Latest KFF Health News Stories
House Republicans Divided Over How To ‘Replace’ Health Law
But they continue to target the law’s co-op program, among other provisions.
As Voters Weigh Candidates, Romney Seeks Support From Intra-Party Rivals
Although President Barack Obama and GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney offer voters “a distinct choice,” Romney is still courting conservatives within his party who have been concerned about his past positions on things such as abortion and health reform.
World Behind On Pledge To Reduce HIV/AIDS Infections, Improve Treatment, U.N. Report Says
“The world is falling behind in its pledge to reduce HIV/AIDS infections and improve treatment, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a U.N. report [.pdf] released Monday” by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Associated Press reports. The report to the U.N. General Assembly “said that ‘critical challenges remain’ if the world is to make good on promises made at a U.N.-sponsored meeting on HIV/AIDS in June 2011,” the AP writes (Alt Powell, 4/30). “Among the targets set by the international community at the June 2011 high-level meeting are the elimination of new HIV/AIDS infections in children, cutting sexually transmitted infections by 50 percent, and delivering antiretroviral therapy to 15 million people,” Xinhua/China Daily notes (5/1).
Judge Halts Texas Ban On Planned Parenthood Funding
The federal judge prevented Texas from enforcing the law, which banned Planned Parenthood from the state’s health care program for women, until the legal challenge is concluded.
Hospital Billing Collections Company Seeks Dismissal Of Minn. Lawsuit
The Minn. state attorney general lodged a suit against Accretive Health arguing that it violated privacy laws when an employee lost a laptop computer with medical data of 23,500 patients. In addition, Accretive is also lashing out at publicity about its efforts to get hospital patients to pay their bills.
New Studies Restart Debate About Mammography For Women In Their 40s
Another study in today’s news examines two eye drugs and finds they are comparable, a conclusion that could potentially save Medicare and other insurers millions of dollars.
Painkillers Create Quandary For Physicians
News outlets report on the hazards — both in the ER and in maternity wards — being brought about by painkiller use and abuse.
Calif. Panel Considers Changes In Dental Program
As the state wrestles with budget problems, legislators consider how much coverage to give to children and adults.
‘Taboo’ Surrounding Toilets, Sanitation Hindering Progress Toward Improved Access
“Governments are failing to fund projects to improve access to toilets and other sanitation services in poor countries because the subject remains ‘taboo,’ a director at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said on Monday,” Reuters reports. “About 1.1 billion people across the world still defecate in the open because they have no toilets, according to the United Nations,” Reuters writes. “It’s the last big taboo and as a result more than one million kids die every year. Diarrhea is the second largest cause of death after respiratory infections in young children,” Frank Rijsberman, director of water, sanitation and hygiene at the foundation, said at the Global Water Summit 2012 conference in Rome, the news service notes.
State Roundup: Mass. Premium Increases Muted
News outlets report on a variety of health policy stories from states including California, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Texas and Washington.
The Skills Of VA Nurses Under Examination After Patient Deaths
The competency of nurses at VA facilities is drawing scrutiny.
At-Home Caregiving Comes With Personal, Financial Costs
News outlets examine the costs of care-giving and a new initiative to help Medicaid enrollees stay at home rather than live in nursing homes.
Okla. Court Keeps ‘Personhood’ Off Nov. Ballot; Minn. Gov. Vetoes Abortion Bill
Sooner state voters won’t vote on the controversial proposal to label a fetus a person.
Massachusetts On Edge Of Major Health Cost Control Effort
The next stage in the landmark 2006 health reform law is to scale back the growth in health care costs.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
May Issue Of WHO Bulletin Available Online
The May issue of the WHO Bulletin features an editorial on the establishment of an evidence base for e-health; a public health round-up; an article on the future of e-health technologies; a research paper on the use of e-health in low- and middle-income countries; and a systematic review on the factors that promote or inhibit the implementation of e-health systems (May 2012).
U.S. Government Celebrates ‘Remarkable’ Country-Level Success In Improving Maternal Health
In this post in USAID’s “IMPACTblog,” Chris Thomas, a health and development officer at USAID, reports on an event held on Capitol Hill on Tuesday during which “the U.S. Government celebrated remarkable country-level success in saving the lives of women during pregnancy and childbirth.” “Health ministers from Afghanistan, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, and the head of maternal and child health from Rwanda took center stage on Capitol Hill,” where “each told a unique and personal story,” he writes, noting, “USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah keyed in on drivers of successful maternal health programs and how such efforts can be accelerated and sustained throughout the developing world” (4/27).
Guttmacher Institute Media Update Examines Impact Of U.S. Family Planning Assistance Abroad
The Guttmacher Institute on Friday released a media update examining the impact of U.S. international family planning assistance. The update highlights the benefits supported by $610 million “appropriated for U.S. assistance for family planning and reproductive health programs for FY 2012” and states, “These gains would be seriously jeopardized if this already modest funding for the program were to be cut again,” noting that “reductions of different magnitudes would have proportional effects” (4/27).
Preventing Mother-To-Child Transmission Of HIV Is ‘Smart Investment’
“Each year, nearly 400,000 children are born with HIV globally, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) is a particular challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, an area characterized by weak health systems,” U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby writes in the State Department “DipNote” blog. “Last year PEPFAR and UNAIDS joined with other partners to launch the Global Plan, an initiative to eliminate new HIV infections among children and keep their mothers alive,” Goosby writes and reflects on a two-day mission to Nigeria with UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe last week. He concludes, “Preventing new HIV infections in children is a smart investment that saves lives, and the United States is proud to partner with Nigeria and other countries in this cause” (4/30).
Focusing On Small-Scale, ‘Hyper-Local’ Activities More Effective Than Traditional Aid Models
In this Atlantic opinion piece, Joshua Foust, an author and a fellow at the American Security Project, examines the use of a non-traditional aid model known as the Rural Support Programmes Network (RSPN) in Pakistan, where “heavy rains and devastating flooding … displaced upwards of 20 million people” in July 2010. Though USAID “is very good at quickly mobilizing assistance,” including medical, shelter, food, and water aid, “to disaster-afflicted communities, it carries a lot of political baggage — so much so in places like Pakistan that the U.S might be better off in the long run by downsizing USAID’s direct activities there and working through alternative programs,” he writes. Therefore, “the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, a consortium of NGOs that work in Pakistan, … submitted an official request to the U.S. government to re-brand their aid” as a result of political tension, according to Foust, who notes the RSPN, founded by the Agha Khan Network in 1982, “reach[es] millions of the poorest homes across a vast swath of Pakistan.”
