Latest KFF Health News Stories
Drugmakers Paid Out $8 Billion In Medicare And Medicaid Fraud Fines In 10 years
USA Today reports that despite these penalties, the nation’s largest drug makers are still in business with the federal government.
Medicaid: Lawmakers Ask Kansas Gov. To Wait On ‘Ambitious’ Changes
Examining cuts and changes to Medicaid programs in Maine, Kansas and other states.
Cigna CEO Got Pay Boost In 2011
The compensation package of Cigna CEO David M. Cordani jumped 25 percent last year to $19.1 million.
Health System Framework, Patterns Make Change From Within Unlikely
The New York Times talks to Victor Fuchs, emeritus professor of economics and health research and policy at Stanford University, about the cost control challenges presented by the health system. Meanwhile, the National Journal reports on how individual health care choices also help drive costs.
Viewpoints: Contraception Politics; Better Food Labels; Opposing Stands On Ultrasounds And Abortion
A selection of editorials and opinions on health policy from around the country.
Despite Controversy, Report Says Young Catholic Women Support Birth Control Use
According to the report by the Guttmacher Institute, these women perceive the recent debate surrounding contraception coverage as a political one. Meanwhile, analysis continues about Rush Limbaugh’s comments on the subject.
State News: Several Mass. Hospitals Tie Part Of Doctor Pay To Size Of Practice
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy issues.
Fla. Anti-Abortion Bill Stopped In Senate
A poll commissioned by Planned Parenthood in Texas says voters want to keep the provider in the state’s Women’s Health Program while an anti-abortion bill in Florida is stopped in the Senate.
Oregon Seeks Federal Approval Of ‘Coordinated Care Plan’
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is looking for federal approval of a recently signed law there that provides care for Medicaid patients through new “coordinated care organizations.” The Oregon Legislature also approved a health insurance exchange bill before it adjourned.
Health Law, Contraception Coverage Central Themes In Mass. Senate Race
Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., and his challenger, Elizabeth Warren are tussling on these issues in the midst of what is emerging as a high-profile campaign.
HHS: 105 Million People No Longer Face Health Insurance Lifetime Limits
A Department of Health and Human Services report released Monday quantified the number of Americans with health insurance who no longer face these benefit limits.
Federal Health Law, Mass. Overhaul Parallels Still A Flashpoint For Romney
The Massachusetts health law signed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney is a hot topic on the campaign trail leading up to Super Tuesday. Meanwhile, new polling results indicate President Barack Obama’s support among women voters is on the rise.
Meeting MDG Safe Water Target Cause For Celebration, But More Work Remains To Bring Access To All
The achievement of meeting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for safe drinking water “shows that where there is a will, it is possible to truly transform the lives of hundreds of millions of people for the better,” Sanjay Wijesekera, chief of water, sanitation and hygiene for UNICEF, writes in the Guardian’s “Poverty Matters Blog.” “Even in sub-Saharan Africa, where progress towards achieving the target is off-track, 273 million additional people gained access to drinking water since 1990,” he writes, adding, “So, we should raise our hats to the governments, organizations, communities and individuals who put great effort and resources into making this happen.”
World Achieves MDG For Safe Water Years Before Target Date
“Developing countries have already achieved their 2015 [Millennium Development Goal (MDG)] of drastically reducing the number of people without regular access to improved drinking water, though much of the credit lies with India and China,” UNICEF and the WHO said in a joint report (.pdf) on Tuesday, Reuters reports (Charbonneau, 3/6). “According to the [WHO] and UNICEF joint monitoring program for water supply and sanitation (JMP), between 1990 and 2010 more than two billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources, such as piped supplies and protected wells” and “at the end of 2010, 89 percent of the population — 6.1 billion people — now used improved drinking water sources, one percent more than the 88 percent target contained in [MDG] number seven, set in 2000,” the Guardian writes (Ford, 3/6).
Yemen To Launch Measles Vaccination Campaign After Increase In Number Of Cases, Deaths
“Measles has killed 126 children in Yemen since mid-2011, a consequence of the breakdown of basic health services during the year-long political crisis,” and “[i]n response … , the Yemeni government has appealed for international assistance and an outbreak-response vaccination campaign will begin in the hardest-hit regions on 10 March,” IRIN reports. Since mid-2011, “3,767 cases of measles have been confirmed, resulting in 126 deaths,” according to the Ministry of Health, whereas “in the three years from the beginning of 2007 until the end of 2009, the ministry reported a total of 211 cases and no deaths due to measles,” the news service notes.
Aid Organizations To Form Network To Facilitate Delivery Of Medical, Food Supplies In Syria
Delegates from humanitarian aid groups from the Arab and Muslim world at a conference in Cairo on Sunday urged international aid agencies to utilize Syrian civil society and private sector groups to deliver medical and food aid inside the country, where anti-government protests have displaced hundreds of thousands and pushed many below the poverty line, IRIN reports. “Access was among the main points of discussion at the meeting, hosted by the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and The Humanitarian Forum, which called for better coordination in the delivery of aid both inside Syria and to refugees in neighboring countries, especially in the area of access to health care,” the news service writes.
Many Ethiopians Coming To Camp In Search Of Traditional Cure For HIV Turn To ARVs, WSJ Reports
The Wall Street Journal examines how many HIV-positive Ethiopians coming to a “squatter’s camp” at Ethiopia’s Entoto Mountain in the hopes that a spring believed to contain holy water would cure HIV instead begin treatment with antiretrovirals (ARVs). “The country’s traditional and often superstitious views toward AIDS commonly lead to exile for the disease’s sufferers,” the newspaper writes, adding, “But modern methods are gaining more purchase, in recent years resulting in a greater number of Ethiopians on antiretroviral therapy and a decline in AIDS-related deaths.”
Mysterious Kidney Disease ‘Devastating’ Central America’s Pacific Coast, AP Reports
The Associated Press/Seattle Times reports on a “mysterious epidemic [that] is devastating the Pacific Coast of Central America, killing more than 24,000 people in El Salvador and Nicaragua since 2000 and striking thousands of others with chronic kidney disease at rates unseen virtually anywhere else.” The news service provides statistics regarding kidney disease in various Central American countries, quotes a number of experts regarding potential causes of the disease and notes, “While some of the rising numbers may be from better record-keeping, scientists believe they are facing something deadly and previously unknown to medicine.”
Incorporating Gender Policy In USAID Programs Is ‘Good Business Practice’
USAID Deputy Administrator Ambassador Donald Steinberg writes in the White House Council on Women and Girls blog, “I am proud to say that USAID” last week released “a new policy on gender quality and female empowerment, the Agency’s first in 30 years,” “achieving great strides and reaffirming our commitment to close the gender gap in international development.” He continues, “From Presidential initiatives like Feed the Future (FtF), the Global Health Initiative (GHI), and Global Climate Change to the full range of the Agency’s programs, we are ensuring that gender is not just being included, but fully incorporated. Eliminating gender bias and empowering women isn’t just a question of fairness or equity: it’s simply good business practice” (3/5).
U.S. Farm Bill Has Global Implications For Food Security
In this ONE Blog post, Jennifer Wynn, an intern with ONE’s policy team, reports on a recent panel discussion held at George Washington University that examined the U.S. Farm Bill and its implications for global hunger and food security. “I would have never thought to make a connection between our farms and farms around the world … [b]ut after an evening with some of the field’s experts, it’s clear to me that domestic policy on agriculture has far-reaching impacts,” she writes. The panel included Ken Cook, president and co-founder of the Environmental Working Group; Margaret Krome of the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute; and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman (3/5).
