Latest KFF Health News Stories
CBO: Deficit Estimate For 2012 Increased To $1.2 Trillion
The Congressional Budget Office issued a new round of estimates that also included revisions of the health law’s costs and coverage expansion.
Republicans, Democrats Spin Health Law As Supreme Court Review Approaches
With oral arguments set for later this month, the health law is getting more attention from Republicans and the administration as well as from news outlets, which are examining various aspects of the upcoming legal proceedings.
Six Reasons Why Obama’s Proposal To Cut PEPFAR Funding Should Be Rejected By Congress
In this post in The Hill’s “Congress Blog,” Chris Collins, vice president and director of public policy for amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, responds to a recently released analysis of adult mortality rates in African countries, which “found that between 2004 and 2008, in those nations where the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) was most active, the odds of death were about 20 percent lower than in other countries in the region.” He writes, “It was one more piece in the growing collection of evidence that PEPFAR has been a tremendously successful program, advancing U.S. humanitarian and diplomatic priorities and saving millions of lives.” Collins continues, “That is why the proposal in President Obama’s fiscal year 2013 budget to cut bi-lateral HIV programming through PEPFAR by nearly $550 million, or 11 percent, has stunned so many on Capitol Hill and in the global health community.”
States Consider Abortion And Contraception Legislation
News outlets are considering the next moves for Texas’ Women’s Health Program after the federal government said it won’t renew its funding for the program over the state’s plan to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood. In the meantime, state legislatures in Colorado, Mississippi, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania consider contraception and abortion legislation.
State Legislatures Consider Medicaid, Health Cost And Health Program Bills
State legislatures around America are considering laws to change their Medicaid programs and to address how patients can learn their doctor’s malpractice history. They are also contemplating how to cut health care costs and adjusting prescription privileges for nurses.
State Roundup: Caregivers Face ‘Burnout’ Threat As Need Grows
A selection of health policy news from Connecticut and California, North Carolina, Kansas and Wisconsin.
Smartphones Cheaper, More Effective Than Paper Surveys For Disease Monitoring, Study Suggests
“Using smartphones is cheaper and more effective than using paper surveys to monitor diseases in the developing world, according to a new study by Kenyan researchers with the [CDC] … presented Monday at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta,” the International Business Times reports. “The study compared 1,019 paper-based questionnaires to 1,019 smartphone questionnaires collected at four sample sites for influenza surveillance in Kenya,” the news service notes (3/12).
Aidspan Publishes New Issue Of ‘Global Fund Observer’
Aidspan, an independent watchdog of the Global Fund, on Tuesday published Issue 178 of its “Global Fund Observer.” The issue features an article regarding applications for funding under the Bridge Funding Mechanism (BFM), currently being processed by the Global Fund Secretariat; an article on the reorganization of the Global Fund Secretariat; an analysis examining financial transaction taxes to potentially generate additional revenue for the Global Fund; and excerpts from three recent commentaries on the current state of the Global Fund (3/13).
S.D. Allows Insurers To Deny Some Kids Coverage, Mo. Still Won’t Start Health Exchange
South Dakota is allowing insurers to deny children insurance coverage if they don’t enroll during open enrollment, a possible violation of the health law. In Missouri, flexibility won’t persuade the state to set up a health insurance exchange.
Blue Cross Blue Shield in Tenn. To Pay $1.5M To Settle HIPAA Breach
Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Tennessee will pay $1.5 million to the federal government to settle a HIPAA breach. Insurer and hospital business practices also make news in Georgia and Maine.
Santorum Wins The South, But Romney Focuses On Obama
GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum solidified his claim to be the favored candidate of the party’s conservative base with his wins in Alabama and Mississippi Tuesday night, while rival Mitt Romney stepped up his attacks on President Barack Obama.
Quality, Access and Cost: It’s About Location, Location, Location, A Study Finds
The Commonwealth Fund found significant variation based on “hospital referral regions.”
Kodak Retirees Seek To Protect Health Benefits In The Face Of Chapter 11 Proceedings
The AP reports that these retirees are seeking the appointment of a committee to protect their interests.
JAMA Study: Higher Spending = Better Quality In Canadian Hospitals
The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association appears, at first blush, to contradict findings from the Dartmouth Atlas research.
House IPAB Repeal Linked To Tort Reform Legislation
Joining the two measures is causing some Democrats who back the repeal of the health law’s Independent Payment Advisory Board to change their positions.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health policy from around the country.
Democrats and Republicans alike are girding for the unveiling of the 2013 budget plan by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R- Wis., and its provisions to overhaul Medicare.
Polls Offer Snapshots Of Public Thinking On Birth Control Coverage Rule
Meanwhile, other reports explore whether the U.S. Catholic bishops may be considering a change in strategy regarding their opposition to this policy.
Suspected Case Of Polio Under Investigation In India, Threatens Country’s Eradication Efforts
On Monday, “a girl admitted to a hospital in West Bengal with polio-like symptoms sparked worries that India’s battle against polio may not be over yet,” the Wall Street Journal’s “India Real Time” blog reports, noting, “The suspected polio case … comes just two weeks after the WHO removed India from the list of countries where polio is endemic” (Stancati, 3/14). “‘It is a suspected case of polio. In medical parlance, the symptoms are called acute flaccid paralysis. The patient is under observation,’ Kumar Kanti Das, superintendent of Baruipur Subdivisional Hospital, [where the girl was admitted,] told the local Hindustan Times newspaper,” the Guardian writes (Burke, 3/13).
“After seven years of research, the world’s largest study of preventative tuberculosis (TB) therapy has found that untargeted, community-wide distribution of TB prevention drugs did not improve TB control in South African gold mines,” PlusNews reports. “Conducted among 27,000 gold-mine employees in 15 mines, the Thibela TB study tested the theory that treating an entire community with the first-line TB drug isoniazid could result in long-lasting reductions in active TB cases and TB prevalence,” the news service writes (3/9). The study found that “provid[ing] community-wide isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT)” did “not improve TB control,” according to Health-e. “However, evidence showed that there were 63 percent fewer TB cases among individuals in the program during the first nine months of the program, providing reassurance that IPT works for people who take it,” the news service notes (Thom, 3/14).
