Latest KFF Health News Stories
Hearings And Analyses Frame Capitol Hill Budget Fight Over Medicare, Deficit
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are using hearings and analyses to fight over budget proposals that would change Medicare and/or reduce the budget deficit. Among them are Wis. Republican Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget outline and North Dakota Democrat Sen. Kent Conrad’s draft budget.
Kenyan Government Must Review Law On Counterfeit Drugs, High Court Rules
“Kenya’s High Court ruled on Friday that lawmakers must review legislation that could threaten the import of generic drugs, allowing Kenyans to continue accessing affordable medicine,” Reuters reports. In 2009, three people living with HIV filed a lawsuit arguing that the definition of counterfeit drugs in Kenya’s Anti-Counterfeit Bill of 2008 was too broad and “unconstitutional because it threatened access to life-saving generic medicine by confusing generic and fake medicine,” the news agency notes (4/20).
Online Health Record Safeguards May Not Be As Secure As Consumers Hope
The Chicago Tribune reports on the current state of efforts to protect health records and databases.
Former Planned Parenthood Spokesman To Join HHS Public Affairs Shop
Politico reports that the Department of Health and Human Services public affairs offices has hired a former Planned Parenthood spokesman.
Despite Campaign Rhetoric, Medicare Deal May Be Possible
Still, some say Mitt Romney, if elected president, couldn’t deliver on his promise to cut the budget without harming health care programs.
Health Law Uncertainty Sets Up ‘Moment-Of-Truth’ Situations
This circumstance is particularly acute regarding states’ decisions about setting up health exchanges.
Wis. Planned Parenthoods Stops Non-Surgical Abortions
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin has stopped giving non-surgical abortions after a new law took effect that requires women to have three doctor visits before getting a drug-induced abortion. In Iowa, Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is criticizing the state budget that would disallow public Medicaid funding for abortions in cases of rape or incest.
Calif. Officials Propose Controversial Insurance Rules
The health insurance marketplace continues its march toward change as California’s Department of Insurance proposes new controversial rules on small business self-insurance and officials mull increasing premiums on those with unhealthy lifestyles.
Conn., Wis. Collective Bargaining Agreements Mean Public Employee Benefit Changes
Collective bargaining agreements are changing health plans in Connecticut and Wisconsin for home care workers, teachers and a police union — which, if it was not granted an injunction from a judge, would have had to pay new deductibles and copays in Milwaukee.
GAO Report Offers Rebuke Of Medicare Bonus Program
A report to be released today by government auditors calls the Medicare bonus program wasteful and questions claims it improves quality of care.
A selection of health policy opinions and editorials from around the United States.
At a High-Level Meeting on Innovation for Elimination of Mother to Child Transmission (EMTCT) on Friday in Washington, D.C., “HIV experts, business leaders, aid agencies and ambassadors of 22 priority countries — home to 90 percent of new HIV infections among children –” agreed that strategic innovations are necessary to curb the spread of the virus from women to their children, PANA/Afrique en Linge reports. “The priority countries are Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe,” the news service notes.
Cancer, Genetic Screenings Under Scrutiny
Various news outlets explore issues around cancer and genetic screening, disease diagnosis and treatment.
Older Patients Trigger New Ideas For Health Care Facilities
News outlets report on innovations in the design of health care facilities that respond to the needs of older patients.
USAID’s Shah Urges Cooperation To Improve Child Health, Survival
“Seeing a child die from pneumonia, diarrhea or a mosquito bite is simply unimaginable to most parents. But that is the sad reality for many families each day,” USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah writes in a Huffington Post Blog opinion piece, noting, “Last year over seven million children under five died of largely preventable causes.” He continues, “Today, the global community has the knowledge and the affordable tools to change the course of history,” including bednets, vaccines, and childbirth assistance. “At the current annual rate of decline of 2.6 percent, the gap in child death between rich and poor countries would persist until nearly the end of this century. But we are capable of much more. By working closely with countries and continuing our results-oriented investments in global health, we can bring the rate of child mortality in poor countries to the same level it is in rich countries,” he states.
Report Calls On BRICS Nations To Invest More In Global Health
In this post on the Foreign Policy Association’s “Foreign Policy Blogs Network,” writer Julia Robinson discusses a recent report showing “the rising profile of BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — in health and development assistance and call[ing] upon the group to further their cooperation for better global health in the developing world.” Robinson writes, “BRICS represents the enormous potential of emerging economies to change the current geopolitical landscape, especially in the realm of global health,” adding, “It is accepted fact that BRICS will influence the global agenda going forward. It remains to be seen whether they will also commit to supporting developing countries in their own struggles for greater economic development and improved public health” (4/21).
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including advance information about what the trustees who oversee Medicare and Social Security will say about the financial well-being of these massive programs when they release their annual report later today.
Orrin Hatch To Face Primary Battle: Health Care Record On GOP Voters’ Minds
The vote at the Utah Republican state convention meant that the long-time senator escaped the fate of former Sen. Robert Bennett.
Republicans May Be Vulnerable On Social Issues In Nov. Elections
Social conservatives are affecting state legislatures and the presidential race, as Mitt Romney face some lack of enthusiasm.
Budget Battle Frames Election Campaigns
The budget debate focuses on competing priorities — spending on defense versus the health law or making chocies between tax cuts for business or safety net programs. Also in the news, spending bills continue to percolate in Congress.
