Latest KFF Health News Stories
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the new GOP budget proposal, to be unveiled today by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
Medicare Plan Will Be Central To Ryan GOP Budget
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is set to unveil a new budget plan on Tuesday. Both Democrats and Republicans are poised to revive the pitched debate over controversial proposals related to the Medicare programs.
Key Health Law Question For High Court: How Far Does Congress’ Power Reach?
Media outlets analyze the questions, personalities and precedent-setting issues that will be in play as the Supreme Court takes up the constitutionality of the health law.
Medicaid Expansion Rule Focuses On Enrollment Process
The Obama administration released a rule Friday detailing the specifics of this coverage expansion and trying to simplify the enrollment process.
In Insurance, Gender Rating Continues
The New York Times Reports that, despite a provision in the health law that prohibits this gender gap, insurers do not appear to have taken steps to reduce the cost differences.
IPAB And Health Law Repeal Efforts Mixing Up Political Loyalties
Some Senate Demcrats are considering voting with Republicans to repeal the health law’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, while several GOP lawmakers are voicing concerns about the broader repeal strategy. Also, Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., has introduced legislation to change the law’s medical-loss ratio.
Obama Administration Offers Proposal To Fix Contraception Coverage Rule
Under the plan, insurance companies would pick up the cost for providing contraceptives to women employed by religious affiliated employers, but the administration offered ways to help cover those expenses.
Religiously Affiliated Colleges, Universities Avoid Paying Directly For Birth Control
The Obama administration announced Friday a rule on student health plans that will allow some religiously affiliated colleges and universities to avoid directly paying for the costs of mandated contraception coverage.
Ever-Evolving Birth Control Issues Affect Fundraising, Messaging
Birth control is turning out to be a fundraising boon for abortion rights groups that support women congressional candidates, and one prominent Republican says his party needs to stop talking about the birth control debate.
N.Y. To Ease Medicaid Audits As Fla. Pushes Hard To Cut Program’s Costs
The N.Y. audits have been successful in recouping funds but have created an industry backlash. Florida, at the heart of the lawsuit against the federal health law that will expand Medicaid, is trying hard to get approval from the Obama administration to revamp its program.
State Roundup: CalPERS Savings; Harvard Pilgrim Challenges ‘Partners’
A selection of state health policy stories from California, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Wisconsin.
High Court Says No To Allowing Cameras To Broadcast The Health Law Arguments
This announcement, made Friday, is consistent with tradition. However, the court will make available same-day audio of the oral arguments because of “extraordinary public interest.”
Maryland Officials Seek To Boost Enrollment In High Risk Insurance Plan
People with medical problems often have trouble buying insurance, but the program, funded by the federal government, offers plans designed for them.
Texas Files Lawsuit Over Federal Defunding Of Women’s Health Program
Texas’ attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the federal government saying cutting off federal funds for the state’s Women’s Health Program, which federal officials began last week, is unconstitutional because it seeks to ‘coerce’ the states into giving money to abortion providers.
Viewpoints: The Argument For The Health Law; No One Wins Contraception Battle
A selection of editorials and opinions on health policy from around the country.
World Bank Report Calls For Increased HIV Prevention Efforts In Africa
In a report published last week, the World Bank “called on African governments and international donors to increase efforts to prevent new HIV infections in order to control treatment costs,” VOA News reports. “One of the report’s co-authors, Markus Haacker, said countries facing the highest burden are often not those with the highest infection rate, but rather low-income countries that lack the resources to keep pace with each new infection,” VOA notes.
WHO Hopes For Release Of Bird Flu Studies, Prepares For Second Meeting On Controversy
Keiji Fukuda, WHO assistant director-general for health security and environment, “is hoping bird flu studies currently in publishing limbo will be released by the time the agency hosts a second meeting on the controversy this summer,” the Canadian Press/Winnipeg Free Press reports. “A major break in the impasse would be needed for that to happen,” the Canadian Press writes, adding, “As things currently stand, revised versions of the two studies are due to be presented late this month to the U.S. biosecurity panel that earlier recommended against their full publication.”
First International Podoconiosis Initiative Launched
The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases’ “End the Neglect” blog highlights “the first-ever international podoconiosis initiative, Footwork,” launched on March 15. “Footwork is aimed at raising public awareness about the causes and impact of podoconiosis” — a form of elephantiasis — “in affected communities, and advocates for it to be included in global health and [neglected tropical disease] agendas,” the blog writes, adding, “An estimated four million people in highland tropical Africa are affected with podoconiosis, and it has been confirmed in at least 15 countries in Africa, Central America and Asia” (Patel, 3/16).
More Than 1M Children Under Age 5 At Risk Of Malnutrition In Sahel, UNICEF Warns
“The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is warning that more than a million children below the age of five in the Sahel are facing a disaster amid the ongoing food crisis in the drought-prone region of Africa,” the U.N. News Centre reports (3/16). “‘More extreme conditions could see this number rise to about 1.5 million and the problem is that funding is not coming in at the rate that we need in order to prepare properly,’ [UNICEF spokesperson Marixie Mercado] said. ‘So far we have received just one-fifth of the $119 million we have asked for in 2012,'” VOA News writes (3/16).
CSIS Report Examines HIV Prevention, Care Among People Who Inject Drugs In Ukraine
A new report, titled “Injection Drug Use in Ukraine” and published by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), examines the challenges of providing HIV prevention and care services in the country, particularly to people who inject drugs (PWID), who accounted for “nearly 50 percent of new HIV infections registered in 2010,” according to the CSIS website. Authors Phillip Nieburg, senior associate and co-chair of the Prevention Committee of the CSIS HIV/AIDS Task Force, and Lisa Carty, senior adviser in the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, also examine how the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and PEPFAR could help Ukraine “in advancing HIV prevention and other services for PWID,” the website notes (3/16).
