Latest KFF Health News Stories
Are GOP Lawmakers Walking Away From The Budget Pact?
Conservative House Republicans are seeking deeper cuts in both discretionary and mandatory spending. The White House and Democratic lawmakers are “crying foul” and some GOP veterans caution it could produce gridlock. In the background, three key departures from the Senate Finance Committee could make that panel, which oversees Medicare and much of the health law, less centrist.
Obama Administration: Mandate Is Respectful Of Individual Rights
The Department of Justice argues that the individual mandate is more protective of individual choices than programs such as Medicare. In other news related to the health law, the clashes between consumer and business groups over the measure’s required benefit summaries don’t appear to be over.
Inter Press Service Publishes Two-Part Series On Toilets, Sanitation In Post-Earthquake Haiti
Inter Press Service has published a two-part series, made possible with support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism in Haiti, examining sanitation services in Haiti since the earthquake in 2010. The first article looks at the installation of mobile toilets in displaced persons camps following the earthquake, and says that as relief organizations pull out of the country, the toilets are being removed or left to overflow (Jerome/Daudier, 3/7).
Studies Presented At CROI Examine Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision
“HIV incidence among non-Muslim men has decreased with greater uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision (MMC) in Uganda, according to data presented Tuesday” by Ronald Gray of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle, HIV Medicine Association Executive Director Andrea Weddle writes in this guest post on the Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” blog. In the same session, Bertran Auvert of the University of Versailles “reported on a trial on MMC in the Orange Farm Township in South Africa among 110,000 adults” that found MMC prevalence has risen from about 11 percent among males ages 15 to 49 in 2008 to about 59 percent now, according to the blog (Mazzotta, 3/7).
“In an attempt to assess the impact of U.S. international assistance for AIDS, researchers from Stanford University carried out a review of the relationship between U.S. support provided through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and adult mortality in PEPFAR focus countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and whether there were differences in outcome between these countries and other African countries which did not receive PEPFAR support,” NAM’s Aidsmap reports (Alcorn, 3/8). Presenting the results at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle on Wednesday, Eran Bendavid said “[s]tatistical analysis found that adults living in focus countries between 2004 and 2008 had about a 20 percent lower odds of mortality compared to adults in non-focus countries,” the Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” writes, adding, “Evidence for unintended health effects with respect to adult mortality is inconclusive, Bendavid said, but the likelihood of PEPFAR interventions eliciting unintended harms is low” (Mazzotta, 3/7).
Enhanced Linkage-To-Care Strategy Helps HIV Patients Receive, Remain In Care, Study Shows
At the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) on Wednesday, Gabriel Chamie of the University of California, San Francisco “discussed outcomes in a routine linkage-to-care strategy versus and an enhanced strategy for accelerated antiretroviral therapy (ART) start in rural Uganda,” the Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” blog reports. In the study, a higher percentage of people who were offered the enhanced strategy received follow-up care, began ART, and remained in care, and “Chamie highlighted the need for enhanced linkage to care efforts for patients at all CD4 cell counts,” according to the blog (Mazzotta, 3/7).
PMI Successfully Generating ‘Value For Money,’ According To External Evaluation
“While PEPFAR and the Global Health Initiative (GHI) have dominated the global health community’s attention over the past few years, the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) has largely flown under the radar,” Rachel Silverman, a research assistant for Center for Global Development’s (CGD) global health team, and Victoria Fan, a research fellow at CGD, write in this post in the CGD’s “Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Blog.” They add, “But just this month, the PMI released the results of an external evaluation which confirms what we’ve long suspected: PMI is doing a remarkably good job and generating ‘value for money’ in U.S. global health efforts” (3/7).
Two-Part Blog Series Details Haiti Cholera Outbreak, Response
In the first part of a two-part series in the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ (CSIS) “Smart Global Health” blog, Alisha Kramer, an intern with the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, and Matt Fisher, project coordinator of the CSIS Project on Global Water Policy and a research assistant at the Global Health Policy Center, provide a brief history of Haiti’s cholera outbreak, noting, “Ultimately, by the end of 2011, the outbreak had resulted in over 500,000 infections and 7,000 deaths” (3/6). In the second part, the authors recap the international response to the outbreak, writing, “Despite its physical devastation, the Haitian Ministry of Public Health and Population — aided by PAHO, the CDC, USAID, and other non-governmental organizations — responded relatively well to the cholera outbreak; the low case-fatality ratio supports this view” (3/7).
CSIS Report Examines Link Between Palestinian Bid For Statehood, U.S. Global Health Policy
A report (.pdf) published on Wednesday by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) — titled “U.S. Global Health Policy in Palestinian Hands?” and written by J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president and director of the Global Health Policy Center at CSIS, and Haim Malka, senior fellow and deputy director of the CSIS Middle East Program — examines the relationship between Palestine’s bid for statehood and potential membership in U.N. bodies — including the WHO — and U.S. global health policy, according to the report summary. CSIS writes on its website, “Under current U.S. laws, such a decision by the Palestinians would trigger an automatic disruption to the United States’ assessed and voluntary contributions to WHO, with no waiver provisions” (3/7).
Contraception, Abortion Issues Crop Up In State Legislatures, Political Races
The debate over the birth control mandate is seeping into West Virginia’s governor race as reproductive-rights supporters assess their place amid losses in state legislatures.
On The Campaign Trail, Santorum Hits Romney On Mass. Health Law
GOP Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum continued to press the parallels between the state law signed by his rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and the federal measure, as well as to question Romney’s explanation of his positions. Meanwhile, news outlets report on the gender gap.
Report: Alzheimer’s Care To Cost $200 Billion This Year
The report issued by the Alzheimer’s Association also estimates that as many as 800,000 Americans have this illness and live alone. As many as half of these people don’t have specific arrangements to help them get care.
Va. Gov. Signs Pre-Abortion Ultrasound Bill
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has signed a contentious bill mandating women who want an abortion get an ultrasound before the procedure.
Consumer Coalition Sues Drugmakers Over Coupon Programs
The lawsuit claims that these popular programs, which appear to save money for patients, actually increase costs and conceal information about the discounts from health plans.
Hospital Groups Will Get Bigger; Unlikely Partnerships Could Emerge, Says Moody’s
A new report by Moody’s outlines how not-for-profit hospitals are being driven by reimbursement pressures and healthcare reform to join forces with health insurers and for-profit companies, among others.
CDC: Medical Bills Present Hardship To Many Families
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on the financial stress caused by high medical costs.
States Consider Dental Care Access Issues
Bettering the health of America’s poorest through greater access to dental care is on the minds of state lawmakers and dental care advocates in Kansas and Massachusetts as they consider legislation to expand who can practice basic dentistry.
Surgeon General Finds Much Work Needed To Stop Teen Smoking
The federal report documents an “epidemic” of tobacco use among teens, which it says can stunt lung growth and accelerate development of health problems.
Challenges To Achieving An AIDS-Free Generation
In a plenary presentation at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle on Wednesday, Dorothy Mbori-Ngacha of UNICEF examined the challenges to reaching the goal of an AIDS-free generation, by “eliminat[ing] 90 percent of HIV infections among children by 2015,” and “outlined the four pillars of achieving that goal,” including preventing HIV among women, preventing unintended pregnancies, preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), and supporting HIV-positive women and their families, the Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” reports. She called for strengthening family planning programs in the context of PMTCT, prioritizing “pregnant women for access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or microbicides,” implementing strategies to initiate and care for women in treatment programs, and intervening early in pregnancy, according to the blog (Lubinski, 3/7).
State Legislatures Take On Employee Health Plans, Medicaid Reform, Malpractice
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy news.
