the use of pretax flexible spending accounts to buy nonprescription medicines. These measures, though, are not expected to advance in the Senate even if they pass the full House.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
A Lot At Stake In Supreme Court Health Law Decision For Insurers, Providers
News outlets report on how various players are braced for the ruling. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama tells donors he may have to revisit the law in a second term depending on what the court decides.
Research Roundup: ACOs For Medicaid
This week’s studies come from the Archives of Internal Medicine, Journal of General Internal Medicine, Mathematica Policy Research, The Kaiser Family Foundation, The Urban Institute and other news outlets.
Health Law’s Medicaid Expansion, Employer Coverage Requirements Drawing Expert Analysis
At a meeting this week, some state Medicaid directors expressed concern that their programs will not be able to handle the scheduled 2014 surge in enrollment because of challenges like outdated technology and the uncertainty of what will happen with the Supreme Court and November elections. Meanwhile, a committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners will offer recommendations on how to close a potential loophole in the law’s employer coverage requirements.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the latest health policy developments on Capitol Hill and news on the health insurance marketplace.
Medical Device Tax Repeal Gains Ground
But the measure’s supporters have not yet identified how they would make up for the lost revenue.
Report: Health Care Costs Expected To Increase 7.5 Percent In 2013
This projection is more than three times that of the expected rates for inflation and economic growth, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. Still, it’s the fourth year in which the cost increase is less than 8 percent.
WHO Hopes To Host Second Meeting On Issues Related To ‘Dual-Use’ Research
“The World Health Organization (WHO) hopes to hold a meeting late this fall to discuss ‘dual-use’ research issues raised in the controversy over publication of two studies involving lab-modified H5N1 viruses with increased transmissibility, a WHO official said,” CIDRAP News reports. “The WHO hosted a closed meeting of disease experts and government officials Feb 16 and 17 to discuss the two H5N1 studies,” CIDRAP notes, adding that “the WHO [on Wednesday] released a brief statement about its activities related to the H5N1 research controversy since the February meeting in Geneva.” Keiji Fukuda, the WHO’s assistant director-general for health security and environment, said, “We hope to hold a second meeting to discuss the broader concerns related to potential dual [use] research in the late fall, if resources are available,” the news service notes.
“In a newly released clinical study, conducted in India” and published in the Lancet on Thursday, “hundreds of seriously ill infants who received zinc — an essential micronutrient for the immune system and human growth — as well as antibiotics, responded better and more quickly to treatment than those who did not,” IRIN reports, adding, “This finding is the first proof that zinc supplements may boost infant survival from infections.” According to the news service, “More than 300 infants no older than 120 days (four months), hospitalized in New Delhi, the capital, for suspected meningitis (an infection of the brain or spinal cord lining), pneumonia (a lung infection) or sepsis (blood poisoning), were given zinc in addition to antibiotics” and “were found to be 40 percent less likely to experience ‘treatment failure’ — needing a second antibiotic within one week of the first treatment, or intensive care or death within 21 days — than those given a placebo.”
Health Law Jobs, Cost Controls And The Mandate Play In Minds Of State Leaders
Health law issues are reverberating as state officials consider what the law means for them — especially if it stands after a Supreme Court review.
