Latest KFF Health News Stories
World Economic Forum Helps ‘Improve Global Cooperation’ Surrounding Health Issues
Meetings such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) “are highly beneficial for the health sector, since there is a genuine need for reaching out to non-state actors in the midst of the many transformations shaping global and domestic health sector public policy,” Sania Nishtar, founder of Heartfile and Heartfile Health Financing, writes in a Huffington Post opinion piece. “But that is not all the World Economic Forum is doing for health. It is also contributing substantively in the normative and advocacy space,” according to Nishtar, who uses non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as an example. “By identifying NCDs as the top 10 risks to the world in WEF’s Global Risk Reports for two consecutive years (2009 and 2010) it helped raise concern, globally, at a time when it mattered the most,” especially leading up to last year’s U.N. High Level Meeting, she writes.
Guardian Blog Interviews Researcher Regarding Artemisinin Synthesis Discovery
In this post in the Guardian’s “The Observer,” Mark Honigsbaum, a research associate at the University of Zurich’s Institute for Medical History, interviews Peter Seeberger, the director of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces in Potsdam, Germany, about a recent announcement that Seeberger and colleague Fran
Humana, HCA Show Brighter Earnings Picture Though Worries Remain
Humana met analyst projections for the quarter although revenue “was softer than expected;” and HCA stock shares are rebounding amid improved employment numbers.
Question For Cardiologists Has Far-Reaching Implications For Health Care Costs
The Washington Post explores a key question about health care treatment options that underscores certain issues within the health care system.
States Busy Implementing Local, Federal Health Reforms
Vermont may for the short term allow small businesses to offer low-premium, “bronze” insurance plans. In other news, a N.J. legislative committee approved a bill to establish a state health insurance exchange, and a California plan to move 875,000 children to Medicaid raises concerns.
Obama Administration Rejects Calif. Medicaid Co-Pay Proposal
The Obama administration said no Monday to California’s proposal to help close its budget gap by charging Medicaid beneficiaries co-pays on doctor visits, hospitals stays and prescription drugs. Elsewhere, Texas is planning a change to how it doles out charity care pay in its Medicaid program.
Romney Goes On Offense Against Obama On Health Care, Birth Control Issues
Romney and GOP presidential primary rival Rick Santorum also trade barbs, while the Associated Press takes a look at Newt Gingrich’s ties to lobbying.
State Roundup: Penn. Hospital Replacing Nursing Assistants With All RNs
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy issues.
Texas Begins Enforcing Strict Abortion Sonogram Law
A U.S. District Court judge says that he can’t stop the law from taking effect.
Some House Democrats Press For ‘Essential Benefits’ To Be Federal Decision
These House Democratic lawmakers are concerned that the Department of Health and Human Services is allowing states significant latitude in determining the definition of “essential benefits.” Also in the news, the Office of Management and Budget has begun its review of the long-awaited final regulations for the establishment of state exchanges.
Legal Challenges Likely Next Step As Flap Over Birth Control Rule Continues
News outlets report on the clash between the Obama administration and Catholic leaders.
A selection of editorials and opinion articles about health care policy from around the country.
National Alzheimer’s Plan To Include More Research Funding
The plan, for which a framework has already been released and an actual draft is scheduled to be released, also will set other goals, including caregiver support.
President’s Budget Plan To Include Medicare And Medicaid Spending Cuts But No Structural Changes
The Wall Street Journal previews elements of the Obama administration’s budget proposal, which is expected to be released next week.
New Survey Highlights Health Insurance Gaps Faced By Poor
According to the Commonwealth Fund, low-income adults who were surveyed were less likely to have insurance and to receive medical care including preventive screenings.
First Edition: February 7, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports previewing what’s ahead for Medicare and Medicaid in the president’s upcoming budget proposal as well as progress reports from Capitol Hill on the Medicare physician pay fix.
Sugar Poses Significant Health Risks, Should Be Regulated Like Alcohol, U.S. Researchers Say
“Sugar poses enough health risks that it should be considered a controlled substance just like alcohol and tobacco, contend a team of researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF),” in an opinion piece called “The Toxic Truth About Sugar,” published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, TIME’s “Healthland” blog reports (Rochman, 2/2). “While acknowledging that food, unlike alcohol and tobacco, is required for survival, [authors Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis] say taxes, zoning ordinances and even age limits for purchasing certain sugar-laden products are all appropriate remedies for what they see as a not-so-sweet problem,” the Wall Street Journal’s “Health” blog writes (Hobson, 2/2).
Panel Discussion Shows Heated Controversy Over H5N1 Research
“The controversy over research about potentially dangerous H5N1 viruses heated up [Thursday night] in a New York City debate that featured some of the leading voices exchanging blunt comments on the alleged risks and benefits of publishing or withholding the full details of the studies,” CIDRAP News reports. “The debate, sponsored by the New York Academy of Sciences, involved two members of the biosecurity advisory board that called for ‘redacting’ the two studies in question to delete details, along with scientists who want the full studies published and representatives of Science and Nature, the two journals involved,” the news service adds (Roos, 2/3).
Supporting Scientific Evidence Under PEPFAR To End AIDS
On Wednesday, several HIV experts spoke at a Capitol Hill briefing “supporting the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program’s reliance on scientific evidence to drive its work to end AIDS,” the Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” blog reports. The speakers, including Diane Havlir of the University of California, San Francisco, RJ Simonds of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Renee Ridzon of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Chris Beyrer of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, talked about using antiretroviral treatment as a prevention method, the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission, voluntary medical male circumcision, and preventing HIV among marginalized populations at high risk of infection (Mazzotta, 2/3).
Chances Dim For Live Broadcast Of High Arguments
In other news related to the Supreme Court’s consideration of legal challenges to the health law, the parties involved differ not only on questions related to the overhaul, but also on the allocation of time for different aspects of the overhaul.
