Latest KFF Health News Stories
States, Governors Have Different Views On Exchanges, Impact Of Health Law
News outlets also offer status checks on the measure’s high risk insurance polls.
State Roundup: More Allegations Against Calif.’s Prime Healthcare; Ore. CCOs Get Green Light
A selection of health policy stories from California, Oregon, Maryland, Massachusetts, Iowa, Arizona, Mississippi and Michigan.
Patrick Kennedy Takes Offense At Ad By Sen. Scott Brown
The campaign advertisement invokes the name of the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. The younger Kennedy calls the ad, which suggests that Brown shares the late senator’s position on religious exemptions for health care providers, “misleading and untrue.”
Romney’s Medicare Plan Would Gradually Raise Eligibility Age
The plan was released just days before just days before the next round of primary elections. Also in the news, more on GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s tea party appeal and position on abortion, while rival Rick Santorum offers more charges that the former Massachusetts governor is not conservative enough.
Abortion Legislation Making Noise At State Capitols
A host of abortion legislation proposals in state capitols around America – ranging from requiring Colorado doctors with religious objections give patients notice to mandated insurance coverage of abortion in Washington – are making news.
The Associated Press reports that the fight against cancer is increasingly not just about finding cures, but also finding ways to afford the costs of improved treatments.
The Los Angeles Times details how the current patchwork approach to health insurance coverage came into existence.
Feds Tighten Medicare Plans Oversight To Curb Improper Payments
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced an initiative Friday designed to reduce the number of Medicare advantage payments made in error.
Sebelius Casts Doubt On Calif. Medi-Cal Changes; Other State Actions Scrutinized
Medicaid cuts in California, Washington and Texas prove controversial, while changes or proposed changes in Florida, Georgia and Minnesota get closer looks.
A selection of opinions and editorials from around the U.S.
A Look At Obama’s ‘Deficit Dilemma’
The New York Times takes a longer look at how President Barack Obama’s deficit reduction positions have evolved over recent months.
Health Law Implementation: Actuarial Value, Health Disparities Draw Attention
The Department of Health and Human Services offered a bulletin last week to provide guidance on how insurers should calculate actuarial value. Also, some health policy experts are beginning to question whether the health law’s quality provisions might exacerbate the nation’s health disparities.
Senate To Debate GOP Plan To Allow Religous ‘Opt Out’ From Birth Control Rule
The proposal is expected to be offered as an amendment this week to a transportation bill being considered by the Senate.
Examining HIV/AIDS In Zambian Prisons
In this post in PSI’s “Healthy Living” blog, Mannasseh Phiri, PSI’s country representative in Zambia, examines HIV/AIDS in Zambian prisons. Phiri reports the findings of a survey recently conducted by the IN BUT FREE (IBF) Prisons Project “to determine the extent and magnitude of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Zambia’s prisons.” He concludes, “The high prevalence of HIV in our prisons cannot and should not be ignored. We cannot hope to be able to tackle our HIV epidemic in Zambian society outside of the prisons, unless we face up to the reality of the HIV epidemic inside the prisons” (2/24).
Blog Examines Sale Of Fake Malaria Drugs In Tanzania
In this post in Malaria Free Future’s “Malaria Matters” blog, Bill Brieger, a professor in the health systems program of the Department of International Health at Johns Hopkins University, examines recent discoveries of fake malaria medications being sold in Tanzania. He writes, “All of this comes amid efforts of [the Affordable Medicines Facility malaria (AMFm)] to ensure that prequalified anti-malarial drugs reach the market (public and private) at prices people can afford. Cheap fake drugs threaten this effort.” He concludes, “Despite improved access to [artemisinin-combination therapies (ACTs)] and improved quality of front line medicine store outlets, Tanzania cannot let up on its pharmacovigilence” (2/27).
Ghana Health Service Launches Initiative To Prevent, Eliminate NTDs
A new project developed and launched by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) aims “to address the debilitating effects of neglected tropical diseases [NTDs] in Ghana,” the Global Network for NTDs’ “End the Neglect” blog reports. The primary objective of the project, called “End in Africa — Ghana and 2012 MDAs for NTDs,” is to implement mass drug administration (MDA) to treat NTDs and clinical management of the diseases across Ghana, the blog notes, adding that the “initiative will also provide public health education to all targeted endemic NTD communities” (2/24).
India Taken Off WHO List Of Polio Endemic Countries
“India was taken off a list of polio endemic countries by the World Health Organization on Saturday, marking a massive victory for health workers battling the crippling disease” and “leav[ing] just three countries with endemic polio — Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria,” Agence France-Presse reports (2/26). “Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said the WHO removed India from the list after the country passed one year without registering any new cases,” the Associated Press/CBS News writes, adding, “India must pass another two years without new cases to be declared polio-free” (2/27).
Aid Group Warns Of Cholera Surge As Haiti Enters Rainy Season
“A Haiti aid group warns on the eve of the rainy season that the Caribbean nation will likely see a surge in cholera cases,” the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports. “Paul Farmer of the Boston-based group Partners in Health writes in an email Friday that Haiti could see a spike like the one that occurred last year,” when the “number of cholera cases nearly tripled from almost 19,000 last April to more than 50,000 two months later,” the news service writes. The AP notes, “Partners in Health will launch a vaccination campaign in the coming weeks to stem the spread of the waterborne disease” (2/24).
Study Shows Incorrect Condom Use Common Worldwide
According to an analysis published in the journal of Sexual Health, the incorrect use of male condoms has become a concern for public health officials worldwide, CBS News reports (DyBuncio, 2/24). Researchers from the Kinsey Institute Condom Use Research Team (CURT) reviewed 50 articles from 14 countries and found “errors in condom use — such as putting it on too late, or not using condoms throughout sex, or not leaving space at the tip — are common worldwide,” according to WebMD Health News.
Swaziland Looking To Shore Up Funding For AIDS Treatment, Testing Supplies
“Cash-strapped Swaziland is struggling to fund its HIV programs, and experts are warning of long-term damage to treatment and prevention schemes if steps are not taken to ring-fence funding and supplies,” the Mail & Guardian reports. About 200,000 people are living with HIV in Swaziland, nearly one quarter of the population, the newspaper notes, adding, “Until now the government has done well in terms of providing antiretroviral (ARV) treatment — achieving 78 percent coverage, just under the World Health Organization’s ‘universal coverage’ rate of 80 percent. But there are fears that uncertainty about funding streams and weak supply-chain management could result in a reversal of this progress.” The article discusses funding from the government, PEPFAR, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; antiretroviral drug and testing supply problems; and the epidemic’s effect on children and life expectancy in the country (Redvers, 2/27).
