Latest KFF Health News Stories
State Lawmakers Wrestle With Planned Parenthood Funding, Contraception Coverage
Legislation in Pennsylvania would bar the use of state and federal funding by Planned Parenthood. Also, some Georgia physicians fear their opposition to a state abortion bill has triggered retaliation.
New Ad Touts Obama’s Commitment To Medicare
President Barack Obama’s campaign rolled out ads pitched to seniors and veterans Wednesday. Meanwhile, Politico analyzes Mitt Romney’s decision to emphasize his record as a businessman rather than as Massachusetts governor when he helped pass that state’s health reform law.
In Changing Marketplace, Hospitals And Insurers Are Moving To Control Costs
A variety of reports look at changes in the hospital business, as well as doctors’ concerns about malpractice costs.
Reid Says He Will Let Budget Cuts Go Forward Unless There Is A Concession On Revenue
In an interview with Politico, the Senate majority leader says he won’t back off sequestration.
Ministers Meet To Discuss Global Plan To Eliminate New HIV Infections Among Children
UNAIDS and PEPFAR recently brought together the ministers of health and representatives of the 22 countries with the most new HIV cases among children to discuss progress on the Global Plan towards the Elimination of New HIV Infections among Children by 2015 and Keeping Their Mothers Alive agreed to at the 2011 U.N. High-Level Meeting on AIDS, according to a UNAIDS press release. Though “great strides have been made in reducing HIV infections among women of reproductive age and expanding access to antiretroviral therapy for pregnant women living with HIV, … progress is not being scaled up as quickly on meeting the family planning needs of women living with HIV, preventing maternal mortality and ensuring that all children living with HIV have access to antiretroviral therapy,” according to UNAIDS. “The meeting was the first annual face-to-face gathering of representatives from the 22 focus countries since the launch of the Global Plan,” the press release notes (5/23).
State Roundup: HHS Announces Community Health Center Grants; Blue Shield Of Calif. CEO To Retire
A selection of health policy news from California, Georgia, Texas, Kansas, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Research Group To Present Plan To Improve Nutrition Security At Rio+20 Summit
Ahead of the Rio+20 U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development, “CGIAR, the world’s largest publicly funded research body, has published a seven-point ‘call to action’ plan,” which “call[s] for an improved commitment to deliver nutrition security and lessen the need to aid,” BBC News reports. The Rio+20 meeting “will focus on two themes: a green economy in the context of sustainable development poverty eradication; and the institutional framework for sustainable development,” and will include seven priority areas: “decent jobs, energy, sustainable cities, food security and sustainable agriculture, water, oceans and disaster readiness,” according to organizers, the news service notes, adding that CGIAR is expected to present its plan at the meeting (Kinver, 5/23).
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
Longer Looks: When Is A Life Too Long?; The Rising Cost Of Children’s Health Care
This week’s selections include articles from New York magazine, CNN, Time, ABC News and PBS NewsHour.
“Seven aid groups on Wednesday warned Western diplomats that Yemen was on the brink of a ‘catastrophic food crisis’ and urged them to bolster efforts to salvage the situation as they meet in Riyadh for an international conference to help the nation,” Agence France-Presse reports (5/23). The meeting of the so-called “Friends of Yemen” is expected to focus on political transition and improving security, but “[i]n their warning, the aid agencies — CARE, International Medical Corps, Islamic Relief, Merlin, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, and Save the Children — say this focus is preventing action to alleviate poverty and hunger,” BBC News writes (5/22). Reuters notes that the “United States, European Union, France, Egypt, and Russia were attending the Riyadh summit on Wednesday, as were Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman” (Kane, 5/23). The donors have promised $4 billion to support development projects and stabilization efforts in Yemen, with Saudi Arabia pledging $3.25 billion of the total, Devex reports (Mungcal, 5/24).
Study Says Most Insurance Sold To Individuals Doesn’t Meet Health Law Standards
A new report in Health Affairs finds that more than half of individual policies could not be sold on state health exchanges because they fail to meet the law’s criteria for coverage.
Today’s early morning highlights from major news organizations, including reports on an effort to cut costs associated with complex and expensive diseases and a look at the federal health law’s effect on standards of coverage.
CBO: Recession Ahead If Congress Fails To Resolve Impasse
The Congressional Budget Office reported Tuesday that the nation’s economy could fall back into a recession if President Barack Obama and Congress fail to come to terms on tax and spending issues. However, Democratic and Republican leaders appeared unwavering in their positions.
Strategies, Views On The Health Law’s Future Vary Depending On Politics
Congressional Republicans continue to appear divided over what their strategy should be if the Supreme Court strikes down all or part of the health law. More immediately, though, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is targeting the measure’s device tax as part of the Senate’s consideration of a bill that would reauthorize the Food and Drug Administration user fees.
Congressional Appropriations Decisions Will Affect Women’s Health Worldwide
“[E]vidence shows that family planning prevents the needless deaths of women worldwide,” which should “be cause to sustain or even increase U.S. investments in these programs,” Chloe Cooney, director of global advocacy for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), writes in this RH Reality Check blog post. “Yet, once again, the House Appropriations Committee voted to let politics interfere with life-saving health care for women,” she continues, adding, “Last week, the House Appropriations Committee proposed to cut funding for international family planning programs and impose harmful restrictions on women’s access to essential health care.” Cooney notes that the Senate version of the bill “increases support for international family planning without attaching restrictions that would undercut these efforts.” She cites a recent U.N. report that “confirms that birth control and reproductive health services are essential to saving women’s lives,” and concludes, “The impact of the decisions made by this Congress will be felt in the lives of women and families around the world” (5/22).
Kaiser Family Foundation Survey Highlights Importance Of Communicating Aid Successes
In this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Impatient Optimists” blog, communications officer and blog editor Amie Newman reports on a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, released Monday, that examines Americans’ views on U.S. global health issues. Newman details a number of the survey’s findings, including that the poll found that “roughly half of Americans (52 percent) now say the news media spends too little time covering global health issues, up from 41 percent in 2010.” She writes, “It’s critical that our news media cover these issues in a way that touches people, and helps people to understand exactly what’s happening in the countries, cities, villages, towns, health centers and homes of people around the world.” She notes that both KFF President and CEO Drew Altman, in a column discussing the survey results, and Gates Foundation Director of Global Brand and Innovation Tom Scott, in a recent blog post, have stressed the importance of properly communicating successful aid stories and data (5/21).
IRIN Examines WHO Process Of Translating Research Results Into Policy Recommendations
IRIN examines the WHO’s regulatory approval process for making evidence-based recommendations, noting, “Governments will generally not implement an intervention without the WHO stamp of approval.” The news service writes, “No matter how compelling, medical research has historically not guaranteed swift regulatory approval, but researchers are finding ways to speed up translation of their conclusions into policy.” The news service cites the WHO’s recommendations regarding the use of insecticide-treated bednets in 2007 and the administration of seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) in children in sub-Saharan Africa in 2012 as examples. “Similarly, scientists working on a malaria vaccine are optimistic that they will receive a WHO recommendation soon after trial results are reported in 2014,” IRIN notes (5/23).
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Approves FY13 State And Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill
The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs on Tuesday approved a $52.1 billion FY 2013 spending bill for state and foreign operations, The Hill’s “Global Affairs” blog reports (Pecquet, 5/22). The subcommittee also released a bill summary (5/22). “The bill includes funding for U.S. global health programs at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department comprising a significant portion of funding for the Global Health Initiative (GHI),” according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s “Policy Tracker.”
Scientific American Examines Global Progress Toward Clean Drinking Water, Sanitation Goals
“U.N. Development Goals for better drinking water have already been reached, but a closer look shows that the measures fail to truly account for the lack of access to safe water,” Scientific American reports in a feature story. “[J]ust because water is pouring out of a spigot does not mean that it is safe to drink,” the article states, adding, “In poorer areas, where infrastructure and sanitation are often much worse, even sources of water that have been ‘improved’ are frequently at risk for contamination by human and animal feces, according to recent analyses.” The magazine details a number of studies on the issue and concludes, “[W]hether there are 800 million or 1.8 billion people who lack safe water, the scourge of preventable deadly diarrheal and other waterborne diseases will continue to plague too many” (Harmon, 5/21).
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Addresses World Medical Association In Geneva
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published on its website a transcript of a speech about women’s health, delivered by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to the World Medical Association in Geneva on Tuesday. “For too long, too many women and girls have had their lives marred by illness or disability, just because they didn’t have access to health services. When we deprive women of the care and support they need to stay healthy or get well, we’re also robbing them of hope for the future. … So under President Obama, we’re putting a new focus on women’s health — at home and abroad,” she said, according to the transcript (5/22).
