Latest KFF Health News Stories
Few New Hampshire GOP Voters Cite Health Care As Top Concern
Exit polls from Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary found the economy to be the highest ranking issue among voters. Meanwhile, as campaigns move on to South Carolina, GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is set to run a new ad about rival Mitt Romney’s abortion positions.
Geisinger Announces It Will Not Hire Smokers
Also in hospital news, a Denver Hospital will pay $6.3 Million to settle overbilling allegations and officials at the University of Louisville Hospital look to Kentucky’s governor for a financial plan.
Implementation Efforts Continue At The State Level
In Virginia, Democratic lawmakers are pushing a proposal to establish a state-based exchange. These legislators see their plan, which is built on the argument that state action would keep the federal government from being involved, will draw support from others regardless of their feelings about the health law itself.
Reaching WHO PMTCT Goal In Zimbabwe
Researchers in this PLoS Medicine article examine the efforts necessary to reach the WHO goal of reducing mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT) risk to less than five percent in Zimbabwe. They conclude, “Implementation of the WHO [prevention of MTCT (PMTCT)] guidelines must be accompanied by efforts to improve access to PMTCT services, retain women in care, and support medication adherence throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding, to approach the ‘virtual elimination’ of pediatric HIV in Zimbabwe,” according to the study (Ciaranello et al., 1/10). A Massachusetts General Hospital press release states the research “should help with the planning of expanded programs to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa and other areas with limited health resources” (1/10).
“Roughly 42 percent of all Indian children under age five suffer from malnutrition, a sobering reminder of the persistence of poverty and hunger in the world’s largest democracy, according to a major report released” on Tuesday by the Naandi Foundation, an independent charitable organization, the New York Times reports. “Levels of malnutrition, while still high, have fallen by 20 percent in the last seven years,” the newspaper notes (Yardley, 1/10). “The Hunger and Malnutrition Survey monitored over 100,000 children in 112 districts across nine states in the country from October 2010 to February of last year,” the Associated Press writes (1/10).
U.N. Poised To Take On Challenge Of Global Health
“In just over two decades, global health has gained a political visibility and status that some authors have called a political revolution,” Ilona Kickbusch, director of the Global Health Programme at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, writes in a U.N. Chronicle opinion analysis. She reviews how the U.N. and its health agency, the WHO, have addressed global health issues, how funding for global health has increased but needs remain, and how the number of key players in the field has “increased considerably.”
Medicaid Cuts Have Patient Advocates, States Considering Their Options
Stateline reports that new federal rules that limit state options for cutting Medicaid have moved health care providers and patient advocates nearer to testing the legality of the cuts in court. In the meantime, Medicaid cuts and restructuring remain in play in dwindling state budgets as Oregon, Ohio and Kansas look for ways to save money in the state-federal health care program for the poor.
The Frontline Health Workers Coalition — which consists of 16 major non-governmental organizations (NGOs) including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Family Care International, the International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care, and RESULTS — has launched “a new initiative to add one million health care workers in developing countries,” VOA News reports, adding that the “Coalition says training more community-level workers is the most cost effective way to save lives, speed progress on global health threats and promote U.S. economic and strategic interests” (DeCapua, 1/11). “The Coalition, which launched today with the release of a new report (.pdf) focusing on the need for frontline health workers, is calling on the U.S. administration to train and support an additional 250,000 new frontline health workers — and to better support the capacity and impact of existing workers where the need is greatest,” a Coalition press release (.pdf) states (1/11).
Appeals Court Rules Texas Can Enforce Abortion Law While Case Is Pending
A federal appeals court has ruled that while a controversial abortion law is decided in court, Texas can enforce a law that requires women who are seeking an abortion to be presented with a sonogram.
“Responding to U.S. experiments that infected Guatemalans with syphilis and gonorrhea in the 1940s, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that it will spend $1 million to study new rules for protecting medical research volunteers,” and “[a]n additional $775,000 will go to fighting sexually transmitted diseases in Guatemala,” the Washington Post reports (Vastag 1,10). “President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius all have apologized for the research, hidden for decades until a Wellesley College medical historian uncovered the records in 2009,” the Associated Press/Boston Globe notes (Pickler, 1/10).
Viewpoints: Slowing Health Care Growth; Competing Views Of Romney
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
HRSA’s Wakefield Talks About ACOs And Community Health Centers
In this Medscape interview, Dr. Mary Wakefield, the administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, outlines efforts to improve access to care.
House Dems Urge GOP To Go Back To Work On Payroll Tax Break, ‘Doc Fix’
The problem continues to be how to pay for the solutions. Meanwhile, Rep. Wally Herger, R-Calif., a high-ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, announced that he won’t seek another congressionial term. He has been a strong opponent of the administration’s health overhaul.
National Biosecurity Board To Review State Of Bird Flu Research
Federal officials have asked the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) “to review the state of the science looking at human transmission of deadly bird flu, says panel chief Paul Keim of Northern Arizona University,” USA Today reports. “In December, the NSABB asked the journals, Science and Nature, to withhold details of studies that showed how to make the flu strain transmissible between ferrets, the closest mammal model for human-to-human transmission of the bug,” the newspaper notes. “‘We are now involved in a broader review,’ Keim says. … ‘This research is valuable, but saying this is just “basic” research ignores that influenza is a very special pathogen,’ Keim adds,” according to the newspaper (Vergano, 1/10).
HIV/AIDS Awareness Workshop Held In Pakistan
The International Herald Tribune’s “Express Tribune” reports on a two-day HIV/AIDS awareness workshop held in Pakistan this week. Speaking on Monday at the inaugural session of the event, titled “The State of HIV in Pakistan-2011,” Amir Maqbool, acting program manager of the National AIDS Control Program (NACP), stated that HIV/AIDS could not be controlled in the country without legislation and strong financial funding for prevention and control efforts, according to the newspaper. “In the aftermath of the devolution of the Ministry of Health, there is no mechanism to implement the legislation; something which previously fell under the purview of the Senate Standing Committee on Health,” the newspaper notes. The article highlights findings from multiple studies presented at the workshop (Wasif, 1/10).
As The Nation’s Elderly Population Grows, So Does Concern For Their Care
USA Today reports that the nation’s fast-growing “gray” population is a prime target for abuse.
Advocates React To Administration’s Draft Framework To Stop Alzheimer’s
The organization USAgainstAlzheimer’s applauded the plan’s goal of eliminating the disease by 2025 but would like to speed the timeline for development of new prevention and treatment approaches.
Nigeria’s “The Nation” examines whether, with three years until the deadline for attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the country will be able to meet the targets of reducing maternal and infant mortality by one-third as set by the U.N. The newspaper provides statistics from UNICEF regarding maternal and infant mortality in the country and quotes a number of health experts, including Edamisan Temiye, chair of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State Branch, who “said with the rate Nigeria is going, it may not realize its target of one-third reduction of maternal and infant deaths by 2015.” According to the newspaper, Temiye cites a “virtually failed” immunization program, a high poverty level, and limited access to education, water, and housing as contributing factors to Nigeria’s maternal and infant mortality rates (Adepoju, 1/10).
First Edition: January 11, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including a report that the 26 states opposed to the health law have filed their Supreme Court arguments against the measure’s Medicaid expansion.
2010 Health Spending Grew Slowly
This slowing of health spending brought the rate of growth in line with that of the U.S. economy. The Obama administration pointed to the new figures as evidence that the health law isn’t making health care more expensive.
