Latest KFF Health News Stories
In Shift, Calif. Hospitals Try To Keep Patients Out Of Beds
Hospitals are in the news in California, Oregon and Massachusetts.
AMA Details Concerns About Payment Policy Changes For Medicare Part C, D
Modern Healthcare details the positions taken by the American Medical Association in response to recent changes proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Also, in related news, a new panel sets to work on improving the physician payment system.
State News: Ore. Gov. Signs Reform Bill; Texas Seeks Early Release Of Sick Inmates
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy issues.
Administration Officials Press Forward On Implementing Health Law, Shoring Up Support
Roll Call reports that, even in the midst of uncertainty about the health law’s future, efforts continue to cement the health law’s foundation while also avoiding controversy.
Rep. Sensenbrenner Sends ‘Fact-Finding Letter’ To White House Science Adviser About Bird Flu Studies
“Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), a former head of the House committees on science and the judiciary, and currently vice chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, last week sent a ‘fact-finding letter’ to White House science adviser John Holdren, asking pointed questions about how the U.S. government has handled the controversy” surrounding two studies that showed how H5N1 bird flu virus could be manipulated to become transmissible among ferrets, a model for humans, “and questioning whether it should have funded the two flu studies,” ScienceInsider reports. “The [Obama] Administration’s response has appeared ad hoc, delayed, and inadequate,” Sensenbrenner writes, adding, “An ad hoc approach is inadequate to balance the priorities of public health and the free flow of academic ideas,” according to the article, which includes the full text of the letter.
Male Circumcision Initiative In Kenya Fails To Meet Target For First Time, PlusNews Reports
“Kenya’s most recent male circumcision rapid results initiative failed to meet its target, and officials are stepping up efforts to identify and fix the problems that could foil the government’s campaign to circumcise more than one million men by 2013,” PlusNews reports. “Conducted between November and December 2011, the initiative aimed to circumcise 70,000 men over a 30-day period, but results released in February show that only 40,000 men were circumcised,” the news service writes, adding, “This is the first time the annual initiative — which began in 2008 — has failed to reach its target.”
USAID Committed To Early Action On Sahel Drought, Drawing From Lessons From Horn Response
“A year after the worst drought in 60 years sent 13.3 million people in the Horn of Africa into crisis, we are now facing a rising threat of crisis in the Sahel — an arid belt that stretches from Senegal through Niger and Burkina Faso to Chad,” Nancy Lindborg, head of democracy, conflict, and humanitarian assistance at USAID, writes in this post in Huffington Post’s “The Blog.” She notes, “Today, rising food prices, another failed rain, and conflict in Mali and Libya, means that between seven and 10 million people are at risk of sliding into crisis as we enter the lean season of the months ahead,” and writes, “As we focus on the rising crisis in the Sahel, we are committed to responding immediately and acting on the most important lessons learned from the Horn response.”
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports setting the scene for the upcoming “Super Tuesday” primary elections and how GOP presidential candidates are pointing to health policy issues as part of the debate.
Senate Rejects Blunt Amendment
In a mainly party-line vote, the Senate rejected this amendment, offered by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., to an unrelated transportation bill. It would have broadened religious exemptions to the Obama administration’s birth control rule.
Sebelius Hints At Contraception ‘Accommodation’ During House Testimony
Lawmakers questioned Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on a range of issues related to the implementation of the health law, the Obama administration’s birth-control coverage mandate and the fiscal year 2013 budget.
Chinese Government Pledges Greater Support For Organizations Fighting HIV/AIDS
“Organizations involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS will get greater government support,” Yu Jingjin, director of the disease prevention and control bureau under China’s Ministry of Health, said, China Daily reports. He said, “‘The government will beef up investment and support for social groups’ and cooperate with reliable ones,” and added, “Each province this year will support three to five civil societies tackling HIV/AIDS and help them with operational costs and training,” according to the news service. “Yu urged health authorities to work more with society in general to fight AIDS,” China Daily writes, adding, “Cooperation in this sphere has not always worked fully to its potential, he said” (Shan, 3/2).
IPS Examines Gender Discrimination, Disparity In Child Mortality In India
Inter Press Service examines gender discrimination and mortality in India, writing, “Global infant and child mortality rates have been on the decline in recent years, with a large portion of the world seeing young girls experiencing higher rates of survival than young boys; but India remains the exception to this positive trend.” A new report, “‘Sex Differentials in Childhood Mortality,’ a project of the U.N.’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), reveals that a girl aged between one and five years is 75 percent more likely to die than a boy in India, marking the world’s most extreme gender disparity in child mortality,” according to the news service.
Study Examines Relationship Between Conflict, Rise In NTDs In Middle East, North Africa
A study published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Disease on Tuesday examines the relationship between political conflict in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and “the spread or re-emergence of a variety of tropical diseases — some previously eliminated or controlled — affecting an estimated 65 million people” in the region, VOA News reports (Sinha, 3/1). “The report, authored by global health leaders Dr. Peter Hotez, Dr. Lorenzo Savioli and professor Alan Fenwick, reveals the high prevalence and uneven distribution of [neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)] such as schistosomiasis, lymphatic filiariasis, dengue fever and Rift Valley fever in the MENA region and suggests opportunities for NTD control, especially in high-risk populations in Egypt and Yemen,” the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases writes in an article on its website.
State Highlights: Iowa Lawmaker Urges Waiting On Exchange Bill Until Court Rules
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy issues.
“The State Department’s announcement that North Korea would halt nuclear activities in exchange for 240,000 metric tons of U.S. food aid was welcomed by aid groups that have long struggled to raise money to feed hungry people under an unpopular regime,” the Los Angeles Times’ “World Now” blog reports. Marcus Prior, spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Asia said the group is “encouraged” by the development but it “remain[s] concerned about the level of nutrition, especially for children in poorer areas,” according to the blog. More than 90 percent of U.S. food aid has been delivered through the WFP since 1996, with the remainder channeled through non-governmental organizations (NGOs), a 2011 Congressional Research Service report (.pdf) says, the blog notes.
HIV Rate Drops Among Needle-Drug Users
About 1 in 10 needle drug users tested positive for HIV in 2009, a steep drop from the rate recorded in the 1990s, which was 1 in 5.
In an announcement launching the Zimbabwe Parliamentarians Against HIV (ZIPAH) in Harare on Thursday, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe said since he came to office in 1980 “quite a number of” his cabinet ministers have died of AIDS-related causes, and he challenged government officials to get tested for HIV and publicly reveal their status, the Zimbabwean reports (3/1). Chaired by lawmaker Blessing Chebundo, ZIPAH “aims to end HIV transmission among legislators and increase cooperation with other groups,” according to VOA News, and “so far 175 parliamentarians, including 25 staff members, have joined the program.” Chebundo “said the first public testing will take place in two months,” the news service notes.
Poll Reveals Public Opinions On Contraception Coverage, Medicare Plans
News outlets continue to flesh out findings of a Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll released Thursday.
Hospital Funding Cuts Could Worsen Doc Shortage
Bloomberg reports that the Obama administration’s fiscal year 2013 plan to reduce federal funding for teaching hospitals could undermine efforts to address the nation’s shortage of primary care physicians.
New Pharma Code Expands Guidelines For Interactions With Health Care Providers
A new practice code for pharmaceutical companies now covers all interactions with health care professionals and bans them from giving payments to doctors to attend conferences.
