Latest KFF Health News Stories
New York Times Examines Global Response To Haiti’s Cholera Epidemic
The New York Times examines the global response to Haiti’s cholera epidemic, writing that while “[m]any health officials consider the cholera response ‘pretty remarkable,’ as John Vertefeuille, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s director in Haiti, said … [o]thers … believe the bar for success was set too low and more lives could have been saved.” The newspaper continues, “[A]s the deaths and continuing caseload indicate, the world’s response to this preventable, treatable scourge has proved inadequate.”
Federal Trade Commission OKs $29 Billion Merger By Express Scripts, Medco
By a three-to-one vote, regulators approved Express Scripts’ plan to purchase Medco, ending an eight-month inquiry into whether the deal would stifle competition in the pharmacy benefits industry.
Medicare: Republicans Face Uphill Battle To Find Like Minds Across The Aisle
House GOP lawmakers are having a hard time making the case that plans to revamp Medicare have broad bipartisan support.
Supreme Court Justices Emerge As Possible Players In Upcoming Presidential Election
Also in the news, President Obama talks about the health law while on the campaign trail, Vice President Joe Biden takes on GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, and health law supporters begin to embrace the term “Obamacare.”
Commentators examine a number of issues related to the federal health law.
State Capitols: Social Issues A Hot Topic; Iowa Short On Time For State Budget
Legislatures in Iowa and Kansas consider bills on health care, while Stateline looks at the social issues debates going on in many state capitols around the nation.
Viewpoints: ‘Outrageously High Fee’ For Emergency Services; Mysterious Rise In Autism Cases
A selection of editorials and opinions on health policy from around the country.
Health Insurers Continue To Rally After High Court Hearings
Certain segments of the health care marketplace appeared to be optimistic about signals from the court’s consideration of the individual mandate and the sweeping health law.
Medicaid News: Wash. Pauses Plan To Not Pay For Some ER Visits
Texas’ public hospitals want some Medicaid money shifted to pay for the uninsured while a proposal in Washington state to stop paying for some Medicaid ER visits deemed unnecessary is paused. Ohio is also trying to save money on its Medicare and Medicaid dual-eligible population by restructuring the program.
Health Reform Means ER Use Jumps In Colo.; Calif. Insurance Premiums Rise
A selection of state health policy stories from Colorado, California, Oregon, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
PRI’s ‘The World’ Examines Role Of Churches In Fight Against HIV In Swaziland
PRI’s “The World” examines the role of churches in the fight against HIV in Swaziland. The news service highlights several church-run HIV programs, writing, “Churches have long played an important role in caring for the sick, but in terms of HIV prevention they’ve been at odds with the public health community. It has often come down to one issue: until recently, Swazi church leaders publicly rejected the use of condoms by their congregants. But now you hear many comments that suggest a change in thinking.”
State-Based Health Policies Grab Attention
With the federal law’s fate uncertain, action taken so far by the states — either to implement the national overhaul or to advance reforms of their own — have claimed more significance and headlines.
In a press statement released on Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. is “‘deeply concerned’ about the humanitarian situation in West Africa” and announced $120 million in emergency assistance, United Press International reports. According to the news service, the U.N. “estimates that more than 15 million people are facing food shortages and malnutrition due to a lingering drought” and “more than one million children are threatened” (3/30).
South Sudan Hoping To Mark Three Years Without Recording Polio Case
“South Sudan officials are hopeful the country will soon be declared polio-free,” if the nation can go another four months without recording a polio case, VOA News reports. “Before 2008, the area that is now South Sudan had been considered free of polio,” but “[t]hat year the country was re-infected through an imported strain that originated in Nigeria,” the news service writes. The country has not recorded a new case in more than 32 months, Abdi Aden Mohamed, head of the WHO in South Sudan, said, adding, “We are very cautious in the sense of there are a number of countries surrounding South Sudan that cases might be here and there,” according to VOA. Volunteers working to vaccinate every child under the age of six recently concluded the country’s 24th immunization campaign since polio reappeared in the nation, the news service notes (Green, 3/30).
Exclusive Breastfeeding Policy Implemented In South Africa Amidst Criticism
On Sunday, South Africa’s nine provinces began promoting the Tshwane Declaration, which “states unequivocal support for [exclusive breastfeeding (EBF)] for all infants up to six months, including HIV-exposed infants, who should receive antiretrovirals (ARVs) to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), as recommended in the 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines,” Inter Press Service reports. “But despite the clarity of the policy and its supporting data, vocal critics, including respected individuals from leading medical and academic institutions, have decried the choice,” the news service writes.
NSABB Recommends Full Publication Of Controversial Bird Flu Studies
The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) on Friday recommended that revised versions of two controversial studies on H5N1 avian flu be published in scientific journals, reversing its previous recommendation that the studies only be published if certain details were withheld, the New York Times reports. The studies are the work of two research teams that created genetically altered viral strains that were airborne and therefore easily transmissible, the newspaper notes (Grady, 3/30). “In a statement [.pdf] released [Friday], the NSABB said it unanimously recommended that the revised manuscript by the University of Wisconsin group, headed by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, DVM, PhD, be published in full, and members voted 12 to six that the data, methods, and conclusions in the revised paper by the Erasmus group, headed by Ron Fouchier, PhD, be published,” CIDRAP News writes (Schnirring, 3/30).
Al Jazeera examines the administration of combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) worldwide, focusing on treatment as prevention (TasP), but says current funding levels are insufficient to implement the strategy. The HPTN 052 study showed that HIV-positive people who take ART could reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to their HIV-negative partners by 96 percent, according to the news agency. “This research is considered a game changer,” Al Jazeera writes, noting, “2012 may not be the year the international community eliminates HIV, but health experts say it could still be the year where the tide is turned.” The article includes comments from several HIV/AIDS experts (Dalal, 3/31).
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports featuring more analysis of what could become of the Supreme Courts consideration of the health law.
Biden, Schumer Expect Court To Uphold Health Law
On Sunday talk shows, the two senior Democrats express confidence that the law will survive the high court’s review.
States’ Efforts To Change Health System Take On New Significance
With the federal health law’s fate being considered by the Supreme Court, states are reviewing plans and changes they have made to implement the national overhaul.
