Latest KFF Health News Stories
Governor of Illinois Urges Medicaid Cuts
Pat Quinn, the Democratic governor, underscored the need for cuts to Medicaid and the state worker pension system, but some critics said his proposals did not offer enough specifics about how to reduce the state’s underfinanced liabilities.
Draft National Plan To Fight Alzheimer’s Released
A framework for the plan was unveiled in January. This more fleshed-out version builds on that outline, makes treatment a top priority and focuses on the burden the disease places on families and caregivers.
Vt., Okla. Lawmakers Mull Creating Health Insurance Exchanges
Lawmakers in Vermont and Oklahoma are the latest to grapple with creating a state health insurance exchange. In Vermont, the governor is defending his proposal for an exchange for small businesses while Oklahoma lawmakers are mulling creating their own so the federal government doesn’t do it for them.
Viewpoints: A Missing Contraception Question, Obama’s Budget Blind Spot, NEJM On Medicare Advantage
A selection of opinions and editorials from around the U.S.
Scalia Could Be Unlikely Health Law Ally
Bloomberg reports that, based on a previous opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia could be key to the fate of the health law.
Saving Lives At Birth Partnership Launches Second Round Grants
“Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development [on Wednesday] launched its second call for innovative prevention and treatment approaches for pregnant women and newborns in poor, hard-to-reach communities around the world,” a USAID press release states. With the launch of the second round of the Saving Lives at Birth partnership, “the partners aim to invest at least $50 million in groundbreaking and sustainable projects with the potential to accelerate substantial progress against maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths at the community level,” according to the press release (2/22).
Researchers Begin Clinical Trial Of First Visceral Leishmaniasis Vaccine
“Researchers say they’ve developed the first vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) — a disease that affects 500,000 people each year and has been called the ‘parasitic version of HIV,'” although the diseases are unrelated, U.S. News reports. “The vaccine took researchers more than two decades to develop and entered Phase I trials in recent weeks, according to Steve Reed, founder of the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), the vaccine’s developer,” the news service writes (Koebler, 2/22).
Global Fund Releases More Than $7M To South Africa Following Request From AIDS Organizations
“More than seven months overdue, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria grant will finally be released to key South African AIDS organizations that have been struggling to survive,” PlusNews writes, adding, “Some were on the verge of shutting down.” According to the news service, “The Global Fund released US$7,106,426.91 to the South African National Treasury on February 6, the same day seven of the grant’s sub-recipients delivered an open letter to Minister of Health Aaron Motsoaledi, pleading for intervention.”
South Sudan Hoping NTD Initiative Will Bring Relief From High Levels Of Disease, IRIN Reports
“Decades of war, neglect, and lack of development have left South Sudan with nine out of 10 of th[e] key neglected tropical diseases [NTDs] — all but Chagas disease, which is endemic to South America,” and health workers in the new nation are hoping that the recent formation of a large public-private partnership to combat the diseases “will finally help to have an impact on South Sudan’s appalling health indicators,” IRIN reports. With only one in four people in South Sudan able to access health care, people “seek other explanations for diseases such as sleeping sickness, as they are liable to blame its symptoms on witchcraft and only seek medical attention as a last resort,” the news service writes. The nation has the highest incidence of guinea worm disease and the third-highest incidence of sleeping sickness, according to IRIN (2/23).
Research!America Shares Findings About Global Health R&D In New Jersey
In this post in the Global Health Technologies Coalition’s (GHTC) “Breakthroughs” blog, Mandy Goldberg, global health research and development (R&D) advocacy intern at Research!America, shares the organization’s findings about the state of New Jersey from an analysis conducted in target states to measure the health and economic impact of global health R&D in the U.S. “Despite ranking eleventh in population size, New Jersey ranks third in R&D investment among states, thanks mainly to robust private-sector investment,” she writes, adding, “R&D spending in New Jersey increased by 11.4 percent in 2010, and global R&D spending was up by $1.4 billion, according to a 2011 report by the Healthcare Institute of New Jersey, implying even more future economic benefits for the state” (Halnon, 2/21).
Blog Examines Gap Between Mental Health Disease Burden, Attention Given To Problem
This post in KPLU’s “Humanosphere” blog examines the “gap between the disease burden of mental illness and the amount of funding and attention devoted to solving the problem,” referencing a post published Friday in the Global Health Interest Forum’s “Blog of Scientists for Global Health,” written by Paul Southworth, a visiting scholar on malaria and vaccine science at the NIH. The blog provides a breakdown of the global burden of disease in terms of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) and notes, “As you can see from the pie chart, mental illness (aka ‘neuropsychiatric disorders’) is the biggest slice in the pie. Yet it is rarely even mentioned at global health meetings or confabs, says Southworth” (Paulson, 2/21).
CHAI Official Discusses Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria
In this post in the Results for Development Institute’s “Center for Global Health R&D Policy Assessment” blog, Project Director Jean Arkedis and Program Associate Edith Han interview Megumi Gordon, deputy director for malaria at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), “to take an exclusive look into the [Affordable Medicines Facility for Malaria (AMFm)] and its innovative mechanism to increase access to antimalarials.” Megumi discusses “AMFm’s current status, early lessons, and the latest in the ongoing — and sometimes contentious — debate about whether to subsidize [artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs)] in the private sector” (2/22).
More People Than Ever Overweight, Obese In Developed Countries, OECD Report Says
“More people in developed countries are overweight or obese than ever before, dooming them to years of ill health, pushing up health care costs and piling more pressure on health systems, a report [.pdf] by the OECD found on Tuesday,” Reuters reports. Though the report found that obesity rates are diverse — “from a low of four percent in Japan and Korea to 30 percent or more in the United States and Mexico” – “in more than half of the 34 OECD countries, at least one in two people is now overweight or obese, and rates are projected to rise further,” according to the news agency.
India Lags In Efforts To Meet Millennium Development Goals
“India is lagging in its effort to reach United Nations goals to reduce poverty and improve health and sanitation, but has shown significant progress boosting education, treating AIDS and addressing environmental concerns,” Noeleen Heyzer, executive secretary of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, said last week, the New York Times’ “India Ink” blog reports. According to an Asia Pacific Millennium Development Goal (MDG) report (.pdf) released last week, which “graded the progress of the eight millennium goals using 22 socio-economic indicators …, India has reached goals set in seven indicators out of 22 and is on track to achieve three others, but is lagging behind in 12,” the blog notes.
WHO Urging Afghans To Vaccinate Children For Measles Following Outbreak In Western Region
The WHO “is calling on all Afghans to vaccinate their children after a recent measles outbreak that has been made worse by severe weather that hampers access to immediate treatment as well as low immunization coverage,” the U.N. News Centre reports. At least “20 children have died due to measles and pneumonia in the western provinces of Ghor and Baghdis,” the news service notes (2/22). “As the outbreak has grown more serious, Afghan authorities and the WHO set up five temporary clinics and vaccinated more than 3,600 children in the outbreak zone, while treating more than 6,000 patients, health officials said,” according to the Los Angeles Times’ “World Now” blog (2/21).
Curbing Consequences Of Obesity Takes Personal Responsibility
A recently released OECD report (.pdf) “spells out the toll obesity can take on one’s health and on health care costs,” Indianapolis Star reporter Barb Berggoetz writes in this Star opinion piece, adding, “Obese people die on average eight to 10 years sooner than people at normal weight.” She notes that, according to the report, “[o]besity — responsible for between five to 10 percent of total health spending in the U.S. and one to three percent in most countries — will cause a rapid rise in health spending in coming years, as obesity related diseases set in.”
First Edition: February 23, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including coverage of the health policy flashpoints during last night’s GOP presidential primary debate.
Supreme Court Sends Calif. Medicaid Case Back To Court Of Appeals
The case focused on whether patients and providers can sue California for low Medicaid reimbursement rates. KHN tracked the related coverage.
More Exchange Money Headed To States
HHS is sending $229 million in health insurance exchange establishment grants to ten states, the agency announced Wednesday.
Feds Launch Health Co-Op Program With Low-Interest Loans
Seven organizations received the funding, which is designed to advance the formation of health insurance co-operatives — an alternative to the idea of a government-run public option and an entity to compete against private insurance plans.
