Latest KFF Health News Stories
Evaluating Priority Setting For Health
“[W]hen facing a limited budget (as most low- and middle-income countries are) how can countries best sort multiple priorities into effective, sustainable policies?” Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy and a research fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and Kate McQueston, a program coordinator at CGD, ask in the CGD’s “Global Health Policy” blog. They note CGD’s “working group on Priority Setting Institutions for Health has been evaluating this question,” and state, “There are substantial gains that can be achieved by shifting the current distribution of public funding to more cost effective interventions.” The authors highlight several CGD papers on the topic and note the working group’s final report will be released this summer (4/19).
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports that the Veterans’ Administration will increase its mental health staffing.
Prompted by an inquiry from GlobalPost, U.S. officials have said the Obama administration called for a $550 million reduction — an 11 percent cut — for its global AIDS program in its FY 2013 budget request because the “government didn’t need more money because there has been nearly $1.5 billion stuck in the pipeline for 18 months or more,” GlobalPost reports. According to the news service, the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, headed by Ambassador Eric Goosby, “said this week it will immediately start a consultation period with Congress, its partners across the U.S. government and AIDS advocates to address a key question: What should they do with $1.46 billion?” GlobalPost reports that Goosby “explained that $1.46 billion designated to fight AIDS hasn’t been used because of inefficient bureaucracies; major reductions in the cost of AIDS treatment; delays due to long negotiations on realigning programs with recipient country priorities; and a slowdown in a few countries because the AIDS problem was much smaller than originally estimated” (Donnelly, 4/17).
Guardian Blog Examines Potential Impact Of Global Fund Reform On Organization’s Future
In this post in her Global Health Blog, Guardian Health Editor Sarah Boseley examines the potential impact of reform within the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on the organization’s future. She writes, “It’s been only seven weeks since banker Gabriel Jaramillo took over as general manager of the [fund], but it is already clear the worthy organization set up by Kofi Annan to channel money to treat and prevent diseases in poor countries is a leaner, meaner machine.” She continues, “Jaramillo, former chair and chief executive of Sovereign Bank, brings a tougher attitude to the organization.”
April Issue Of USAID’s ‘PRH Connect’ Available Online
The April issue of USAID’s “PRH Connect” e-newsletter features a round-up of top news articles; a partnership profile of the Alliance for Reproductive, Maternal and Newborn Health; notes from the field highlighting the DELIVER Project’s new photo blog, and links to various resources, publications and research. Lastly, USAID provides a link to an interactive map of high-impact practices in family planning (HIPs), requesting that readers add information regarding their own programs (April 2012).
Medicare To Expand Use Of Competitive Bidding
A year-long experiment found that the competitive bidding approach saved money without harming beneficiaries. It also made inroads against waste and fraud.
Survey: Gaps In Health Insurance Coverage, Knowledge Persist
A Commonwealth Fund survey found that many U.S. adults didn’t have health insurance over the course of a year.
Honduras Becomes First LAC Country To Launch National Plan To Combat NTDs
“A major milestone was achieved on April 12, when Honduras became the first country in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region to officially launch an integrated national plan to combat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs),” the the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases’ “End the Neglect” blog reports. “Mirian Yolanda Paz, vice minister of health, led the activities and laid out the path to end nine NTDs endemic to Honduras (soil-transmitted helminths, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, leptospirosis, cysticercosis, neonatal and nonneonatal tetnus, congenital syphilis and rabies),” the blog writes, noting, “The plan includes a budget for proposed activities and is estimated at $20 million over a five year period” (4/17).
Vatican Rebukes Group Of Nuns On Support For Health Law
The Catholic Church hierarchy cracks down on the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a group of nuns who supported the 2010 health reform.
Health Law Implementation News: Most Red States Slow Walk Health Exchanges
Politico reports that most GOP-controlled states are holding off on building insurance exchanges until the Supreme Court issues its decision. Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service’s ability to enforce the health law is the topic of a Capitol Hill hearing, and a former White House adviser offers his views during a Madison speech.
State Roundup: State Spending Drops $290 Billion In 5 Years
News outlets examine a variety of state health policy issues, including articles from California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Oregon.
WellPoint’s Political Spending Draws Scrutiny
The Washington Post reports that this health insurer is the latest target in an aggressive campaign to force corporate disclosures regarding lobbying and political expenditures.
Obama And Romney Start Long-Distance Debate Over Medicare
President Barack Obama and GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney have started a long-distance health care debate, fighting over how to reform the Medicare system. Other politicians are getting in on the act too, as Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., and Mass. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren weight in on the health reform law.
Neb., Ohio And Minn. State Legislatures Tackle Abortion, Contraception Restrictions
In various states, lawmakers are concentrating on abortion or contraception bills. Meanwhile, some Texas chapters of Planned Parenthood are merging.
Leahy Introduces Generic Drug Label Legislation
The measure, which was introduced in the Senate and has a House companion, would permit generic drug companies to update safety information about the drugs they manufacture, enabling patients to sue the companies for failing to issue warnings about risks. It aims to address a gap in the law that allows people to sue brand-name drug makers for insufficient warnings, but not generics manufacturers.
N.Y. Medicaid Audit Finds $42M In Improper Payments
Auditors in New York have found $42 million in improper payments were doled out to Medicaid providers. In the meantime, Minnesota’s human services commissioner will testify before a congressional committee next week about financing and a payment made to the state by a managed care plan with Medicaid contract.
Budget Consideration Continues In Both The Senate And The House
In the Senate, a “voteless” markup was held on Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad’s, D-N.D., presentation of the Bowles-Simpson plan. Meanwhile, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., says he will bring the House GOP budget plan advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., up for a vote by the full Senate later this year.
Viewpoints: Bishops Find Fault With GOP Budget; Pelosi On Court’s Role In Health Law
A selection of editorials and opinions on health policy from around the country.
Longer Looks: Rushed Medicine; Exercising Your Way To A Smarter Brain
This week’s selections include articles from Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, The Economist, The Atlantic and The New Yorker.
Studies Suggesting Limited Impact Of Clean Cookstoves Demonstrate Need For More Research
In this post in the Center for Global Development’s “Views from the Center” blog, Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center, responds to an article published in the Washington Post on Monday, which highlighted the results of a recent MIT/Harvard study on the public health benefits of clean cookstoves. He writes that “the results of the MIT study will come as a disappointment to the clean cookstove movement,” but “they shouldn’t come as a surprise.” He highlights several previous studies on the issue and writes, “[T]he record of limited impact does suggest that we’ve got a long road ahead before we figure out what works and where when it comes to reducing indoor air pollution” (4/18).
