Latest KFF Health News Stories
Threefold Increase In Polio Cases In Afghanistan Concerns Experts
The New York Times examines how after years of decline, the number of recorded polio cases in Afghanistan tripled in 2011 to 76, following only 25 cases in 2010, raising concerns among international health experts that polio is seeing a resurgence, “particularly since some of the cases erupted far outside the disease’s traditional areas in Afghanistan.”
Are Health Law Backers Nervous About The High Court’s Review?
The Hill reports that some supporters have recently shifted their tone about the health law challenges being “frivolous,” acknowledging the Supreme Court wouldn’t allow so much time for arguments if the justices viewed the issues as “a waste of time.” Also, Politico explores the fate of the law’s Medicaid expansion in the context of the court challenge, and CQ HealthBeat reports on the addition of plaintiffs and more amicus briefs.
State Officials Seek ‘Clarity’ On High-Risk Pool 2013 Allocations
When some states exhausted their funding for the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, created by the health law, the federal response was to give them more — raising questions about whether other states may receive less. Alaska, which spends as much as $200,000 on each member, is an example of a high-spending state.
Questions Raised Over Accuracy Of Afghanistan Mortality Survey Data
“A U.S.-sponsored mortality survey released last year announced huge improvements in health across Afghanistan. But the gains are so great that experts are still arguing about whether it’s correct,” NPR’s All Things Considered reports. The 2011 $5 million Afghanistan Mortality Survey, which was funded by USAID with a contribution from UNICEF, showed huge gains in life expectancy and maternal and child mortality compared with data from 2004, NPR says, noting, “But believing the new numbers are accurate probably means accepting that the old numbers were way off, which makes it impossible to say exactly how much health has really improved.”
State Roundup:Calif. May Regain State Prison Health Care Control
A selection of health policy news from around the country.
New York Times Examines History Of Malaria Drug Artemisinin
The New York Times examines the history of the Chinese drug artemisinin, “hailed as one of the greatest advances in fighting malaria … since the discovery of quinine centuries ago,” noting the drug “is being talked about as a candidate for a Nobel Prize in Medicine.” However, “few people realize that in one of the paradoxes of history, the drug was discovered thanks to Mao Zedong, who was acting to help the North Vietnamese in their jungle war against the Americans. Or that it languished for 30 years thanks to China’s isolation and the indifference of Western donors, health agencies and drug companies,” the newspaper writes.
Estimating Number Of Births Without Skilled Birth Attendants In South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa
Noting that the “fifth Millennium Development Goal target for 90 percent of births in low- and middle-income countries to have a skilled birth attendant (SBA) by 2015 will not be met,” researchers from University College London estimate “that there will be between 130 and 180 million non-SBA births in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa from 2011 to 2015 (90 percent of these in rural areas)” in this BioMed Central Pregnancy & Childbirth article. They conclude, “Efforts to improve access to skilled attendance should be accompanied by interventions to improve the safety of non-attended deliveries” (1/17).
Facilitating Low-Cost Innovations In, Increased Usage Of Health Care
The argument that “a country’s quickest way to better health for its people is economic development … is only one factor, and not the most important one, in explaining global health outcomes,” Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, writes in a SciDev.Net opinion piece. “The challenge is to ensure that a cheap basic package of health interventions is available to — and is used by — all,” he continues.
U.S. Ambassador To U.N. Food Agencies, Ertharin Cousin, Appointed To Head WFP
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva on Tuesday announced the appointment of Ertharin Cousin, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.’s Rome-based food agencies, to head the U.N. World Food Programme, the Associated Press/CBS News reports (1/17). “Cousin … will succeed Josette Sheeran, also of the United States, who has held the post since 2007,” Reuters notes.
CDC Reports Obesity Rates In U.S. Level Off
Recent steep increases in the number of overweight Americans plateaued, but the rates didn’t decrease either.
FDA, Pharmaceutical Industry Reach Agreement On User-Fee Plan For Generics
The Washington Post reports that the deal could result in the collection of hundreds of millions of dollars in new fees from drug companies to speed the review of generics.
Drug Benefit Managers Unveil Ads To Explain What They Do
The trade group for pharmaceutical benefit managers announced an advertising campaign about PBMs, while Congress and federal regulators weigh a $29 billion merger between Express Scripts and Medco.
Marilyn Tavenner, who has been nominated to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has begun making courtesy calls to senators.
Examining Policy Positions For The GOP Presidential Field
The Associated Press offers a wide-ranging examination of issue stances — including on health care, abortion and budget policies — taken by the Republican presidential candidates.
Viewpoints: The ‘Need’ To Repeal CLASS; Squaring Romney’s Poverty And Tax Promises
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
Extending Payroll Tax Cut Tops Congressional To-Do List
A quick deal on this legislative challenge could result in a short-term Medicare “doc fix” and raises red flags for hospitals, which fear reimbursements could be cut.
Medicaid News: N.Y. Gov. Proposes State ‘Takeover’ Of Local Costs
In New York, Kansas, Georgia, Arizona and Texas, Medicaid is making news.
Detroit To Get New Hospital; Dallas’ Parkland Hospital Safety Report ‘Imminent’
A selection of hospital news from Michigan, Texas, California and Rhode Island.
An Increasing Number Of Americans Rely On Government Benefits
The Wall Street Journal reports on Census data indicating that, during the second quarter of 2010, just under half of U.S. households received some form of government benefits.
NGOs In Balkan Countries To Establish Regional Body To Fight HIV/AIDS Stigma, Discrimination
Agence France-Presse reports that a group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is working to establish a regional association to combat HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination that is prevalent in the Balkan countries. “‘The pervasive stigma and discrimination by health care providers and society at large against high-risk populations — and self-imposed isolation of people living with HIV and AIDS — further fuels the growth of the epidemic’ in the western Balkans, a health NGO, Fondation PH Suisse, said in a 2010 report,” the news service writes. According to AFP, the groups will officially launch the initiative in April at an HIV/AIDS conference (Markovic, 1/13).
